Father, we give you thanks this morning, for this is the day the Lord is made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. The Lord is risen. He is risen indeed. And because He is risen, we have been set free from the penalty of sin. We have been set free from the sting of death. We are now raised with Him and we long for the final resurrection when we will see Him face to face and we will glory in Christ Jesus in a way we never have before. Lord, I pray that You would be glorified now. We give You thanks for this time in Your Word and praise for it by the name of our Savior Jesus. Amen. I would ask that you turn in your Bible to Luke chapter 23. Luke Chapter 23. When I was in college, I remember watching a movie that arrested my attention like few I had seen before. It was about a time in America's history when, fictionally, when we would undergo a surprise attack by communist invaders from south of the border. The story focused on a small Midwestern town where airborne communist commandos parachuted onto a small high school campus where they would set up their base of operation in attacking America. It seemed to the communists that this was an easy target which would offer little opposition but much to their surprise a small group of high schoolers gathered together determined that they would resist the invaders and to fight and to defeat this small communist army. The high schoolers even came up with a name for their little militia. They called themselves the Wolverines. Somehow, they were able to obtain firearms and explosives. Before long, they were wreaking havoc among the communist army. The Wolverines specialized in guerrilla warfare. Frequently, they would meander into public buildings where communist soldiers were gathering and leave a backpack full of explosives. At other times, they would rig booby traps designed to destroy military personnel carriers. And it wasn't long before this small town of soldiers began living in fear. The soldiers were living in fear of this little band of high school students who were determined to protect their nation. This is precisely the atmosphere we enter as we step into the world of the Jews during the days of Jesus near the city of Jerusalem in the land of Israel. God's people had been occupied. They had once occupied this land. In fact, they had for hundreds of years. It was their land. God had given it to them. When Greece had come to take it over by force, it wasn't very long before the Jewish people became organized enough to drive them away. You remember the Hasmoneans, led by Joseph Maccabeus, sometimes called the Maccabeans, the Maccabean Revolt. But Rome, however, was another matter. When the Romans took over the nation of Israel, there was no hope of repelling them. They were just too great. They were just too many of them. They were too organized, too well-funded, too well-supplied. They just had to learn to live with the fact that they were going to be governed by hostile Gentile forces, a Gentile nation. And yet, not all the Jews were willing to submit to that eventuality. Within the country, there remained a small group of secret guerrilla soldiers who were willing to do whatever they could to hurt and hopefully, eventually repel them. They were known as the Zealots. But they operated more like bandits, living in caves and holes in the ground. They didn't possess guns or explosives. explosives, those had not been invented yet. Rather, they relied on darkness and the element of surprise as their chief weapons of warfare. They would hide along the road to wait for Roman citizens to rob and often to kill. These zealots were not well liked by the Jews and they were hated by the Romans. And when they were caught, they would stand trial. In Jesus' day, they would stand before Pontius Pilate. And when found guilty, they would be sentenced to death by crucifixion. Such was the case of a man in Scripture whose name was Barabbas. This kind of historical background is important to know when you delve into the narrative of Jesus' execution and eventually His resurrection. It sets the stage for the whole story. We haven't time to look at everything this morning relative to the narrative of Jesus' passion, but I do want you to look with me beginning with verse 13 of Luke chapter 23. Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people and said to them, you brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion. Behold, having examined him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against him. No, nor has Herod, for he sent him back to us. Behold, nothing deserving death has been done by him. Therefore, I will punish him and release him." So he was obliged to release to them one at the feast, one prisoner. But they cried out all together, saying, Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas. He is the one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city and for murder. Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again. But they kept on calling out, saying, Crucify him! Crucify him! And he said to them a third time, why? What evil has this man done? I have found no guilt in him, nothing deserving of death. Therefore, I will punish him and release him. But they were insistent with loud voices asking that he be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. And he released the man they were asking for. who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder. But he delivered Jesus to their will. This is an amazing story. It's one that we don't spend much time on because there's not much known. Though all four Gospel writers mention his name, not much is known about Barabbas. In verse 19, Barabbas It's called a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. And the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost referred to Barabbas as a murderer in his sermon before the Jews. Barabbas was almost certainly a zealot. A member of a group known as the Sicarii. These were militant guerrillas or commandos literally their name means dagger men. They were dedicated to the expulsion and the hatred of Rome because they occupied the promised land. Beyond that we know really nothing about Barabbas. No more is said, no more is told, no more is written in the word of God except that somewhere along the way he had been caught by the Romans. He had stood trial and have been found guilty of his crimes. We know that because only those who had gone through the judicial process were eligible to be set free according to the Passover amnesty plan. And the amnesty plan basically went like this. Every year at Passover, someone who had gone through the appropriate channels and who had been convicted and was sentenced to death could be released. In fact, someone was supposed to be released every year. as a gesture of goodwill by Pontius Pilate. This was the Roman amnesty plan. Suffice it to say, Barabbas was a criminal who had been caught in his crime against Rome. Roman justice was having its way. Therefore, Barabbas was legally, judicially, forensically condemned to death. Jesus, on the other hand, was quite Barabbas's opposite. When Jesus stood before the bar of Pilate, he stood as an innocent man. He'd been brought there before Annas, before Caiaphas, and even before the Sanhedrin, these 70 leaders, the 70 judges of Israel. He'd even been brought before Herod. And now he was back to punish this Pilate for the second time. And yet no one could substantiate a single charge against him. It was their law that the only way a charge could be substantiated and used legally against a victim was that there had to be two witnesses. There had to be two witnesses to the crime. And every witness they brought gave a different story. They even paid a couple of men to come and give the story, and they got it wrong. You know, they gave him money and they said, read this. And they couldn't they couldn't get it right. It wasn't until someone charged Jesus with saying that he would tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days that they asked Jesus directly. And his response was enough for them to condemn him. Far from being lawless, Jesus was there, the very fulfillment of the law. You remember back in Matthew chapter five, turn with me there if you would. Matthew chapter five, this is the story of, well, this is kind of the scenario of Jesus beginning his ministry at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. He'd been baptized by John the Baptist. John the Baptist said, you should be baptizing me, I shouldn't be baptizing you. And Jesus said, No, this is this is to fulfill all righteousness. And then in his sermon on the Mount, he says these words, verses 17 through 20 of chapter five, Do not think that I came to abolish the law and the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the slightest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. I have not come to abolish the law. I have come to fulfill it. Jesus was not lawless. He was the very embodiment of the law. And then we look at 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 22. This is Peter's description of Him, quoting from the Old Testament, "...who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth." Jesus was infinitely purer than His accusers, because as Paul wrote, "...in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form." He is God. He has no guilt. He has no sin. He has never, ever even thought of doing anything wrong. He is perfect in thought, word, and deed. He was innocent because he was in fact the eternally holy God. Nevertheless, the Jewish leaders charged Jesus with being an insurrectionist, something he was not, but something that Barabbas was. The very crime that Barabbas had been found guilty of, they now accuse Jesus of. Go back to Luke chapter 23 again, beginning with verse 1. Then the whole body of them got up and brought him to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, we found this man misleading our nation, forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ the King. Beloved, that's not why they were trying to kill him. It's not why they were going to kill him. In order to see that, you have to go back to Matthew chapter 26. Matthew 26. Try to stay with me here. I know it's rainy, and I'm jumping you around because I want you to stay awake. Matthew 26. Starting with verse 63. But Jesus kept silent, and the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God. And he said to him, OK, very few answers did Jesus give when he was being charged, but this one he gave clearly. You have said it yourself. Nevertheless, I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming in the clouds of heaven. They knew exactly what that meant. It may seem ambiguous to us, but they knew the Old Testament. They knew exactly what Jesus was saying. You have nailed it. I am the Christ. And you will not see me long, but one day you will see me, because I will be sitting next to the power. Capital P. I will be sitting next to the father and I will come again in my glory He's saying I am Israel's king I Am Israel's king Say there Matthew 27 Look at verses 12 through 14 Verse 12. And while he was being accused the chief priests and elders by the chief priests and elders, he did not answer. And Pilate said to him, do you not hear how many things they testify against you? And he did not answer them with regard to even a single charge. So the governor was quite amazed. The chief priests and the elders were there also and began to accuse him. But Jesus made no answer. Why? Why? Because that is what the prophet said would happen. He would be accused, he would be led like a lamb to the slaughter, Isaiah 53, 7, and yet he would not open his mouth. He would not give defense. That's why John the Baptist said of him, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Why didn't Jesus defend himself? Because if he had successfully defended himself against these false charges, it would have ruined the much greater plan that God had. Jesus didn't come to earth to save himself, but to have sinners saved. To make sinners saved. To save them by His own blood and righteousness. He came to save the likes of you and me, and if he were to save us, he would have to die for us first." By now, Pilate was fully convinced that the Jewish rulers were bringing charges against Jesus because they were jealous of him. There was no justice to be found in their case against Jesus, and so he sought to release him. It just so happened that this was all taking place during the Passover. Jesus, being led by God the Father, who is sovereign over all, had everything planned down to the last moment. And in the fullness of time, He came. And at just the right moment, He was accused. And at the very hour, He would die. It just so happened that it was the Passover Now the Romans have developed a unique practice in Israel to keep relations with the Jews smooth and unhindered as they were trying to keep possession of this land with as little rioting and as little resistance as possible so during the Passover feast the governor could enact a customary amnesty program whereby one convicted Jewish prisoner would be set free. And Pilate knew that he wouldn't get anywhere with the Jewish leaders in his attempt to set Jesus free, but he figured he could get the crowds on his side. Recent history proved that the common people loved Jesus. I mean, it was obvious, right? Everywhere Jesus went, they followed Him. They followed Him in droves. Even there in Matthew chapter 5, He was on the mountain and the crowds came to Him to hear. He would get out of a boat off the sea and the crowds would gather and He would feed them. He would heal them. He would teach them. Word was getting out. You remember the story of Barabbas? He was walking through Damascus. And there was a man beside the road born blind. And how did he know Jesus was coming? Because the massive crowd was making so much noise. And word had already gotten to this blind man. that Jesus was probably the Christ. I mean, the lame are walking, and the deaf are hearing, and the dead have been raised to life, and even the blind were able to see. And the blind man thought, oh, if this is Jesus, I might be able to regain my sight. And so he began calling out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus healed him. And Pilate knew it. And so he appealed to them. Verse 15, Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom he wanted. This is Matthew 27. And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when the people gathered together Pilate said to them, Who do you want me to release for you? And notice he's talking to the people. The people. Who do you want me to release to you? Barabbas? Or Jesus, who is called the Christ? Understand the logic here. Pilate is thinking to himself, there's no way they're going to want Barabbas to go free. Because every time we catch this guy, it goes badly for the people. We got to get our guards out. We got to go searching for them. If we suspect anybody, they may be killed. I mean, it's really bad for you when Barabbas is out. And so I ask, you want Barabbas? Or do you want this man? The only thing he's done is teach and heal. And so he appealed to them. And so when the people gathered together, verse 17, Pilate said to them, who do you want me to release for you, Barabbas or Jesus, who is called Christ? For he knew that because of envy they had handed him over. Pilate was no dunce. Pilate was a smart man. He didn't ascend to the leadership of the Roman occupation of Israel. without reason, without cause. He ascended the ranks in leadership in Rome. I mean, it was hard to do that. You had to be bright. You had to be loyal. You had to have killed a lot of people and led armies into victory. He knew why these Jewish leaders were bringing Jesus. He was an affront to their power. He knew it was about envy. He knew that all the people were coming to Jesus, and they were beginning to suspect the Jewish leaders that maybe they weren't the leaders that they were supposed to be, that they had made themselves out to be. I mean, didn't it all make sense when Jesus spoke about this through the Sermon on the Mount, when He talked about what a believer is supposed to be, and warning about the Pharisees and the scribes, hypocrites? I mean, Didn't they all run away when Jesus took the cat of nine tails and quoted scripture running through the temple, driving them out? I mean, weren't they being exposed as a fraud? And yet everything he said and everything he did spoke of reality. He really could heal. All these Jewish leaders could do was maintain their power and oppression over people. But Jesus loved them. And He served them like a sheep, like a shepherd serving sheep who had no shepherd. This was all about envy. This was about power games. This was about who was going to lead this nation and who were the people going to follow. And it was obvious. Look at verse 19. When He was sitting on the judgment seat, His wife, this pilot's wife, sent him a message saying, I have nothing to do with this righteous man. For last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of him. Okay, so now we've got some spiritual things going on. We don't know where this message came from or why or how. We don't have any explanation in the text. We don't even have a statement that God sent the dream. All we know is that in the mystery of God's providence, this woman dreamed about Jesus. And she warned her husband. She warned her husband. Talk about feminine intuition. He should have listened. That's what every wife says, right? He should have listened. He should have listened. But he didn't. Surely the Jewish leaders would acquiesce to the pressure of the people. The pilot miscalculated. Verse 20. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. Pilate was absolutely astonished. His plan was so simple. He was well thought through. There was no way that people were going to ask for Barabbas. It meant only trouble. But it wasn't just the Jewish leaders. It wasn't just the Jewish leaders who persuaded the people. We know from all over Scripture that God the Father was doing this. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. God was doing this. God was putting His Son there to bear the guilt of those who were truly guilty. Men like Barabbas. Men like me. Look at verse 21. But the governor said to them, Which of the two do you want me to release to you? And they said, Barabbas. And Pilate said to them, Are you kidding? What shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ? And they all said, crucify him. Crucify him. When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, and this was the worst fear of any Roman governor of Jerusalem, Pilate was not the only one, that riots would begin. Because word would get back to the emperor. the leader you have in Israel has lost control. And it could cost him his life. And so they would do almost anything to prevent riots from happening. In fact, on a previous occasion, this very same Pontius Pilate was having trouble with some Jews, and he just went in and slaughtered them all. And he would do other things like that after Jesus' death. But he was going out of his way trying to keep control. So when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing but rather that it was, there was a riot starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd saying, I am innocent of this man's blood. See to that yourselves. And all the people, this is astonishing. This is astonishing. All the people said this, his blood be on us. and on our children. Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what you're saying? And so he released, notice that, he released Barabbas for them. But after having Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified. Injustice here? We see injustice here? In all of human history, there has never been such a deviant miscarriage of justice. Because never before in human history has an infinitely innocent and pure man been condemned to die. As we read this horrific account of Jesus' condemnation and death, we are left asking ourselves, Why? Why did God let him be murdered? Why didn't He stop it? Why? Well, there's two words that provide an answer for us. I know we live in a modern time where people come to church and don't want anything above a 7th grade reading level, but I'm going to present to you two words of theology that we need to understand. They're not just theological words, they're biblical words. At least the first is. These two words are these, propitiation and expiation. Say it with me, propitiation and expiation. Do you have any idea what those words mean? Probably propitiation is one that is familiar with you because we've talked about it extensively here. Expiation, maybe not. propitiation is the act by which one person is made favorable to another person when they would otherwise be a rift between them because of anger when propitiation is made the two parties who were enemies now enjoy peace because their anger has been satisfied their requirements for justice have been satisfied when propitiation is made the two enemies now enjoy peace together in for example in Romans 325 in Hebrews 9 5 the Greek word here is used he'll a stereo and this is the same word employed by the Greek translation of the Old Testament the Septuagint we find it back in Exodus 25 it's used to translate the word for covering it's used of the covering of the Ark of the Covenant for one thing the lid to the Ark of the Covenant was often called the mercy seat. But it is from time to time referred to simply as the covering. The reason that's significant is because the lid of the ark is where the high priest would once a year sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice for the people's sins. By sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, the priest made propitiation. He made peace. He satisfied the just and holy requirement and the wrath of God. Now, I said to you that all of this was strategically timed to happen on the day of Passover. Why is that strategic? Because the day of Passover is the day of atonement. It is the very day in which the high priest would enter through the veil to they didn't have it in this day but back back before the dispersion the Ark of the Covenant was actually in the temple back before Babylon came and destroyed the temple the Ark of the Covenant was actually in the temple and every year on the Day of Atonement he would go in and he would take blood on a kind of a broomstick thing, hyssop he would dip it in the blood that was just poured out of the sacrifice out by the altar, and he would go in and sprinkle it on the mercy seat, on the covering. This was the very day that Jesus would be sacrificed. The blood of bulls and goats could never satisfy the wrath of God. It could never bring about permanent propitiation. Only the blood of Christ could. In 1 John 2-2 and then again in chapter 4 verse 10, Christ Jesus Himself is called the propitiation for our sins. How is He the propitiation? He is the propitiation because He became our substitute. assuming our obligations, taking on our guilt, and covering it all by the punishment that He endured on the cross on our behalf. Now let's compare the concept of propitiation with expiation. When Jesus died on the cross in our place, He not only paid our debt to God, but He also satisfied God's wrath against us. There are really two concepts here. One is debt. The other one is anger. One is debt. The other is anger. You hear Jesus called the Redeemer? That speaks to the issue of our debt. When He made propitiation, He resolved our debt. But there's more than that. To understand this teaching more fully, let's consider the case of a certain factory worker who was seriously injured on the job after the doctors had done all they could still left him paralyzed and so an investigation ensued and revealed that the company was at fault because it didn't provide a safe working place nor the proper safety equipment for its employees. Thus, it was liable for the dangerous conditions that resulted in this man's injury and permanent paralysis. As we have seen in similar situations, the court will probably award the injured man a great sum of money that will carry him through for the rest of his life to cover for his pain and suffering and permanent injury. And once the company pays the judgment against it, it has expiated its wrongdoing. In other words, it has paid its debt to this man. The demands of justice have been satisfied. The law, whatever the law required, has now been fulfilled. The company no longer has any responsibility toward the English, toward the injured man. That is expiation. But we've not dealt with how the injured man feels toward the company. He may be filled with resentment and bitterness, even hatred. He may spend the rest of his life abhorring the name of that company, even though he has been directed to receive money from them as payment for his injuries. Probably more money than he could ever possibly use. The debt that the wrong incurred has been expiated. It's been paid in full. But the wrath that the wrong incurred has not been propitiated. He is still angry. There are a lot of people today, a lot of scholars today, who don't like this whole teaching on the wrath of God. That our problem is not just debt. It's wrath. It's not just that we owe God something that we could never pay, although that's true, but He is angry. And you could go to any number of texts on this, but Romans 1, it's a great one, the wrath of God. The wrath of God is being poured out on all on wickedness. Why? Because they turn their backs Because we all knew about God. We all saw His invisible attributes on display through the things that He has made, the creation. And yet we exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for images, for gods of our own making that we can manipulate, that we can be more comfortable with. And God is angry. When Christ died, He not only paid the debt for our sins, but He reconciled us to God by satisfying the Father's wrath. He has made both expiation, He's paid our debt, but He has made propitiation as well. God is not angry with you anymore. If you've come to Him by faith in His work, which He performed on the cross through Jesus Christ, God is not angry with you anymore. I was counseling someone one time, and they were in a terrible fix. They committed sin after sin after sin, and there was consequence after consequence, multiplied consequences. And we were going through trying to help this person. And I said, OK, let's talk about what your heart is feeling. And she said, I feel depressed and I feel bad. What words are coming out of those thoughts? And this person said this, God is punishing me. He hates me. He is angry at me. And I stopped him right there and I said, that is a lie. It's not true. If it is true that He is angry at you and Jesus' death did not accomplish what the Father sent Him to do, He is not angry at you. You are His child. He is your Father. He adopted you by His own will. He said, I will not leave you as orphans. And He has come for you because He loves you. He died for you in the person of Christ. The story of Barabbas seems to jump into the narrative of Jesus out of nowhere and seems to go nowhere. What in the world does this criminal have to do with anything remotely connected to me or the gospel? And I would answer, everything. That's why it's here. I've read all kinds of stuff on the atonement, because the atonement right now, if you've got your ear to the ground on theological circles, this is the big attack. It's on the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. And as I read this stuff, I marvel that no one mentions Barabbas. I mean, do we need a picture of expiation? and propitiation, the substitutionary atonement, that's why Barabbas is here. There's perhaps no better picture in all the Word of God, certainly no better picture in the Gospel, the reason Jesus died than the story of Barabbas. You see, beloved, here is why. I am I am Barabbas. And so are you. And so are your children. I am the one who deserved to die. I am the guilty one. It was I who lived as a lawbreaker and criminal, not Jesus. I am the one to blame. It is I who am worthy of death. But in my place condemned, He stood. Beloved, this is the heart of the gospel. This is the heart of the gospel. John wrote, by this, the love of God has been manifest in us, that God has sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him. And this is love. Not that we love God. I mean, Barabbas didn't love God. But that he loved us and sent his son to be what? the propitiation for our sins. It is because of Jesus that God is not angry with you. Yes, He may discipline you, but He is not angry. John the Baptist said, Behold, the Lamb of God He takes away the sin of the world, Paul told the Corinthians, for I am determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To the Galatians he says, but may it never be that I should boast except in the cross of Christ Jesus my Lord. Everywhere we went in Tajikistan a couple weeks ago, every house church we went to, the big church everywhere, and this is true everywhere you go in Russia, for all the evangelical Baptist churches, especially those associated with the UECB, the Baptist Union. When you walk in, just look for the most prominent place. It may be above, on the wall behind the pulpit. If that's not available, some of the house churches we went to had windows, so that wasn't available. It was the back wall. Wherever they could find the biggest empty space, they would write these words, We preach Christ crucified, risen, and coming again. It's the cross. It's the message of the cross. And that's how the Apostle Paul summarized it. That was kind of the logo. The cross. If he wanted to summarize the gospel, he said, the cross. Isaiah wrote, Isaiah 53, 3 through 6, speaking of the coming Messiah, as if it were in the past tense. hundreds of years before Jesus would be born. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and it is by his scourging we are healed. All of us, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned His own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. If that's not substitution, then words have no meaning. If that is not substitution, words have no meaning. In the story of Barabbas, is nonsense, and the death of Christ is meaningless. If you're trying to keep up with the current theological trends, as I've said, then you know that this is a big issue. And we don't have time to explore it this morning, but I challenge you to read the things that Mark Dever and J.I. Packer and R.C. Sproul and John Piper and John MacArthur, C.J. Mahaney, All of them are writing on this topic because this is the very place where the battle is raging. This is why the story of Barabbas is precious to me and why it should be precious to you. Jesus' supreme achievement on the cross is that He propitiated the wrath of God which would burn against us were we not covered by the sacrifice of Christ. R.C. Sproul writes these words. A substitute has appeared in space and time, appointed by God Himself to bear the weight and the burden of our transgressions, to make expiation for our guilt, and to propitiate the wrath of God on our behalf. This is the gospel. Therefore, if you take away the substitutionary atonement, you empty the cross of its meaning and drain all the significance out of the passion of our Lord Himself. If you do that, you take away Christianity itself. The Muslims are wrong. God did not rescue Jesus from the shame of the cross. If he did, we are all lost. P.P. Bliss, writer of some of our beloved hymns that we have sung for many, many years in the church, wrote these words, and we may have sung this on Friday night. Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood. Sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior. One of our favorite songs here at Calvary Bible Church goes like this. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free, like Barabbas, for God to just be satisfied to look on Him and pardon me. That's the gospel. It's pictured for us in Barabbas. It is described explicitly by the prophet Isaiah. It is explained by Paul and the other apostles. And it is offered to you and to me. You say, I thought this was Resurrection Day, not Crucifixion Day. It is. But you know what? The resurrection didn't satisfy the wrath of God. The resurrection did not expiate our debt. The resurrection proved that what Jesus did on the cross was expiate our debt and propitiate the wrath of God against us. If it weren't for the resurrection, we'd still wonder, and we would never know, and it probably would have never been written down that a man named Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross, and the Muslims may have been right. But they are not, because He is risen. He is risen indeed. Let's pray. Father, we give You praise this morning and Thanksgiving. You are so abundantly gracious to this Barabbas. And we don't know if Barabbas ever turned, but we know that by Your grace we have turned to You. And we have found in you the joy and satisfaction of our souls because you have removed the guilt and the shame that were truly ours because of sin. And so we praise you. And we will praise you for eternity. Oh, Father, I pray if there's anyone in this room who doesn't know you, who's never embraced the expiation and the propitiation of Jesus Christ, that they would be today Barabbas redeemed, that they would put their trust in you completely and find the satisfaction of their souls and the forgiveness of their sins. May it be, Father, for your great glory and for their eternal joy. For we pray it by the name of our Savior, Jesus.