We are Barabbas.

THIS WEEK I got the flu, and I spent most of the week getting better. Being so busy all day in Peru last week, I got into the bad habit of doing my Bible Study late at night when I should be going to sleep. I've continued that habit this week, and I know need to stop.

But one day I did read a bit earlier because it was Thursday, and every Thursday I call my grandma to read her a passage. I read her something that I've read many times before, something that has a very special meaning.

Matthew 27, a rather long chapter, has a lot of good things in it. I read verses 11 through 26, which focus on Jesus being tried and condemned to death. Sometimes I fear that we hear the story so often that we start to forget why it's amazing:

Jesus was not guilty. He knew it. He could have proved it. But when they were accusing Him, He didn't say anything. But somebody was guilty. There was a crime and a criminal.

v. 16 "And they had then a notorious criminal called Barabbas."

The governer asked the people who they wanted him to set free, and who should die. He had a guy who was a well-known criminal, and he had someone whose crime nobody could really specify. Barabbas and Jesus. The authorities persuaded the crowd to move in their favor and kill Jesus.

v. 17 "So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?'" And as many times as he asked the crowd, they called for Jesus.

So they took Jesus away, and they whipped Him with whips that had pieces of bone and glass set inside to make it more painful. Then they drove nails through the nerves of His hands and feet and pinned His body to a wooden cross, where He died by 3:00 PM. And we know the rest of the story. On the third day after that, Sunday, He wasn't dead anymore. He beat death, and He made sure plenty of people saw Him alive.

But wait - Barabbas went free?

When I read this, I realize that we are Barabbas. Whether you're an axe murderer or Mother Teresa, nobody is good enough to be on God's level. Everybody's below Him. Everybody is a criminal like Barabbas, because nobody deserves to go free.

The entire crowd that condemned Jesus was Barabbas. In fact, Jesus is the only One who isn't Barabbas. And He is the One who gave His life away.

Barabbas walked away free that day. We know nothing at all about his thoughts and feelings. Maybe he thought he just caught a lucky break. Maybe it changed the way he lived the rest of his life. But however he handled it, we each have a decision to make about how we react to God's grace.

Think about this. You are up on the platform where everyone can point their fingers at you. Unless a miracle happens, you're going to die. But God sends somebody up there to trade places with you. The governor asks the crowd who should die, and they say he should release you and kill Jesus.

v. 23 "And he said. 'Why, what evil has He done?' But they shouted all the more, 'Let Him be crucified!'"

I don't think anything more amazing can happen to a person that to be saved by Jesus. Let's never forget that anybody who is saved is just like Barabbas - called innocent and set free. How amazing is it that we get to trade places with Him? He gets the shame and punishment for our mistakes, and we get to be labeled as righteous and come close to God.

God loves to set us free because He loves us. And He doesn't love us because we're perfect. He knows we're not. He loves us because it's what He does. He is love. The humbler we are before Him, the closer we are to Him. The closer we are to Him, the better everything gets.

Like Barabbas, we get to go free. But unlike him, we know the whole story. Let's love God back.