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可 15：6–15
6 每逢这节期，巡抚照众人所求的，释放一个囚犯给他们。7 有一个人名叫巴拉巴，和作乱的人一同捆绑。他们作乱的时候，曾杀过人。8 众人上去求巡抚，照常例给他们办。9 彼拉多说：「你们要我释放犹太人的王给你们吗？」10 他原晓得，祭司长是因为嫉妒才把耶稣解了来。11 只是祭司长挑唆众人，宁可释放巴拉巴给他们。12 彼拉多又说：「那么样，你们所称为犹太人的王，我怎么办他呢？」13 他们又喊着说：「把他钉十字架！」14 彼拉多说：「为什么呢？他做了什么恶事呢？」他们便极力地喊着说：「把他钉十字架！」15 彼拉多要叫众人喜悦，就释放巴拉巴给他们，将耶稣鞭打了，交给人钉十字架。
他想让众人满意。这是彼拉多作为犹太人领袖带到他面前的人的法官和陪审团的失败。他作为巡抚的职责是主持公道，但他只想取悦群众。他希望通过释放两个囚犯中的一个来让耶稣获释，这是节日的习俗。他让人们在耶稣和一个臭名昭著的杀人犯巴拉巴之间做出选择。骚动的人群选择了巴拉巴。彼拉多该如何处置耶稣呢？ 他们一遍又一遍地喊道：”钉他十字架！”。真是疯狂！上帝所拣选的子民选择将上帝所拣选的救他们脱离罪恶的人钉死在十字架上。
巴拉巴和耶稣的故事与我们自己的故事相似。有罪的人被释放，而无辜的人却被定罪。当耶稣被钉在十字架上时，这就是发生在你我身上的事情。我们是有罪之人。我们犯了煽动叛乱罪和谋杀罪。我们犯了偶像崇拜和盗窃罪。我们对彼此犯下了难以言表的罪行。我们为自己的情感和行为辩解，幻想我们的事情是正义的，但事实并非如此。就像彼拉多面前的人群或那个叫巴拉巴的人一样，我们是有罪的人，而无辜的耶稣却被定罪并残忍地钉死在十字架上。
这就是为什么有一天，我们会站在上帝的审判台前，被宣布无罪。耶稣把我们的罪带到了十字架上。耶稣允许自己被定罪，好让我们得到宽恕。耶稣与我们交换了位置，这样上帝的义就会在他身上得到伸张，上帝的怜悯就会在我们身上得到施舍。 祈祷 主耶稣，你取代了我的位置，为我被定罪，使我可以因你的缘故被上帝称义。我无法想象你会为我做这样的事。阿门。
Mark 15:6-15: Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. 12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. 13 “Crucify him!” they shouted. 14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” 15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. (NIV)
He wanted to satisfy the crowd. This was Pilate’s failure as the judge and jury of the man the leaders of the Jews brought to him. His role as the governor was to administer justice, but he only wanted to please the crowd. He hoped to get Jesus released by offering to release one of two prisoners, a custom at the festival. He offered a choice between Jesus and a notorious murderer named Barabbas. The agitated crowd chose Barabbas. What should Pilate do with Jesus? “Crucify him!” they shouted over and over again. What insanity! God’s chosen people are choosing to crucify the one God chose to deliver them from their sins.
In this story of Barabbas and Jesus, we have a parallel to our own story. The guilty one was set free, while the innocent One was condemned. That’s what happened for you and for me, when Jesus was crucified. We are the guilty ones. We are guilty of sedition and murder. We are guilty of idolatry and theft. We are guilty of crimes against one another that are unspeakable. We justify our feelings and actions by imagining that our causes are just, when they are not. Like the crowd before Pilate, or the man called Barabbas, we are the guilty ones and the innocent One, Jesus, was condemned and brutally crucified.
And this is why, one day, we will stand before God’s court of justice and be declared not guilty. Jesus took our sin to the cross. Jesus permitted himself to be condemned so that we might be forgiven. Jesus traded places with us, so that God’s justice would be meted out on him, and God’s mercy would be doled out to us.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you took my place and you were condemned for me, so that I might be justified by God for your sake. It takes my breath away to imagine that you would do such a thing for me. Amen.