I read a very interesting thing the
other day and it made me so grateful once again that Jesus came to
save us. You all know about the events surrounding Jesus'
crucifixion. But one detail caught my eye today. I never thought
about it before now. When Pilate presented Jesus to the crowd, he
also presented Barabbas to them and he asked them which one he
should release. In one voice the crowd demanded that Barabbas be
released.
Now who was Barabbas? He was a
political insurgent who had been part of a rebellion against the
Roman government ruling over them. He was no doubt a hero amongst
some of the Jews. But what was interesting was that Jewish men had
names that identified themselves with their fathers. For example
Simon Peter was called Simon, son of John, and James and John were
called the Sons of Zebedee. But Barabbas is never mentioned by his
father's name. The name Barabbas means 'Son of Abba' and I think
this was how God planned it to be. He was the son of the Father and
he committed a crime for which he should have been punished. But
instead of being punished, he is set free, because Jesus takes his
place. Jesus is charged with the exact crime that Barabbas actually
committed and that is treason against the government. A trade off
took place and Jesus took the punishment for his crime.
And that is just the point, at the
cross Jesus was charged with every single sin that you have ever
committed. He was charged with every single one them and by His
blood all your sins are swept away, gone forever. His blood cleans
you and allows you to be part of the heavenly family. We can now be
called 'Sons of Abba', 'Daughters of Abba'. We don't need to have
status and we don't need to be important here on earth, because in
God's eyes we are His Sons and Daughters. What a wonderful
privilege to be part of His family and to live each day for His
Glory.
Galatians 4:4-6 "But when the right
time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so
that He could adopt us as His very own children. And because you
Gentiles have become His children, God has sent the Spirit of His
Son into your hearts, and now you can call God your dear
Father."
We are part of His Kingdom and we
need to start acting like His children. We should keep our heads
held high and realize the amazing potential we have inside of us.
We have God on our side and not only that, He is our Father who
cares for us and wants the best for us. He is the One that will be
with us forever and ever. Don't you think we should live a life
that pleases Him and not the world? I think so. He should be our
everything.
Lord You are awesome. You are our
everything in this life, there is none like You. No one else can
touch my heart like You do. I can search for all eternity long and
find there is none like You. We love You. Amen