The sun has come up on the day Jesus will die. It's Friday of Passion Week. He's been arrested. He's been tried before the Jewish High Court, known as the Sanhedrin. The charges against him, having been accumulated by false accusers and witnesses, have resulted in the high priest asking Jesus a question, to which Jesus responds alluding to Daniel 7, claiming that he is the exalted figure from that chapter, as well as Psalm 110, claiming he's the figure who will be at the right hand of God with all enemies under his feet. The charge of blasphemy is what they immediately conclude in that Jewish setting. But now he's transferred into Roman custody. And the Jews would not be able to convince the Romans to kill someone for blasphemy. They would have to come up with some sort of political treasonous charge. So they need to tweak things for the Romans. Because the Jews could not exercise a death penalty. The Romans forbade that. So if they wanted someone to receive a death penalty, they had to convince the Romans the charge was that serious. And in Matthew 27.11, the Roman proceedings begin for Jesus. They would begin early in the morning. They didn't wait until later in the day. Pilate and the other officials would start proceedings like this early, after dawn. Normally, Pilate would have been north of the Judean area, but during feast times he would always come to Jerusalem. He wasn't housed and based in Jerusalem normally. But feast times were notorious for unruly behavior and riotous behavior. Sensitivities were heightened. People were expecting the son of David to one day come. And at the level of that kind of sensitivity, you need someone who has a hands-on approach to quelling unrest and squelching any riots. And you're given a sense, even in the passage, when Pilate senses that that's what's developing in his conversation with the crowd, he's just going to act to try and satisfy them and to placate them. So Pilate's here in Jerusalem because it's a feast time. Jesus doesn't die on any week of the year, but on Passover week. It's not just any time of year. It's significant because He is the Lamb of God, to which all the thousands of lambs in earlier history were pointing, where judgment would pass over those covered by the blood. This was alluding to the exodus from Egypt when a mighty deliverance was brought about by God and a mightier deliverance was coming. Jesus was heading to the cross and then out of the tomb. This Roman trial also happens in three phases, just as the Jewish trial happened in three phases. In that Jewish setting, he appeared before the former high priest, Annas, and then the reigning high priest, Caiaphas, and then a formal verdict was given in a third phase at the beginning of Matthew 27. The Roman proceedings are in three phases, and Matthew records the first and the third. You get the middle from Luke's gospel. The way it happens is Jesus appears before Pilate in phase 1, Pilate sends him to Herod Antipas in phase 2, and he's sent back to Pilate in phase 3. Matthew records the setting before Pilate. It seems like a seamless episode. Though with Luke's gospel you can see also what took place before Herod Antipas. We won't look at that today, but we will look at the first and third phases of Jesus before Pilate. And in two main parts, verses 11 through 14 is a scene with Jesus and Pilate. And then verses 15 to 26 is a scene focused on Pilate and the crowd. Jesus doesn't say anything else after verse 14 to Pilate or the crowd that's recorded in Matthew. It's Jesus and Pilate in verses 11 to 14, and then in 15 through 26, Pilate and the crowd. Gotta get the characters right. There's a lot going on in that story. And in verse 11, it tells us Jesus stood before the governor and we know his name. It was given earlier in verse 2. They had bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate, the governor. So that's who this is. He's been in power in this position since AD 26. And so these events in Jesus's ministry fall under his governorship, if you will. And notice the question that he prompts Jesus with. Are you the King of the Jews? Pilate is not given a blank slate when Jesus comes to him. He's given the charges that the Jews want him to hear. So Pilate's question is in response to what they're telling him Jesus is claiming, you see. In a trial like this, it's very common for the Roman governor, in this case, to ask questions and to give the accused the opportunity to answer, some sort of self-defense, if you will. And then when a verdict is rendered, he's supposed to go and take counsel with other advisors, and he's going to immediately give a verdict that will be swiftly carried out. All these proceedings are not days in and weeks in and months long, but sometimes just hours, and that's it. And in this case, Pilate is asking Jesus, are you the king of the Jews? The question matters because king language frightens everybody in Roman authority. It worries people because in the Gospel of John, you understand that the people said that their king is Caesar. So the emperor of Rome is their king. But the beginning of Matthew's gospel sets us up for this kind of title. The opening verse of the New Testament tells us that Jesus is not just the son of Abraham, but the son of David, which is a title of kingship. A son of David was a king. And Jesus is that long-awaited ruler who would have a never-ending rule on the throne. Not only that, in Matthew 2, we get a concern and a suspicion about kingship when the Magi go to Herod the Great. And they say, we've come to worship the one who's been born King of the Jews. That very same phrase that you see now toward the end of the Gospel, that was there at the beginning. We've come to worship, but where was he supposed to be born? Now, Herod the Great consults his advisors, his scribes, and of course, Bethlehem was the appointed place, and so Herod wants to kill the babies in Bethlehem, two and younger, to ensure that he exterminates any potential rival in the kingdom. And here, We see, all of these years later, Jesus is standing before Pilate. And out of more Gentile lips, just like it was Gentile lips for the Magi, and now, all these years later, at the end of Matthew's Gospel, from Pilate's lips, the same title, King of the Jews. Argue him! It's a matter of political sedition. Caesar was the emperor. He ruled through puppet kings, through the Roman Empire. And any person who claimed to be king that wasn't appointed by Rome was viewed as a threat to Rome and could be killed. Lest they form some sort of movement and acquire some kind of following and therefore come up against the Romans with their armed forces and revolt, Rome would tolerate no such thing. Why did the Jews give Pilate this kind of information? I mean, they're concerned that Jesus is claiming the prerogatives that belong to God alone. He's the Daniel 7 guy and the Psalm 110 guy. But they need Rome to crucify Jesus. They need Jesus to be shamed publicly and for his followers to never band back together and reunite under the movement that this guy has launched. And so telling Pilate that Jesus is the king of the Jews in his mind is a massively important charge that would get Pilate's attention. There's a lot riding on Jesus' answer, in other words. Jesus gives in verse 11, it's almost underwhelming. You have said so. I mean, he didn't sort of like trumpet it out, proclaiming, that's right, I am. And you know, Matthew doesn't record more than this. He simply says, you have said so, which is Jesus's way of agreeing with the words that have been used. Even though sometimes the words that people are using in ascribing a title to Jesus might not have the fullest picture biblically of what that involves, Jesus at least grants that you have said so. He used the same language on two other occasions. In Matthew 26-25, Judas said, is it I, Rabbi, who will betray? And Jesus said, you have said so. And then later in Matthew 26, we find in verse 64, before Caiaphas, the high priest, Caiaphas had said, tell us if you're the Christ. And he said, you have said so. This is a way of acknowledging the truthfulness of the language that's being used by the person speaking. John's gospel also elaborates a bit more on this very scene. So just to read you a couple of verses from John 18. Here's what else Jesus said at this moment. In John 18, 34, Jesus also answered, do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me? Pilate answered, am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done? Jesus said, my kingdom, which implies he has one and he's the king of it. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not of this world. Then Pilate said, So you are a king! Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born. For this purpose I was born. For this purpose I've come into the world. He was born to be the king. So in Matthew 27, apparently, chief priests and elders, the other leaders that have been involved in helping to betray Jesus and acquiring Judas' help as well in those proceedings in Gethsemane, they are present and they begin to accuse him. It tells us in verse 12, when he was accused by chief priests and elders, he gave no answer, which may remind us of Isaiah 53.7, where the suffering servant in Isaiah 53.7, who bears the iniquity of the people and is crushed by the will of God, for their sins and transgressions remain silent like a sheep being led to slaughter." Like a lamb. Silent lamb. One scholar called this a sovereign silence. Here is a Christ who could, just as he said in the Garden of Gethsemane, call legions of angels to absolutely obliterate these proceedings. They're not the ones in control, though they think they are. He remains silent deliberately, not because he doesn't have an answer to the accusations, but because it is the will of God for these proceedings to happen toward the cross itself. So this promised king is the same person as the suffering servant. This promised king, this son of David, is the suffering servant from Isaiah 53. And not only that, he's the Passover lamb who's going to be slaughtered. What are the kinds of things they were telling Pilate here? In Luke 23, we get a sense of what these chief priests and elders were saying at this moment in Luke 23 too. Listen to the interjections they're giving. They begin to accuse Jesus saying, we found this man misleading our nation, forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king. So these charges and more are being labeled against Jesus and levied against him. In verse 13, Pilate says, don't you hear how many things they testify against you? Because this isn't going like the typical trial. Pilate, this is not his first rodeo, all right? Pilate knows that when the accused is brought in and you've got these people bringing their charges, the person wants to speak because they want to live. This is a weird scene. This accused, with all of these mouthing religious leaders who are bringing these charges, he's remaining silent. Doesn't he want to live? Doesn't he want to preserve his life? Pilate says, don't you hear how many things they testify against you? But Jesus gave no answer. Not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed. And the language there, it communicates that Pilate was impressed. This was so unusual. Pilate is bewildered by what's going on. He's impressed at the control and even what you might call the majestic dignity of Jesus. In the midst of all of these charges and accusers, standing there, not trying to save his own life, but seemingly welcoming whatever is coming. So verses 11 through 14 give us Pilate and Jesus. Then he's sent to Herod Antipas, which Matthew doesn't record. Herod Antipas deals with jurisdiction in Galilee, and Pilate had learned that's where Jesus was from. Pilate doesn't want anything to do with these legal proceedings. Even in Luke's gospel, you get a sense that he doesn't really feel like Jesus has done anything wrong. So he's hoping to pass the buck. We'll send Jesus to Herod, and maybe that will resolve things. Herod sends him back to Pilate. So this is phase three now that we're reading in verse 15, in the final phase of the Roman trial. Now at the feast, the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. This is probably to keep peace with the Jews because if the Jews felt like somebody was being held unjustly or really desired somebody to be released around this time of year, this would contribute to goodwill. Pilate was not highly regarded by the Jews. He was viewed as a very harsh person, sometimes intolerably cruel. And so this was a measure of goodwill, no doubt, that he had developed with the people during these feasts. Matthew wants you to know this practice because that explains what happens next. Because if you didn't know that this was Pilate's custom, this would seem very odd, though it might seem odd anyway. In verse 16, they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Now things take a strange turn here. The irony is that Barabbas is actually someone who's a real threat. Now let's think about this for a second. We need to let this soak in. Pilate here is called a notorious prisoner and elsewhere called a robber, which is more accurately someone who is an instigator of rioting, as if he is participating in some sort of insurrection. The deep irony here is that the very thing Jesus is accused of being, Barabbas actually is. He actually is that kind of seditious, insurrectionist, terroristic person. In fact, it's very likely that the two thieves crucified on either side of Jesus belong with Barabbas. And that the middle cross would have been Barabbas. That these people were actually involved in seditious activities, politically speaking. and they've all been taken, and Barabbas here is brought forward. There could be a deeper irony, too, in addition to that. There are some manuscripts in the original language that indicate Barabbas is not his first name. Barabbas is actually his last name because in Aramaic, bar means son. You might know the language of Simon bar Jonah earlier in the Gospels, so Simon son of Jonah. Barabbas would be son of Abbas. There are some manuscripts that give a first name, and it is a surprising one, and it's likely a case could be made that it's an original reading and not something added later. So some translations include it and some don't. Some give his name as Jesus Barabbas. I'm not kidding. Jesus Barabbas. And if that's the case, then you have two people who are named Jesus. I have a friend who's a textual PhD student for Greek manuscripts, and he goes to Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. And I was so perplexed by this question this week, because I'd never heard of this before, that I contacted him and I said, I want to know what you think. You're in these manuscripts all the time. Do you think it's likely that Barabbas is actually his last name? And he got back to me immediately. He said, absolutely. He said, Jesus Barabbas is the most likely reading in this case, and translation should reflect it. This lends a level of interest here because two people named Jesus, which was a common name, by the way, in this century. It wasn't like Jesus of Nazareth was the first person named that. It means God saves or Yahweh saves. Jesus Barabbas, is being paired with what Pilate calls in verse 15 here, or not verse 15, but verse 17, Jesus who is called Christ. Why would Pilate seek to distinguish with this little phrase here, who is called Christ, if he's not distinguishing, perhaps, between two Jesuses? There's Jesus Barabbas, and then Jesus who is called Christ. They're not calling Barabbas the Christ. There are two different ones. Added to this as well is what Barabbas means. Bar-abbas, from Abba, which means, literally, Son of the Father. Son of the Father. That's what Barabbas means. Jesus, Son of the Father? This could be the situation we're looking at here. Paired with Jesus, who is the Son of the Father. Right? I don't think I'm a 1st century audience The irony of these names would have been lost on them at all. It would have jumped out the significance here that someone whose name means son of the Father is going to be pardoned while someone who is actually the son of the Heavenly Father is going to be condemned. Mark 15 7 tells us that Barabbas has committed murder. So his insurrectionist, rebellious activities have resulted in loss of life? Barabbas actually is what they are charging Jesus with being falsely. And so in verse 16, this notorious prisoner called Barabbas is in verse 17, the one Pilate says, do you want me to release for you Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Christ? It's very likely that verse 18 supports the following idea. Pilate did not believe they would choose Barabbas. It tells us in verse 18, Pilate knew it was out of envy that they had delivered Jesus up. Now the leaders are envious of Jesus' influence with the people. So think about what Pilate's scenario is. Pilate is dealing with crowds of people who have so favored Jesus that the religious leaders want him dead. So if Pilate says to the people, who do you want me to release? In his thinking, it's most reasonable that the people would want the release of the one that has made all the religious leaders mad because the religious leaders are feeling their power being replaced and their influence being lost by this guy named Jesus. So Pilate has this murderer, right? An actual terroristic guy. And he's got Jesus. Who do you want me to release? Pilate doesn't think Jesus has done anything wrong. Pilate's not trying to condemn Jesus in this moment. He's trying to get Jesus free. So he puts, literally, The polar opposite people next to each other. And he says, which one? It should be obvious. Which is why what happens next is so shocking. In verse 19, besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him. Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I've suffered much because of him today in a dream. This is the only gospel that this verse is found in. The Romans placed a lot of credibility in omens and dreams. These things could be from the gods. So here's what's happening. Earlier that night, two things are going on. Jesus is before the Jews in the Sanhedrin, and he's being accused, and falsely so. And then, however far away, Pilate's wife is sleeping. And while Jesus is before the Sanhedrin, she's dreaming. We don't know the details of the dream, but she concludes at least two things. Number one, Jesus is a righteous man. Whatever it was that she dreamed, she comes to the conclusion that this man, Jesus, is going to be wrongly condemned. He's a righteous man. And number two, She believes Pilate should have no part in condemning him. I mean, look at what she says, have nothing to do with that righteous man. She calls him that righteous man. Now, the way Pilate finds out about this is, it's early, right? It's after dawn, sun has come up, and Pilate's on the judgment seat. And then somebody comes and says, you've got a phone call from your wife. This is the idea, right? We've got a word. This probably wasn't normal. Okay, so for this to happen, for his wife, who has been sleeping and is now woken up from her dream, husband is at work on the judgment seat, and she says, I gotta get word to him, because I just woke up from this dream, and this man, Jesus, is a righteous man, and my husband should have nothing to do with him. And so she gets word to that judgment seat. What a remarkable detail. And I think for the reader, this is helping to confirm the guilt of all those who are wanting to condemn Jesus, for He truly hasn't done anything worthy of death." Her messages have nothing to do with that righteous man. In verse 20, now the question has been asked to the crowd, do you want Barabbas or Jesus released? And they say in verse 20, or the chief priests and the elders rather, they begin to persuade the crowd, we all know whom they want to be killed. And they persuade the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. We don't know what they said to the crowd. We don't know what the crowd would have said otherwise. But the chief priests and the elders are not going to take a chance, hello. They've worked too hard to get to this moment and Jesus is almost there in the condemned custody of the Romans. They just got to push it a little bit further. And now, this kink in the situation has been noticed, because all of a sudden, Jesus might be released if the crowd demanded it. Can you imagine? If you're one of the religious leaders, you are freaking out in this moment. You are freaking out because Pilate has now been displayed publicly, Jesus in Barabbas and willing to release Jesus. They have to intervene. This cost them 30 pieces of silver and a lot more. Of course, we know what happened with that when Judas returned. The religious leaders persuade the crowd in verse 20 to ask for Barabbas. And in verse 21, the governor says, which of the two, this is repeating the question to them, in other words, which of the two do you want me to release? And they, and I think we should understand this to be the crowd, they now have an answer. They now have an answer. The crowd says, Barabbas! They demand Barabbas to be released. Can you imagine Pilate in this moment thinking, are you serious? Are you serious? You want Barabbas released? This murderer? This terrorist? This person who's got other criminals that have been with him? You want him released? Jesus has done nothing wrong that I could tell, worthy of death. You want him executed? He says, what shall I do with Jesus who's called the Christ? And they all said, they all said, let him be crucified. The crowd knows what they want at this point. Oh, what a difference a few days make. My goodness, just on the first day of the week, earlier on Sunday, people were calling out, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now we don't have to assume that the same crowd from the first day of the week is now there here on this Friday, but there may have been some overlap in the crowd too. What's interesting are the words that were spoken in the air in Jerusalem on the first day and on this day. Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed be the name of the Lord. And now here, let him be crucified. Just a few days difference between that triumphal entry and now this humiliating death. In verse 23, Pilate just presses the issue. And I think you should feel the reluctance in him. Now, we have reason to be hard on Pilate for some other things, but he was a man who was of mixed emotion about this whole ordeal, wasn't he? In verse 23, he says, why? I mean, that's a very relevant question. Why would you want him crucified? What evil has he done? After all, Pilate's already received the word from his wife. And Pilate no doubt feels the trepidation of, what if that was a divine message given to my wife during the night, and this is a righteous man, and I have nothing to do with him. They keep saying that he should be crucified. I'm going to have some sort of pardon that it seems. They all shouted, all the more, let him be crucified. They are resolute, aren't they? They are not going to back down. They are persuaded, and they have committed, and they are following through. Our last verses record Pilate in verse 24, realizing he's going to get nowhere with this crowd. This must have been a great moment of defeat. I mean, this is becoming riotous in what he sees. He's not going to gain any ground with them. If anything, he's going to incense them if he doesn't give in. but he's concerned about taking any part in it. So what he does in verse 24 is getting some water, washing his hands and saying, I'm innocent of this man's blood. See to it yourself. Now we shouldn't think for a moment that Matthew believes he's actually absolved from any guilt. I mean, in Pilate's mind, this is significant, because he's really wanting to demonstrate here that he is going to agree to disagree with the crowd. He's going to give in to them, but he actually doesn't believe Jesus has done anything wrong. And this is a symbolic gesture on his part before them. And they understand this kind of thing. Because in Deuteronomy 21, the idea of washing one's hands for the display of innocence is recorded in verses 6 through 9. And in Psalms 26.6 and 73.13, there's the description of hands of innocence. With Pilate doing this, I don't think the gesture would have been lost on them either. I think it would have conveyed to them that Pilate's giving in to them, but they don't care as long as Jesus dies. And all the people are willing to take the guilt. They're all too eager. Look at the language in verse 25. It's shocking. It's so graphic. All the people answered, His blood be on us and on our children. They're saying, no, no, no, no, no. We'll accept the responsibility. Crucify Him. In principle of solidarity, they don't just say, on us, but on our children. I mean, they clearly see nothing wrong with what they are doing. They're inviting the guilt for the man's blood, if that's how Pilate views it. They're saying, well, then let it be on us. Let him be crucified. I think a bad reading of this verse would be to say that this is, in some way, condemning the Jewish people from generation to generation to generation onward. In fact, I think we should note that in the Book of Acts, early converts were among the Jews. including writers of the New Testament, including the Apostle Paul, missions to the Jews in the synagogues where Paul would reason within that Jesus was the Christ. So this was not a rejection of the Jewish people, but I think it would result in a very local judgment, too, within that generation. In fact, to say, let it be on us and on our children would result in they and their children seeing the destruction of their temple in A.D. 70, which Jesus had already promised. And no doubt on the last day, those who are unbelieving would stand before Him as well. Peter, in Acts 2, talks in ways that demonstrate the guilt that these people bear. Listen to Acts 2, verse 23. Acts 2, 23 says, This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed Him by the hands of lawless men. And then in Acts 2 verse 36, let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you crucified. Now he's talking to the people there who are more than just Roman soldiers. So he's saying they bear a part in that because they wanted it. That's what they wanted to happen to this man. They wanted him to be crucified. But Matthew is not establishing the legitimacy of antisemitism. That would be a bad reading of a text like this. In some way, Matthew is anti-Jewish or would be okay with racial prejudice against the Jewish people. People have used this verse throughout church history to establish some pretty terrible postures toward Jewish people. I feel like that's a terrible reading of a verse like this. In fact, I think in context, they're inviting the guilt that Pilate doesn't want to have any part in upon themselves. And even within their own generation, they'll see judgment upon their nation. I think that's a much closer reading and accurate reading historically and contextually. Our last verse in verse 26 shows us Pilate's last response. He released for them Barabbas. Can you imagine it? He released Barabbas, who was the very thing Jesus was charged falsely of being. And having Jesus scourged delivered him to be crucified. The scourging here is referring to the flogging that would precede crucifixion. A brutal process so severe that some people would not survive the flogging and then go on to crucifixion. A flogging has killed many a person in the days of the Romans. What it involved was a whip with bone and metal and lead balls on its straps tied together so that each blow would severely wound the person, not just making red marks like a strap might, but tearing flesh, breaking bone, and exposing everything underneath, muscle, sometimes even organs. This person would be tied to a post, and they would be so severely beaten Unlimited that many of them would die or be so severely weakened that they would die quickly on the way to the cross or on the cross itself. We know that Jesus does survive this scourging, and people did. But He's severely weakened. To the point where we realize as He's walking to the cross, Simon of Cyrene has to be taken from the crowd to carry the cross for Him. So severely weakened is He by this event. When we look at a story like this, one of the things that should strike us is the fact that Barabbas deserved judgment, and Jesus did not. And that leads me to say that we are Barabbas. Every one of us. We are Barabbas because our pardon, which is what He received, is connected to the death of Jesus, which took place between those two thieves on the cross. Jesus died, and Barabbas was set free. And that seems crazy. If you don't know what Barabbas has done, you're just going to pardon him? But that kind of response is getting close to the scandal of what the Gospel declares for sinners. who look at the things that we have done, the sins that we have committed against the Lord, which may not line up, bullet point by bullet point, with Barabbas. But from the heart, people who in their sin and in their idolatry deserve judgment and not mercy. And yet, and yet, Jesus died and we are pardoned. We are Barabbas! Someone whose name actually meant Son of the Father. He wasn't crucified. So that the actual Son of the Father would be crucified. If Jesus was released to the crowd, the cross doesn't happen. It was God's plan that Barabbas be released. And that Jesus die on the cross. Jesus was not a criminal, though He was treated as if He was one. He was not a sinner, and yet our sin was counted to Him. He was made to be sin, He who had no sin. He was the ultimate righteous sufferer. He was fulfilling all the Old Testament pattern of righteous sufferers in the Old Testament. Falsely accused, wrongly convicted, physically tortured. And yet the question that Pilate asks is so valid. What evil had he done? And the answer, of course, is none. Not a single thing. And that's the power of this. Having committed no evil, he takes on all of ours. We are Barabbas in the story. Barabbas has committed evil. We have. We have sinned against the Lord. And yet what He does in the gospel is puts forward His Son, that we might be pardoned instead. We should behold the wisdom of God in the gospel. Christ takes my sin. And the guilty are truly set free. The condemned are declared not condemned. This is the good news in Romans 8. In Romans 8 it tells us in verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Implication? Not in Christ Jesus? Condemnation. Now. In Christ Jesus, now, no condemnation. in our place, bears our sin. The Gospel is just scandalous with mercy, isn't it? And we think, how can a righteous and holy Christ be crucified and Barabbas be released? But we've got to make the question more personal. How is it that a holy and righteous God, who has made us in this world for His glory, and we like sheep have all gone astray after our own way and for our own glory and kingdoms? How is it that we can come to Him and be parted? And the answer is that God puts forward Christ, so that those in Christ have counted for them what Christ did on the cross. no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. So, friend, what must happen is that you must believe in Christ Jesus. You must trust Him with your whole heart, looking at what the Bible presents Him to be in this story and in all other stories about Him, and believe that He's who He claimed to be, and who the One God sent Him to be, and that He did what God said He would do, and that it was sufficient for our sins. We need to follow this Christ. We need to love Him. You know, I've often wondered what Barabbas thought when He went home that day. I mean, He was going to die! And we don't know what happened that day. But we know about one of the other thieves on the cross, who may have expected a different face there beside Him. And then there's Jesus. Would You remember me, Lord, when You go into Your kingdom? And He says, Today You will be with Me in paradise. Who is this Christ? Do we believe what the Bible says about Him, that with our whole hearts we would trust Him as our sin-bearing substitute, who made a full atoning work, taking our guilt, that we could be set free?