Mark 15:1-15

15 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”

5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

6 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.

-Mark 15:1-15

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Jesus took our place.  In this passage, we see that Pilate, one of the rulers of Jerusalem at the time, wanted to find a clever way to release Jesus.  He knew Jesus was innocent but he didn’t want to upset the Jewish leaders who wanted Jesus dead.  So he tried to get Jesus freed by invoking the tradition where he let the people decide who to pardon from execution.

Pilate thought that the people would pick Jesus since he healed people and helped people.  But the people picked a true criminal Barabbas who was a murderer.

Imagine how Barabbas felt when he was told he could go free.  He actually was guilty and committed the crimes he was accused of!  But instead of being punished for them, now Jesus is being punished in his place.

We are just like Barabbas.  We may not have murdered people, but we have sinned and our sins separate us from God leading to spiritual death.  A death we deserve.  But Jesus took our place.  Instead of us dying for our sins, Jesus died for our sins so that we may face God the Father without any condemnation.

Take some time to reflect on what Jesus has done for you.  He took you spot.  He died the death you should have died.  He saved you.