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READ: Mark 15:6-15
LISTEN: Mark 15

“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. Mark 15:9-11

Jesus is not the only one in Roman captivity on this Friday morning. A man named Barabbas is also imprisoned. He was arrested for his part in a rebellion against the Roman government, an action that resulted in murder. In the Roman legal system, both insurrection and murder are capital offenses. Barabbas faces execution for his crimes. Yet, in an amazing twist, he is given life, and Jesus is sent to death. In the most real way, Barabbas experienced the prophecy in Isaiah 53:5, “But he [Jesus] was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

Jesus was the substitute for Barabbas, and he is ours too. His death brings our life. He’s tossed out; we’re invited in. He’s ripped up; we’re made whole. He is imprisoned; we are set free. He is alone; we are invited into community. Where he is, we should have been. What we deserved, he took for us. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

TODAY: Pray a prayer of gratitude for what Jesus has done for you on the cross. As a basis for your prayer, join Ada Bible Worship as they sing “Name Above All Names.” These lyrics can get your gratitude started, “The perfect sacrifice, your body broken. As you restored to us what sin had stolen.”