OUR RISEN SAVIOR: He Did It!

Peter and John: He Did It!

INTRO Ever had a light bulb moment? Think about that time. What had been confusing suddenly became clear—you could finally understand what was going on.

VIDEO ROLL IN “Peter and John”

Peter had a light-bulb moment on that first Easter Sunday. He had been in the dark about everything that had happened to Jesus over the weekend. What was once dark and confusing suddenly became light and clear.

He did it! He did it! He rose from the dead!

The immensity of this moment cannot be overstated. The implications of this event cannot be overemphasized.

1.    Jesus conquered death!

Romans 6:9 (NKJV) knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

1 Corinthians 15:25–27a (NKJV) For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. ²⁶The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. ²⁷For “He has put all things under His feet.”

Because the ultimate enemy is destroyed, everything else is under His feet. There may be some things dying in your life. Dying things stink! What is stinking in your life? Jesus came to defeat whatever is stinking in your life.

2.    Jesus conquered hell!

When Jesus was in the grave, the Bible teaches that He didn't sleep. He descended into hell itself, crushed the devil’s head, took the keys of death and hell, and led all the OT believers to heaven!

Revelation 1:18 (NKJV) I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

What did Jesus do with the keys? He gave them to us!

Matthew 16:19 (NKJV) And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Because Jesus is risen we have power in prayer. This promise is to all.

Isaiah 22:22 (NKJV) The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.

What do we have the key to? The Kingdom of God! We have the power to pray in the Kingdom of God. We do it here every Sunday at the end of our service:

Matthew 6:10 (NKJV) Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

3.    Jesus conquered the grave!

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (NLT) But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.

54-55 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O grave, where is your sting?”

57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ!

The grave is not the end! There is an eternity waiting for us in heaven. We do not have to fear the grave!

Luke 23:43 (NKJV) And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

II Corinthians 5:8 (NKJV) We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Jesus spoke of all these promises in his conversation with Nicodemus.

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

He said on another occasion:

John 5:24-25 (NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

Perhaps when it comes to God, Jesus, or the Bible, there have been moments when you could see clearly and everything made sense—and maybe there have been other times that left you wondering, “God, what in the world is going on? God, what are you doing? God, why is this happening? God, what does this mean for my life? God, are you even real? God, do you even care? If you’re my Father in heaven, how could you let this happen? God, how could you let me get in this place? God, I feel as if I’m in the dark, and I don’t understand, and I can’t see things clearly today. God, my life feels chaotic and unclear. God, would you shed some light on my life, please?”

May this Easter be the beginning of the light bulb coming on in your life. Jesus defeated sin, death, Satan, and hell! When He rose from the grave, it demonstrated His power, His authority, and the promise of salvation and empowerment by the Holy Spirit all the days of our lives—a promise that can be received by anyone who would believe in his name. Jesus said:

John 14:19b (NKJV) Because I live, you will live also.

That’s a light-bulb moment! He is risen. He is risen, indeed!

INVITATION

OUR RISEN SAVIOR: The Great Exchange

Barabbas: The Great Exchange

INTRO:  Have you ever done something wrong and didn't get punished for it?  Speeding, but the red lights go around you or is an ambulance?  Now what about this, have you ever been caught red-handed, guilty with no chance of escape, and someone else voluntarily took your punishment?

VIDEO ROLL-IN: "Barabbas"

Jesus, the Prince of Peace, took the place of Barabbas, a violent insurrectionist, and died in his place on the cross. Martin Luther labeled this event “The Great Exchange”.

Barabbas was a scoundrel! Matthew called him a notorious prisoner; Mark described him as a rebel; Luke let us know that Barabbas was “a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder”; John described Barabbas as a “robber”, an insurrectionist; in Acts, Luke spoke of Barabbas as a murderer. He was more than some guy who stole a piece of bread and some milk for his family!

           

Barabbas had been caught, tried, convicted, and sentenced! His crimes were punished by crucifixion: the violent, painful trademark of Roman power. Barabbas was destined for a cross!

But... Jesus was also on trial for heresy, sedition, and treason.  The religious leaders wanted him dead.  They stirred an angry crowd with lies and false charges. Listen to how Mark describes it:

Mark 15:6–15 (NKJV) Now at the feast (Passover), Pilate was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. ⁷And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. ⁸Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. ⁹But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. ¹²Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

Pilate gave the angry mob a choice: Jesus or Barabbas. Pilate couldn’t believe that the crowd wanted Barabbas released instead of Jesus. Over and over we see Pilate expressing Jesus’ innocence:

Matthew 27:23–25 (NKJV) Then Pilate said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” ²⁴When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” ²⁵And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

The march to the cross, the Via Dolorosa, was filled with anguish that should have been Barabbas’ pain and suffering—that should have been our pain and suffering!

Isaiah 53:4–6 (NKJV) Surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

           

Peter remembered that day:

1 Peter 2:24 (NKJV) who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

It should have been Barabbas scourged and led to death on the cross at Calvary. It should have been you; it should have been me. But instead, the great exchange took place. One writer said, "This is, in fact, the climax and focus of the whole gospel. All sinners, all rebels, all the human race are invited to see themselves in the figure of Barabbas; and, as we do, we discover in this story that Jesus comes to take our place, under condemnation for sins and wickedness great and small. God’s mercy reaches out where human mercy could not, not only sharing in, but in this case substituting for, the sinner’s fate."

I John 2:2 (NKJV) And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Propitiation, payment, satisfaction… There had to be payment for sin because God is holy and just. Holiness had to be satisfied!

Parent taking punishment story…

Perhaps the question posed by Pilate echoed in the ears, heart, and life of Barabbas for years after that mercy-filled day:

Matthew 27:22a (NKJV) Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

           

John MacArthur said, “This is the most inescapable question every human being faces.”

We don’t know what Barabbas did in response to the freedom he experienced in exchange for Jesus’ death. The Bible is silent regarding what happened to him after he was released on that Friday Jesus went to the cross in his place. Perhaps the Bible is mute to allow us to put ourselves in his shoes.

I see three possible scenarios:

1.     Barabbas went back to his prior life of rebellion and insurrection.  Many of us make this choice.  We ourselves are insurrectionists against the rule of God in our life. Will we choose to go back to that life considering all that Jesus has done?  Will we choose pleasure?

2.     The second choice is even more insidious. Barabbas may have decided that a life of crime was too dangerous and so he turned over a new leaf and became a good citizen, a good person. He joined the synagogue and went to temple on holy days. The only problem is that he never gave his heart to Jesus! He had a Christianity of convenience!  He only wanted peace and prosperity!

3.     Maybe he made a third choice. In the light of all that Jesus did, Barabbas fell to his face in repentance, embraced Jesus as his Savior and Lord, and served him radically until he too was martyred as a missionary for The Way!  He chose passion and purpose!

These are your choices also. Will you live for pleasure, or peace and prosperity, or passion and purpose?

What will you do with Jesus?

Neutral you cannot be.

One day your heart will be asking

What will He do with me?

Paul sums up the great exchange this way:

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

I was guilty with nothing to say

They were coming to take me away

And then a voice from heaven was heard that said

"Let him go! Take me instead."

That crown of thorns, the spear deep in His side

All the pain, it should have been mine

Those nails were meant for me

But He took them and let me go free

I should have been crucified

I should have suffered and died

I should have hung on the Cross in disgrace

But Jesus, God's Son, took my place

Yes, Jesus took your place—and that changes everything!

Romans 12:1 I beg you brothers and sisters, in light of everything that God has done for us, give yourselves completely to Him, which is your best form of worship!