Week 14: Day 3
Blessing reminds us today that Jesus took our place when he died on the cross.
‘What is truth?’ retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release “the king of the Jews”?’
They shouted back, ‘No, not him! Give us Barabbas!’
Intro: Hi and welcome to Orbit, a short reflection to help you put God at the centre of your life from the team behind Satellites. My name is Blessing.
Each weekday we share a little bit of the Bible with you, give you a chance to pray and think about it and provide you with one practical way to put it into practice today.
Bible: Today's reading comes from John 18:38-40.
‘What is truth?’ retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release “the king of the Jews”?’
They shouted back, ‘No, not him! Give us Barabbas!’
Thoughts: Imagine for some reason you get detention at school because of a rule you have broken. You are asked to spend you afternoons during your schooling week serving that detention. And yet on day one of that detention, just before it begins, your head teacher races in through the door and they tell you – you are free to go. They tell you that they will come in every afternoon to serve the detention for you. They will be your substitute, your replacement, they will take your place. Each day they will come in and take the punishment that was rightly yours because of the rule you broke. It seems a little farfetched, doesn’t it?
And yet in the story we just read, Barabbas is a rule breaker: it is right and just that he is punished for the rules he has broken. He was a notorious robber and he had broken the law. On the other hand, we have Jesus, who is completely innocent. He hasn’t broken any rules. Barabbas is due to die for his sins, and according to the law he deserves to. And yet…
Without doing anything to deserve a pardon, he discovers that Jesus is going to die instead. In other words, Jesus will serve Barabbas’s detention. That Friday morning, Barabbas woke up expecting a slow, painful death and yet that Friday evening he was home with his family. You see Jesus will take Barabbas’s place on the cross.
Now, the great story of the Bible points to this defining moment, Jesus takes our place. That is the goodness of the gospel.
Each time you see a cross, remember he took your place. For the time being Barabbas was safe, spared from immediate death. Jesus on the other hand spares us from an eternal death. He takes our place.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you that as we look to the cross we are reminded that you paid a debt you did not owe. And because of that we can experience freedom from sin and the gift of eternal life. Amen.
Silence: There's now just a few moments of silence for you to pray, reflect on these ideas, or simply sit and be still.
Action: Every day on Orbit we give you a simple practical challenge to help you put this passage into action in your life. Here's today's: Do you remember the first time you realised what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross? Why not challenge yourself this Easter week to tell someone about it, perhaps write a letter, post it on a blog, record a TikTok video, send an email or just tell the story - whatever works for you.
Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. Thanks so much for joining us - we'll be back with another reflection tomorrow.