The minister writes… From our April/May newsletter 2023
Dear friends,
During Lent our Bible Study group has been looking at the final week in the life of Jesus. As we have read the account of his trial before Pilate, we came across that part of the story where Pilate offers the people the chance to set free a prisoner in honour of it being Passover. He gives them a choice: Jesus of Nazareth, an innocent man, or Barabbas, a murderer and insurrectionist. As we know, the crowd, incited by the Chief Priests, call for Barabbas to be freed and for Jesus to be crucified.
What struck us – and may indeed cause you to stop and reflect also – is that the name Barabbas translates as ‘son of’ (Bar) ‘the father’ (Abba). In Matthew’s Gospel there is even a first name given to Barabbas: Jesus. And so we witness that Jesus Barabbas, the criminal, the ‘son of the father’ goes free as Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the Father takes his place.
It is a short story – just a few verses – but it encapsulates a great truth. For we too (though I doubt that anyone reading this is an insurrectionist, let alone a murderer) are all sinners. In the eyes of a perfect God, we stand imperfect and tarnished by a myriad of sins both large and small. We too, like Barabbas, would stand condemned were it not for the fact that Jesus, the Son of the Father, has already taken our punishment upon himself on the cross on Good Friday. ‘But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.’ (Isaiah 53:5)
There are so many wonderful Passiontide and Easter hymns that remind us of Christ’s astonishing act of love and grace and mercy but I thought you might like to read some that may be less familiar to you, from Vicky Beeching’s ‘The wonder of the cross’ (#279 in Singing the Faith hymnbooks):
O precious sight, my Saviour stands, dying for me with outstretched hands
O precious sight; I love to gaze remembering salvation’s day, remembering salvation’s day
Though my eyes linger on this scene, may passing time and years not steal
the power with which it impacts me, the freshness of its mystery, the freshness of its mystery
May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time, standing as a sinner lost.
Undone by mercy and left speechless, watching wide-eyed at the cost
May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of the cross
Behold the God-man crucified, the perfect sinless sacrifice
As blood ran down those nails and wood, history was split in two, history was split in two
Behold the empty wooden tree, his body gone, alive and free
We sing with everlasting joy for sin and death have been destroyed,
sin and death they’ve been destroyed.
May WE never lose the wonder of the cross but see it like the first time we became aware of the costly sacrifice made for us.
With every blessing this Easter time,
Sharon
Image: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/05/06/12/06/cross-1375765__340.jpg
