Matt 27:11–26 — On Trial Before Pilate

Suffered Under Pontius Pilate

If you recall, in the Apostles’ Creed, there is an important line in the second major paragraph. Remember, the Apostles’ Creed has three paragraphs, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In the second major paragraph concerning the Son, there is a line that says that Jesus Christ, our Lord, suffered under Pontius Pilate. And that same concept, that same thought and the reference to Pilate is also mentioned in the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed, which is the one that we are going to use for our confession of faith at the end of the service, says that he was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.

It is an amazing thing that the name of this pagan Roman governor who was appointed by the emperor in Rome to be the governor of Judea and to be the symbol of Roman authority within the land of the Jews, that this pagan Roman governor and his precise name is actually recorded for us, not only in the gospels, but also mentioned in our creeds, in the early creeds of the early church. Why is that? Why is the name of Pontius Pilate mentioned in the Creed? Why is it important to bring that up?

So many other things you could have talked about, about the sufferings of Christ, so many other things we could have mentioned, and yet the name of Pontius Pilate makes it into the Creed. Well, one reason, and the reason why the Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed specifically mentions it, mentions the name of Pilate, is to verify the historical reality of the death of Christ.

The death and resurrection of Christ is not a myth. You know that there are many ancient myths that have some idea of a God who dies and rises again, but it is all mythological? There is not like a specific time when it happened under the reign of Pontius Pilate. It is just simply long ago in the ancient of days, there was something that happened and it is like this recurring cycle. The myth of Isis and Osiris in Egypt is based on this idea of a god who is crucified or who is like torn apart and then the pieces of his body are gathered back again together.

A lot of the higher critical scholars who do not believe in the historicity of the Gospels do not believe in the Bible. They argue that this idea of Christ dying and rising again for our salvation is borrowed from these pagan myths. And yet there is a major difference between the account of the death and resurrection of Christ as given for us here in the New Testament, and specifically the four Gospels, on the one hand, and these pagan myths on the other.

These pagan myths are not dated to a specific time. They did not happen in recent history where you could actually date when it happened and know who was reigning at that time. They are simply these myths that go into the ancient past that nobody knows where they came from and who knows if they really happened.

And it is also a recurring cycle that happens every year. They use this myth of Isis and Osiris to explain why the Nile would flood every year. And so it is just simply a myth. It is simply an idea. And it is simply a way of trying to talk about fertility and how every year the Earth dies in the wintertime and is reborn in the spring and so on. That is not what the Bible is talking about when it talks about the death and resurrection of Christ.

He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, the well-known governor of Judea, who is established there and set up there by the Roman emperor in order to represent the authority of Rome on earth and in the land. The mention of Pontius Pilate then is very similar to some of the other chronological indicators that are found in the Gospels. For example, just to give you one illustration of this, in the Gospel of Luke. In the Gospel of Luke, we have a chronological indicator given for us in Luke chapter three, verse one. As Luke is preparing to talk about the ministry of John the Baptist and how Jesus is going to be baptized under John the Baptist, Luke identifies when this happened.

He says, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, being governor of Judea, and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, Tetrarch of the region of Etyria and Trachonitis, and Lysanias, Tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. So Pontius Pilate is just one of the pagan rulers that is mentioned along with the others. one of the most important ones being, who was the Roman emperor at the time? It was Tiberius Caesar.

And so the death and resurrection of Christ, the crucifixion of our Lord, is a dateable event that happened in recent history. It is a well-known fact. In fact, we look at the Roman historian Tacitus, who mentioned specifically that there was a man named Christ who was crucified at the time of Pontius Pilate. And so this is a fact that happened in history.

If you were there, you would have seen it. If you were there at the cross you could have put your finger upon the wood and received a splinter because it was real. The incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ was a real event. He was a real human being who lived on earth. He lived in the land of Judea and Galilee, a place that is still, you can still go there.

It is on this planet. It happened in space and time. And so the death and resurrection of Christ is not a myth. It is not a recurring cycle. It is not simply an abstract philosophical idea. It is a historical event that really happened in time and space and history. That is the reason why the name of Pontius Pilate is mentioned in the creeds. But when we look at our text in Matthew 27, Matthew 27, 11 through 26, which is the main text where Pontius Pilate is described and his role in the death of Christ is described in detail.

Our text is not really focusing so much on that particular question of the historicity of the death of Christ, although the creeds are correct to draw that out, and we saw that from Luke 3.1, where Luke again mentions Pontius Pilate. But our text is drawing us in a slightly different direction. The historicity of the death of Christ is absolutely important. The gospel narratives are claiming to be actual, factual history, but in our text, The mentioning of Pilate and his role in the crucifixion of Christ has a theological significance.

You can tell that by a number of things. So one thing that brings that out, the fact that Pilate’s role in this is theological, is the fact that Pilate repeatedly declares that Jesus is innocent. You notice that? Although at the end he does hand him over to be crucified, pronouncing that he is worthy of the punishment, even though he punishes him, in effect declaring him to be guilty.

Nevertheless, before that, before he actually hands him over to be crucified in verse 26, then he released for them Barabbas and having scourged Jesus, delivered him over to be crucified. Before that, Pilate repeatedly emphasizes over and over again that Jesus is innocent. Just look at some of the passages here. Look at in verse 18.

It says, for he knew the reason why he presented to them the option of releasing Barabbas instead of, or releasing Christ instead of putting him to death. It says the reason he did that was he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.

He knew that the charges that the Jews were bringing against Jesus were not true. What was their charge? Their charge was that he is and claims to be the king of the Jews and he is going to raise an insurrection and try to overthrow the Roman government and create a national restoration of Israel in the land. And Pilate knew that that claim was false.

And he knew that the real reason why they handed him over to be crucified was out of envy. That is, they were feeling challenged by Jesus’ authority and his popularity. And the fact that he had so many people on his side who were going after him and listening to his teaching and not following the teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees and the Jewish authorities. And so it was out of envy and rivalry that they had delivered him up to get rid of this challenger who was challenging their authority.

That is one of the passages, one of the verses here that indicates that Jesus, or that Pilate knew that Jesus was actually innocent of the charge that the Jews were bringing against him. Another thing that indicates this is in verse 19. It says, Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, have nothing to do with that righteous man. For I have suffered much because of him today in a dream. So Pilate knew that he was innocent. And the innocence of Jesus was revealed to his wife by God in a dream. And he knew he was innocent. He had absolute certainty that Jesus was innocent.

Furthermore, when he goes back again in verses 20 through 21 and says, so which of these two, Barabbas or Jesus, do you want me to release for you? And they said Barabbas. Then Pilate says in verse 22, then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? And they all said, let him be crucified. And then Pilate again says, and he said, why?

What evil has he done? So notice these three things in the text. He knew that it was out of envy and rivalry that they handed him over, not a legitimate charge that he was an insurrectionist against Rome. He knew it because his wife received a vision from God declaring him to be a righteous man, an innocent man. And then thirdly, at the very end, when they finally cry out to Pilate, let him be crucified. He says, why? What evil has he done? He has not done anything wrong. He is innocent.

Notice as well that these declarations of the innocence of Jesus happen in the context of a Roman trial. Now it does not really look like a Roman trial at first because there is so many other things going on like this whole discussion of Barabbas and the proposal of releasing Barabbas.

The fact that there is a crowd there crying out crucify him and so on. At first you might mistake this passage for being something else. Maybe some somewhat a situation where the Roman governor is just standing in front of the crowd to appease the crowd in some way.

The Interrogation Before Pilate

But notice that there is actually a legal trial taking place. Now it is illegal in the sense that the outcome is unjust, but there is a legal proceeding that is happening here in this context. There is a number of things that show that. So one thing would be In verse 11, it says, now Jesus stood before the governor. And that is the common way in Roman law, where the accused is always standing, and the judge who is conducting the trial is always seated. So the fact that Jesus stood before the governor, and then the governor is interrogating him, shows that this is a legal proceeding. This is a trial that is happening.

We also have the reference to the accusers in verse 12. When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. So it is a trial where you have the judge, you have the accused, Jesus, and then you have the accusers who are bringing the charges against Jesus. And the judge is trying to determine the truth of the charges. Verse 14 also uses legal language. It says that Jesus gave him no answer, not even to a single charge. So clearly we have a trial that is going on here.

Another thing that indicates this is the reference to the tribunal in verse 19. It says this is the introduction to the part about, you know, the wife got this dream and sent the message to Pilate. But the introduction to it has a very interesting phrase. It says, besides, while he, that is Pilate, was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him word and so on.

But notice that phrase, he was sitting on the judgment seat, that is the tribunal. This word here in Greek, judgment seat, is the word bema. You have probably heard this in reference to the bema seat of Christ at the final judgment. It is a bema because it is from the Greek word for a step, and so you have to ascend up steps to get to this platform, and the platform is raised up high, and then there is a chair where the magistrate, the judge, is seated. Notice it says specifically that he was seated on the judgment seat.

And then you have the accused who is standing before the judge, but he is at a lower position, below the tribunal, below the platform. And he is standing before the judge to be accused. So this is a judicial proceeding that is happening here. And in this judicial proceeding, we have multiple layers of meaning going on here.

And this is true for the entire passion narrative, which is that there is the first layer of meaning based upon what the individual human actors in the scene are thinking and saying. You have Pilate, you have the Jews, you have, you know, later on in the passion narrative, you have the soldiers who are mocking Jesus. You have those that are scoffing at Christ as they shake their head and mock him as being a self-proclaimed king. So you have that level of what the human actors in the scene are thinking and doing.

And from their perspective, they are just thinking about their own personal interests. Pilate is only thinking about, what can I do to prevent a riot from breaking out? Because if a riot happens, then my masters back in Rome are going to be upset with me, because the whole reason why I have been put here is to keep the peace in this rebellious land of the Jews. And so all Pilate is thinking about is keeping the peace and preventing a riot from breaking out so that he does not lose his job?

The Jews, they are only thinking about their own self-interest, which is their rivalry, their hatred of Christ. They are feeling threatened by him because he is so popular. The crowds are going after him and listening to his teaching and rejecting their teaching. Their authority as the custodians of the traditions of the elders and of the law is being challenged by this Man, this prophet Jesus who is proclaiming an eternal kingdom, a heavenly kingdom, and who is putting them to shame and showing their hypocrisy, and who is casting out demons in the power of God. And so, they are only thinking about themselves and how they need to get rid of this pretender, get rid of this deceiver that they perceive to be a threat to their authority and to their power.

And then there is the crowd who is only thinking about what they want, which is that they want to have Barabbas released to them because Barabbas was a popular insurrectionist. Apparently he had tried to raise a rebellion but got in trouble for it and was in prison. Probably he himself was destined to be crucified in a few days. But the crowd wants him to be released because he is a popular revolutionary who stands for their cause.

So everyone in the earthly plane has their own motives, their own thoughts. Their own interpretation of what is happening. But behind the scenes, there is something deeper that is happening. Behind the scenes, God is at work. Behind the scenes, there is a spiritual transaction that is happening. You can see that from the fact that even though they do not know what they are doing, they are actually acting out the essential truth of the gospel in what they do.

The essential truth of the gospel is that the innocent one is judged in our place so that the guilty one might go free. Is not that exactly what happens in our text? Barabbas is the guilty one. He is the one that deserves to be crucified. Christ is innocent and even Pilate himself knows it and has declared it repeatedly and it is been confirmed by a dream that came to his wife. Christ is innocent. and yet he is the one that is handed over to be punished.

Remember verse 26, then Pilate released for them Barabbas, the guilty one, and having scourged Jesus, that is punished Jesus, the innocent one, he delivered him to be crucified. The scourging part of it, of course we all know from Mel Gibson’s famous movie, The Passion of the Christ, was not just simply one smack along the back, it was a horrific punishment, right, where the Romans would take a flog and it had bits of bone and metal embedded in it and they would just tear that person to shreds. It was such a horrific punishment that it could actually be fatal in many cases where the crucifixion part did not even need to happen because it would, it could kill you. But the scourging of Jesus is part of his punishment.

The Irony of the Trial

So when it says that Pilate released for them Barabbas and then scourged Jesus, he is saying that the guilty one was set free, the one who ought to have been punished, the one who ought to have been scourged and crucified was set free, but the innocent one who had no sin, who was not worthy of punishment, he was the one who was punished and delivered over to be crucified.

The gospel itself is being acted out here in this amazing dialogue between Pilate and the Jews over whether or not they want to have Barabbas or Jesus released to them. And so even though from their earthly point of view and their own individual motives and their own individual thoughts and intents of their heart, they are acting out wickedly, they are acting in unbelief, Even Pilate, even though he is recognizing that Jesus is innocent, yet he commits a horrific sin, horrific crime by punishing an innocent man that he knows is innocent? And he is doing so only to save his own skin and to save his own job. So Pilate is no paragon of virtue. In fact, the fact that he recognizes the innocence of Jesus and still goes ahead with punishing Jesus just shows how wicked he is, that he would do something so evil.

Everyone in the human scene, of course except Christ, but every other human person in this story is acting sinfully and wickedly in unbelief, rejecting Christ, committing horrific sins and crimes. And yet, in the very process of doing all those sinful, evil things, they are unwittingly acting out this play, this drama. that we as the readers of the gospel now look at and marvelously behold the wonderful truth of the gospel itself proclaimed contrary to their own intentions but the gospel itself comes out so clearly and so beautifully for us Notice as well that in verse 26 when it says that Pilate released for them Barabbas and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. That word delivered is so important. I have mentioned this before. It is used throughout the Passion narrative multiple times. It is actually used in three different main places.

It is used in reference to Judas, who betrayed Jesus. He delivered Jesus over to the Jews. Then it is used of the Jews, once Jesus goes before High Priest and Caiaphas. and has his trial before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council. It says that then the Jews deliver Jesus over to Pilate. That is stated in the beginning of Matthew 27. Matthew 27 verse two says that they, that is the priests and the elders, they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. So you have the delivering of Judas, delivering Jesus to the Jews. Then you have the delivering of the Jews, delivering Jesus over to Pilate. And then you have Pilate finally, in verse 26, delivering Jesus to the executioners, to the Roman soldiers, to carry out the actual punishment and to crucify Christ.

He is delivered up, he is delivered up, he is delivered up. And although Judas is thinking in his own mind something selfish and sinful, and even though the Jews are thinking in their own mind something sinful and selfish when they hand over Jesus, and even though Pilate is doing something sinful and selfish at his own level of intent to have Jesus put to death, yet behind it all, God himself.

God himself is the one who is delivering up Christ to the cross for our sins. God himself is acting in and through the human actors to produce this wonderful result that is the salvation of our sins. We see this in the book of Acts. The book of Acts has two important passages that reflect on this amazing reality of how even in the Very active committing crime and committing sin. Horrible, wicked sin. Rejecting Christ and crucifying him. God himself was working. God himself was active. So look at Acts chapter 2 verses 22 to 23. This is Peter on the day of Pentecost.

Speaking to the people of Israel, the same people that had just crucified Christ. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This Jesus delivered up, there is that same word, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

He was delivered up not by accident. It was not simply because Judas wanted to deliver him up or because the Jews wanted to deliver him up or because Pilate wanted to do it. He was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. He was delivered up by God himself. And yet he was using the hands of lawless men to accomplish his will.

The second verse in Acts that says the same thing is in Acts chapter four. This is after Peter had healed the lame man at the gate of the city. And they are proclaiming that this healing of this man happened because of the death and resurrection of Christ. Then Peter and John are brought before the Jewish council again, just like Jesus was brought before the Jewish council.

And it mentions the same names. It mentions Caiaphas and so on. This is Acts 4, verse 6. They inquire. They try to ask him, you know, by what power or by what name do you do this? And then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, gave another speech similar to the speech at the Day of Pentecost. But then they are commanded by the Jewish Sanhedrin to no longer speak or teach in the name of Jesus. And yet they continued to do so. They were punished. It says that they were released. And then they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

And then again, we have this language where the people of God, the saints there in Jerusalem, are praying this prayer to the Lord, and they are rejoicing in this wonderful mystery. of the divine purpose and plan of God in and through the sinful acts of human beings. So this is Acts chapter 4, verse 24.

When they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, Quoting from Psalm 2, why did the Gentiles rage and the people’s plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan had destined to take place.

There is that amazing reality of God taking what was intended for evil and turning it into that which is good. Just as Joseph himself said to his brothers who had sold him into captivity in Egypt, he said, you meant it for evil. But God meant it for good. The Jews, Pilate, the Roman soldiers, they meant it for evil. In their mind and their intent of their heart, their motives was something wicked and evil.

But God was using even their sinfulness. and even their wicked intentions in order to accomplish the salvation of his people. And so we have this two-layer interpretation of this particular portion of the Passion narrative. We can look at all the human actors and see what they are doing, what their motives are, but we can look beyond that to see that God himself is, as it were, standing behind all of these actors and accomplishing his perfect will.

It is a little bit strange to say this, but if you really think about the analogy or the symbolism here, is it not the case that Pilate represents God himself? It is a little bit strange to say that. We do not want to say that. That sounds odd. Pilate’s this wicked, evil Roman governor.

Why would we say that he represents God? But in the picture, he does? He is the one that is the judge. He is the one that is sitting on the tribunal. He is the one that is releasing Barabbas and then handing over Jesus to be crucified. He is the one that is taking our sin and putting it upon the innocent one and then punishing him so that the guilty one could be set free.

Pilate represents God in the analogy, at that second layer, at that deeper meaning, at that theological significance. And I think that we are justified in saying that because of Acts 4, 27 and 28, which specifically says that. That in this city, there was gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. Each of the actors speaks more truly than they know.

When Pilate says, this man is innocent. Why should I crucify him? What has he done wrong? He is speaking more truly than he knows. When he says, I will release to you Barabbas. and I will punish for you Jesus, your King, your Messiah. Pilate does not really believe Jesus is the Messiah, does he? But he speaks more truly than he knows. Remember twice in the text, go back to Matthew 27, twice in the text, Pilate uses this loaded theological term Christ. You would think from a purely pagan point of view as a Roman that he would just call him the so-called king of the Jews, or some somewhat revolutionary hero, or something like that, or a claimant, a revolutionary claimant, or a messianic pretender. But he actually uses the word Christ.

In verse 17, whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ? Pilate uses this word Christ. And then again later on in verse 22, Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? He does not believe in Christ. He does not have faith in Christ. But yet he is speaking more truly than he knows that this is indeed the Christ.

This is indeed the Messiah. This truly is the King of the Jews. Not in an earthly revolutionary sense, but in the sense that he is the one who comes to save his people from their sins. What a wonderful reality that our text proclaims for us. The truths of the gospel. The essence of the gospel.

Substitutionary atonement. That Christ becomes guilty in our place. Our sins are heaped upon Him. And He bears the punishment that we deserve. And we, the guilty, are released. We are set free. We do not we no longer have to bear the punishment. The charges are dropped. We are like Barabbas in the text. We are set free and released.

The Lord has saved us by his grace contrary to our own intent. Our own intent is that we reject Jesus but he in his grace comes and delivers us from our sins that we might be saved. What can we draw from this text? Some encouraging truths. Number one, the first truth is that God can use evil for good. That God is sovereign even over the most evil thing that ever happened in the history of the world, the crucifixion of Christ the Messiah.

And he sovereignly orchestrated that for good. for salvation. When you are going through trials and difficulties, when you are experiencing difficulties in your life, even perhaps evil that is perpetrated against you, know that God is at work and that he can redeem even the darkest and most evil thing for your good and for your sanctification and for your growth and grace. Count it all joy, my beloved brothers, when you encounter trials of various kinds James says, because you know that God is working in you. He is using those trials to perfect you, to draw you closer to Christ, to burn away your sinful deeds and desires and to make you more like him. He is using even that which is difficult and evil and sinful for his glory and for your good and for your salvation.

There was a movement in the past of people who were holding to an Arminian view of things, an Arminian view of emphasizing free will and downplaying the sovereignty of God, called Open Theism, where they took Arminianism to an even further extent, where they said that even God does not know the future.

The traditional Arminian said, well, God at least knows the future. I mean, he can at least predict what is going to happen. But they would not say he is in control of it all. But the open theist went even further and said, God does not even know the future.

He is going through time just like us, waiting to see what happens. And, you know, it could be that God would be terribly disappointed that nobody actually comes to believe in Jesus. His heart would be hurt because nobody believed? He would be like a creature like us going through time and experiencing history the way we do.

When I was studying that issue and really engaging the open theist arguments, I kept coming back to these two verses in the book of Acts that I quoted. Because it is so obvious that open theism fails right at that point, which is the most holy point of all, the very cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to open theism, God did not really know what was going to happen. He did not know whether the Jews would believe or not. He did not know. He was just waiting to see and then some tragic thing happened where Christ was rejected and crucified.

But according to Acts 2.23 and Acts 4.27, The cross of Christ is this amazing reality of the absolute perfect sovereignty and control of God even over the sinful deeds of man.

And so open theism is absolutely refuted and just completely falls to the ground right here. And I remember checking some of the authors on this to see how did they deal with those two verses in Acts. And they usually just say, well, it is just an exception. For most other things, you know, the future is open to God. It is open theism.

God himself does not know. But we will make an exception for the death of Christ. It just completely destroys their whole system, does not it? It is like just one little thing that just completely undermines it and just puts the needle to the balloon and just explodes their whole idea. So that is the first thing to draw from this text is the wonderful truth and reality of the sovereignty of God completely overruling the sin of man and even using man’s sin for his glory.

Even using your own sin. You ever thought about that? When you sin, And yes, that is not good, and we need to repent of our sin, but when you sin, that was part of God’s plan for you, that you would sin, to make you more aware of your need of Christ, to bring you more and more back to the gospel, back to the cross of Christ, to humble yourself, to be more dependent upon the Lord, and not to think that you are all that, and that you have it all figured out, and that you are doing great. I have conquered my sins, I am doing fine. No, the Lord sometimes lets us sin because he wants to bring us back to a sense of dependence upon him. Even your own sins are overruled by his sovereignty and are being used by his sovereign grace for your sanctification and for your salvation.

But the second thing is, the second thing to draw from this text is to just go back again to this wonderful truth of the gospel, this wonderful reality of substitutionary atonement. And of course, you have probably heard me say this before that I do not really like that word atonement, but it is the satisfaction of Christ? That word satisfaction is better than the word atonement because atonement just focuses upon the subjective result of the work of Christ. Atonement literally means at-one-ment.

And that is definitely true, that through the cross of Christ we are made at one with God. We are reconciled to God through the death of Christ. But that is an effect of the work of Christ, not the essence of the work of Christ. The essence of the work of Christ is the satisfaction of divine justice. The essence of the work of Christ is that he who was perfectly righteous and innocent became sin for us.

Our sins were imputed to him. The judge took our sins and placed them upon him and then he was punished in our place. He satisfied God’s justice both by his active obedience of perfectly keeping God’s law and also by his passive obedience of enduring the punishment that we deserved for our sins, that scourging that Jesus took where he was shamefully whipped even to the point almost of death. And then he was finally crucified on a shameful cross. He took all that for us. He took that in our place to satisfy the justice of God for us. so that we, Barabbas, might be released and set free.

We were on death row. We deserve to go to hell for our sins. But because of what Christ has done, we have been released and set free. Our sins are no longer held against us. We are justified. God looks upon us as if we ourselves had been just as perfect and obedient as Christ himself was perfect and obedient. And as if we ourselves had already gone to hell and paid for our sins. which we have not done, but Christ has done for us. And that is how God looks at us.

The Innocent Condemned for the Guilty

He looks at us in Christ, and he receives us because of the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And so that is the second application from the text, is to go back again to the beauty of the cross. Go put yourself in the text, stand there as a witness to see this amazing transaction that is happening. See what is happening here as the human judge representing the divine judge does this amazing transaction to set you free through the blood of Jesus Christ on our behalf. He was crucified for us. He was crucified in our place. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate.