THE SET UP
When I was a kid, my friends and I loved to trade baseball cards. We would pull out shoe boxes of cards and make deals all day long. We didn’t look up the value of each card in a book or worry about mint condition. In fact, sometimes we would write our initials on the back of our cards. I would trade a Hall of Fame level player to my friend for a couple of nobody Cubs players just so I could complete my team set. Sometimes you won the trade and sometimes you lost, but that’s ok, it was just baseball cards. In our text today there is a trade that is made that is one of the worst ever. Jesus, the Lamb that Was Slain to Take Away the Sins of the World is traded for Barabbas, an insurrectionist and murderer. What kind of people make a trade like that? People who are blinded by hate for someone and will do anything to destroy them. And by a spineless Roman governor who will do anything to win the favor of the people. Remember the majority opinion is not always the right opinion.
PASSAGE TO READ
Luke 23:1-25 (Page 634 in our house bibles)
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Why do you think Pilate was so hesitant to arrest and condemn Jesus?
Have you ever thought about what happened to Barabbas? Did he change his life because he was spared? Did he put his faith in Christ?
PRAYER IDEA
Give thanks to Jesus for the indescribable gift that He gave to reconcile the world to God.