Easter: The Beautiful ExchangeSample

BONDAGE → ← FREEDOM

A Ticket to Freedom

What would you do if you somehow hit the proverbial jackpot—instantly becoming wealthy with new opportunities ahead? It’s a question you’ve likely asked yourself before. Around 2,000 years ago, a man named Barabbas wrestled with a similar question.

Did he win some ancient Roman lottery? In a way he did. Every year at Passover, it was custom for the Roman governor to release one prisoner. In this case, the two in question were Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, and Barabbas, an infamous rebel and murderer.

It seems like a logical choice, right? I mean, why would anyone want to release Barabbas—a murderer who did bad things and deserved his death sentence? Why would anyone choose to sentence Jesus to death instead? Even Pilate, the Roman governor, found no guilt in Him whatsoever. But the crowd chose to release Barabbas and to crucify Jesus.

God masterfully painted a picture here for us with Jesus and Barabbas. Jesus was crucified on the cross, taking the punishment that was meant for Barabbas, a notorious criminal. And guess what? That cross was also meant for us! 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV) says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree . . .” And 1 Timothy 2:6 (NLT) says, “He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.”

You see, we are all guilty. From the moment Adam sinned, our guilt was established and our sentence handed down. That sentence? Death. Romans 6:23 tells us very clearly “the wages of sin is death.” And because that debt needed to be paid, that sentence needed to be carried out.

What a fitting picture this is for all of us. As the crowd—acting within God’s perfect will—called for Barabbas’ release and Jesus’ crucifixion . . . as Jesus took Barabbas’ place on the cross, the criminal was granted his freedom. He was given the opportunity to start fresh, to begin again.

But the biggest question for Barabbas, after hitting this jackpot, became “What will I do with my freedom?” We don’t actually know what Barabbas did. Maybe he went back to his old life of crime and insurrection. Maybe the fact that an innocent man who changed so many lives and healed so many broken and wounded people died for him compelled him to use his freedom to seek God with all his heart. We don’t know, and quite frankly, it’s of little importance. But what is of great importance today, here and now, is what you do with the freedom Christ died to give you!

If you’ve never received the freedom that comes from a relationship with Jesus, the freedom from hopelessness, emptiness, brokenness, hate, anger, resentment, and everything else that holds us down and keeps us chained, today can be your day. For John 1:12 tells us that all who receive Him and believe in Him will be saved.

If you’ve already received the freedom of Jesus, but still feel burdened and held down, remember that “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1 NIV). Being free, we often put ourselves back into captivity by our thoughts or actions, by trying to do things our own way and not God’s way. Remember, we’ve already received our freedom. All we need to do is ask the Lord to help us walk in it every day! He will always lead us where we need to go!

Today is Good Friday, the day these events occurred . . . the day Jesus died in our place. Spend some time reading through the story (Matthew 26–27, Luke 22–23, Mark 14–15, John 13–19) and reflect on the significance of the beautiful exchange that took place on the cross.

DIG: Read Matthew 27:15–26, John 8:12, and Galatians 5:1–6.  
DISCOVER: Have you ever been given something for free? What did you do with it? Did you throw it away or put it to use? What are you doing with the freedom Jesus went to the cross to give you?
DISPLAY: If you’ve already received freedom in Christ, spend some time praying today that the Lord would help you walk in your freedom and not fall back into bondage to anything. If you’ve never received Jesus and you’re ready to experience that freedom, simply pray and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and come into your life as Lord and Savior.