The Great Substitution

Jesus has been brought before the Roman legate, Pontius Pilate. The Jewish leaders are accusing him of many things, hoping he'll receive the death sentence.

A tradition was in place in Jerusalem. At the Passover feast, Pilate would release a Jewish prisoner of their choosing. The choice should be easy: Barabbas is a robber and murderer; Jesus is innocent, and even Pilate can see their charges are malicious. Curiously, the crowd end up demanding the criminal is released but Jesus executed.

There's a great picture given to us here. As criminals in God's eyes, we deserve the death penalty. Yet like Barabbas, we get to go free while an innocent man dies. This subsitution is the very heart of the gospel.