Barabbas or Jesus: The King Who Took Your Place

Introduction

Three weeks out from Easter, Guy de Bourbon-Parme, a church-planting pastor in Palaiseau since December 2023, opens the Bible to Mark 15:1-15. He's preaching at Momentum on Jesus's interrogation before Pilate, and on that stunning moment when the crowd chooses to free Barabbas (a murderer), instead of Jesus. The title of the message is simple: "The King Who Took My Place." The Gospel isn't some old religious file: it's good news that saves you from death, saves you from condemnation, and restores you. This morning, you're invited to stand before the cross, to understand who Barabbas really is, and to receive a grace that sets you free.

Message outline

1. Pilate face to face with a King who doesn't fit his categories

• Pilate questions Jesus: "Are you the King of the Jews?" (Mark 15:2). Mark, the author of the Gospel, turns Pilate into an unwitting confessor. Just before this, in Mark 14, the high priest had torn his clothes on hearing Jesus declare himself "sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky", blasphemy punishable by death under the religious authorities.
• Under Roman rule, Jews couldn't put anyone to death. They had to go through Roman courts. So they slide a theological trial into a political one. The question "Are you the King of the Jews?" doesn't interest Pilate spiritually. It interests him politically: if Jesus claims to be King, he becomes a threat to Roman peace, a risk of rebellion, a risk of civil war. The Jews were expecting a Messiah-king who would drive out the Romans and give Israel back its independence.
• Facing the violence of this unjust trial, Jesus stays silent. "Have you no answer? See how many things they testify against you." But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate marveled (Mark 15:4-5). This silence is not a silence of defeat. It's a silence of surrender to God's sovereignty in the passion. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho, already points to this dimension.
• This silence fulfills an ancient prophecy: "He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). Jesus knows his moment has come. He knows the bitter cup he had so dreaded is here. He doesn't defend himself, because he hasn't come to save himself, he's come to save you.

2. Barabbas or Jesus: the impossible choice

• Pilate looks for a way out. At every feast, he had a custom of releasing one prisoner the crowd requested. So he offers a choice: Barabbas or Jesus (Mark 15:6-11). Barabbas is a murderer, a rioter, a man who killed during an uprising. He's a bad man, a man who deserves crucifixion under the law of the day.
• Facing him stands Jesus. His crime? He healed the sick. He taught love. He set people free from their demons. He reached out to his neighbor. And yet, stirred up by the chief priests, the crowd chooses Barabbas and demands that Jesus be crucified (Mark 15:13-14).
• The name "Barabbas" literally means "son of the father." Here's the reversal: Bar-Abbas, "son of the father," is chosen to live, while the Son of God is chosen to die in his place. Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate releases Barabbas, and after having Jesus flogged, he hands him over to be crucified (Mark 15:15).
• It's easy to point a finger at Barabbas: "What a horrible man." But Jesus literally took his place on the cross. And if you look closely, Barabbas is you. He's me. He's all of us. We're the ones who deserve death. We're the ones who don't deserve a second chance. Maybe you haven't killed anyone, I hope not. Maybe you haven't gone as far as Barabbas. But the Bible says: "For there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:22-24). That's grace: Jesus took your place.

3. A grace you never run out of

• Maybe you've heard this message a thousand times, even a million times. Maybe you haven't. Guy de Bourbon-Parme shares his own practice: as Easter approaches, he sets aside a special time for God, a "social media fast" that works out more or less well, but that helps him remember this grace. As Protestants, we're sometimes wary of anything "too traditional." It's not about falling into formalism, but about taking real time to remember.
• And no matter how many times we hear about grace, we keep sinning. We keep hurting the people around us. We keep hurting God. We keep stumbling, falling, doing things the wrong way. Remember the woman caught in adultery: it's the oldest ones who lay down their stones first, because they know, better than anyone, how much they too need grace.
• An elderly person once confided to Guy de Bourbon-Parme: "I've used up grace more than you can imagine. Every day, I needed grace. Every day, I never managed to be after God's own heart." The apostle John puts it this way: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:8-9).

4. Coming back to the cross : without picking your burden back up

• It doesn't matter where you're at in your faith. It doesn't matter if you know this message by heart. It doesn't matter if you tell yourself you're not worth it. It doesn't matter how many times you've had to come back to the cross for this sin, or that one. A pastor, in a podcast, once shared that he struggled for years against pornography. He had to come back to the cross, every time, every time, every time. Then, one day, it was gone.
• Sometimes we tell ourselves: "After all this, do I still deserve this cross? Do I still deserve this forgiveness? Do I still deserve this grace?" The good news is: yes. And sometimes, accepting this grace, accepting this forgiveness, is hard. Guy de Bourbon-Parme brings up an image from a Swiss cartoonist: the little figure sets down his sack of sins, then, before walking off, picks it back up onto his back and leaves carrying his burden. How often are we just the same? Don't throw a stone at anyone, we're all like this.
• You're not worthy enough to draw near to God, that's true. But there's grace. There's the cross. And Jesus died, but he also rose again. Easter isn't only the cross: it's also the resurrection. It's the promise of soon being with him, where there will be no more suffering.
• Life here is hard. Remember Ecclesiastes 3:11: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can't find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end." How hard it is, sometimes, to believe this in the middle of a sin that keeps coming back, of bad patterns that haven't yet let go. The Bible nowhere promises that everything here will be easy. Guy de Bourbon-Parme recalls having met "some Jobs", like an elderly woman who lost her whole family young in an accident, then lived through a wretched remarriage, and who still kept saying: "God is good. God is full of grace."

5. Laying your burden down : and walking away free

• "For freedom, Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore, and don't be entangled again with a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). Come to the cross. Lay your burden down. Don't pick it back up on your way out. Go ask forgiveness from those you've offended. Go be reconciled with those you're estranged from.
• It's so easy to sweep things under the rug: it's private, it's personal, no one needs to know. Don't settle for that. Ask for help. Look to this grace. Cry out to God. He restores. And even if you'll never be fully restored on this earth, he's already restoring now. The Kingdom is "already here, but not yet."
• "How wonderful grace is." Maybe it would be worth preaching an entire year on this alone, that's how magnificent God's plan is. Take five good minutes of silence. You, before God. Before your sins. Before the next step you need to take, asking forgiveness, being reconciled, receiving grace. Ask God for the wisdom to know how to do it, in your own situation.

Key takeaways

• Before Pilate, Jesus stays silent, not out of defeat, but out of surrender to God's sovereignty, fulfilling Isaiah 53:7. He doesn't defend himself because he hasn't come to save himself.
• Barabbas means "son of the father." The human father's son is set free; the Son of God takes his place. This reversal is the heart of the Gospel.
• Barabbas is you. He's me. "There is no distinction, for all have sinned" (Romans 3:22-24). Grace means Jesus took your place on the cross.
• You never run out of this grace. Come back to the cross as often as you need to, for the same sin if you must. Accepting forgiveness is sometimes harder than asking for it, don't pick your burden back up after setting it down.
• Easter isn't only the cross: it's also the resurrection. Christ has set us free for freedom (Galatians 5:1). Walk away free, and go be reconciled.

Personal application

1. What sin do you keep bringing back to the cross, wondering whether you still deserve that forgiveness? Are you ready, today, to believe that grace is still enough, even for this time?
2. Is there a burden you've set down before God and then picked back up before walking away? What, concretely, is stopping you from leaving it at the cross?
3. Like Protestants wary of anything "too traditional," do you set aside a special time as Easter approaches to remember grace? What fast, what silence, what act of consecration could you build into the next three weeks?
4. Who do you need to go ask forgiveness from, with a sincere heart? Who, on the other side, do you need to extend that forgiveness to?
5. Facing the "Jobs" you meet (people who've walked through the worst and still say "God is good"), what do they teach you about a grace that restores "already, but not yet"?

Scriptures cited

• Mark 15:1-15 · Jesus before Pilate, Barabbas or Jesus
• Mark 14:61-64 · Jesus before the high priest
• Isaiah 53:7 · as a lamb led to the slaughter
• Romans 3:22-24 · all have sinned, all are justified freely
• 1 John 1:8-10 · if we confess our sins, he is faithful
• Ecclesiastes 3:11 · he has made everything beautiful in its time
• Galatians 5:1 · for freedom Christ has set us free

Frequently asked questions

What does the name "Barabbas" mean, and why does it matter?

Barabbas comes from the Aramaic Bar-Abbas, which literally means "son of the father." Mark plays on this stunning reversal: a man called "son of the father" is released in place of the true Son of the Father, Jesus, who is about to die in his place. Historically, Barabbas is a murderer and a rioter who deserves crucifixion under Roman law. Theologically, he represents every human being, we deserve death because of sin, and Jesus is the one who takes our place.

Why does Jesus stay silent before Pilate?

His silence is not a silence of defeat. It's a silence of surrender to God's sovereignty in the passion, as Justin Martyr points out in his Dialogue with Trypho. This silence fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7: "As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." Jesus doesn't defend himself because he hasn't come to save himself. He's come to take Barabbas's place, and yours.

Can I really keep coming back to the cross for the same sin, over and over?

Yes. That's the heart of Guy de Bourbon-Parme's message. No matter how many times you've had to come back for this sin or that one, grace is still there. A pastor mentioned in the message struggled for years against pornography and had to keep coming back to the cross, every time, every time, until one day it was gone. 1 John 1:9 is clear: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins." The real trap isn't coming back too often: it's picking your burden back up after setting it down, or believing yourself too unworthy to draw near. Galatians 5:1 reminds us: Christ has set us free so that we would be free.