Summary:
In Matt 27, we read of Jesus’ crucifixion through the lenses of three characters - Judas Iscariot, Pilate, and Barabbas.
For Judas, it was an unpardonable sin. For Pilate, he made an unsuccessful pardon. And for Barabbas, he experienced an unbelievable pardon.
Is our conscience one that does not allow us to sin? As children of light, do we always defend against wrong? And, do we remember the great love of Christ for us, that we keep ourselves pure?

The crucifixion of Jesus meant different things to different people. To the disciples, a sense of loss and hopelessness. To His mother, an immeasurable grief. To the religious leaders, it was a relief, and perhaps even a sense of achievement, because they had gotten rid of a troublemaker, someone they disliked. What would the death of Jesus have meant to Nicodemus? He was a Pharisee, but he came to the scene of the crucifixion aiming to bury the body of Jesus with a hundred pound of spices. How about the rich man, Joseph of Arimathea? Not much was written about him, but Jesus was important enough to him that he buried Jesus in his own new tomb. We can see this in Matt 27:57-60. The crucifixion also meant different things to the same people at different times. For example, Saul of Tarsus. At first he thought the death of Jesus just meant that a false prophet had died. And that’s why he persecuted the Christians, because to him, these were a group of heretics. But later, the cross was his glory which defined his entire purpose in life. He wrote to the Galatians, that “I will boast of nothing except the cross of Christ, by which the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” The crucifixion of Jesus defined his entire purpose in life and that was his boasting, his glory. In this chapter we’re looking at, there are lots of people surrounding the crucifixion story. Judas Iscariot, Pilate, Barabbas, Simon of Cyrene, Joseph of Arimathea, two Marys - including Mary Magdalene, unnamed religious leaders and soldiers. We can look at the crucifixion through the lenses of these people. Today we will talk about the first three people - Judas, Pilate and Barabbas.

1. Judas: Unpardonable Sin

Matt 27:1-10 is about Judas. Judas realised that what he did meant that the chief priests and elders could arrest Jesus and put Him to death. They brought Him to Pilate to accuse him to be put to death. In v3, Judas saw that Jesus had been condemned, and felt so remorseful. He had schemed so much to get the 30 pieces of silver, but now he threw away the silver. “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” Judas could not pardon himself. When we look at Judas, we see unpardonable sin. When he saw that Jesus was condemned to die, he saw his unpardonable sin. In v4, when he went to the religious leaders, they told him to deal with it himself. They were not willing to soothe his conscience. And in v5, this ended with suicide.

1 John 3:20-21
For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.

In human conscience, we know what’s right and wrong. Like a lamp of God searching our innermost being. It talks about a normal conscience here, one that is healthy. Let’s pray for a good conscience, one that is accurate, that acts quickly to prevent us from sin. Look at Judas. He spent some time planning. Before that, he had stolen money. What happened to his conscience? Sometimes when we are doing something wrong, our conscience pricks us and we stop immediately. We do not know if Judas had that moment, but we know that later on, his conscience did not work. Sometimes when we are pricked by our conscience, we suppress it and proceed to do the wrong. This is likely what happened to Judas. And we no longer feel anything the next time we do the wrong thing. Sometimes we don’t feel anything unless someone tells us off.

Like King David. He was someone after God’s own heart, specially chosen to sit on the throne. He was even an inspired writer of many Psalms. When he did something wrong, he didn’t realise it was such a great sin, until someone pointed out his sin very directly. In 2 Sam 12, the prophet of God, Nathan, came to him, and told him a story of a rich man who bullied a poor man. The rich man had many sheep, but stole the only sheep of the poor man. David was very angry with the man, and said he was deserving of death. Prophet Nathan said, you are that man! David was so slow to realise his sin.

Oftentimes, we don’t realise we’re doing something wrong until someone points it out to us directly. The good thing is, when it’s not too late to repent, we can still be forgiven. Prophet Nathan’s rebuke caused David to have true remorse and repentance.

Psa 51:1-3
Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.

This was written after David’s realisation. In the first 4 verses, David was pleading for God to have mercy on him. From not realising his sin, to always having his sin before him, was a 180 degree turn. He knew he needed forgiveness. Although his sin was against Uriah, a human, but in v4, it tells us that David was most conscious of the fact that he had offended God. Very often people do not regret what they do because God is not in the picture. ‘So what? This person is nothing to me. I’ll just do something to make good of it.’ This happens because you don’t really respect this person. But we cannot not respect a fellow human being, because every human being has been created in the image of God. So when God is in the picture, he became very conscious of his sin.

V4
Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

V8
Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.

David didn’t need any orthopedic treatment. He just felt the crushing weight of sin. This is something we lack very often. We do not recognise the terrible consequences of sin. We look upon sin very lightly and that’s why we keep repeating the same sin. If only we feel the crushing weight of sin - so heavy as if our bones are broken! David felt real sorrow. Hence he says, let me feel joy and gladness, that my bones may rejoice. The Psalms of David cause the speaker to really love the Psalms - the words are so meaningful. And unlike our hymnbook, the Psalms are not copyrighted. We can use them all we like. Use them to pray. Use them to rejoice. Use them to sing. Use them to connect ourselves to God, because these are God-inspired writings.

V10-11
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

The Holy Spirit was with David! David was the man God had chosen to replace Saul. When Saul was abandoned by God, the Spirit of God left Saul and came upon David. Are you afraid that the presence of God leaves you? If we have never felt the presence of God, if we don’t feel it now, then of course we won’t fear that the presence of God leaves us. But David had this fear. ‘Do not cast me away from Your presence, nor take your Holy Spirit from me.’ Sometimes when we sin, we don’t feel anything until we see the harm we’ve caused. Then it’s too late and we can’t forgive ourselves. Even we can’t forgive ourselves. That is why we can do nothing except to die. We cannot forgive ourselves, because we know God can never forgive us. That is mortal sin. This is what happened to Judas.

Jesus actually gave Judas many chances and warnings.

Matt 26:21-24

Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?” He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” Have you seen Jesus’ warnings? Have you seen Judas’ pretense? V21 ‘one of you will betray Me’. Jesus only mentions ONE person would betray Him. Who might that be? When Jesus said ‘one’, that would make the disciples introspect. They would be wondering, who is that one person? They asked, one by one, ‘is it I?’

V25
Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” He said to him, “You have said it.”

The Bible specifically records that Judas asks, ‘is it I?’ In fact, in the earlier chapter, Matt 26:24, Jesus had said, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.””

When the rest of the disciples asked ‘is it I?’, it was in reaction to Jesus saying there is one. Jesus had said, ‘it is good for that man never to have been born!’ And Judas still asked, ‘is it I?’ Judas was still pretending! And that is why Judas’ sin is unpardonable. And that is why he could not forgive himself.

How is it that Judas could do all these things without feeling anything? How did he listen to all those warnings and still not feel anything?

1 Tim 4:2
‘speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,’ Judas’ pretense was a kind of lie, a cover up, hypocrisy. His conscience was seared with a hot iron. Just like when you sear your skin with heat, the scar would be thick you could not feel anything.

2. Pilate: Unsuccessful Pardon

In chapter 27, we read on and see that Jesus had to face Pilate. While Judas represents unpardonable sin, we see in Pilate an unsuccessful pardon.

V11-26 records the trial of Jesus. Pilate had wanted to pardon Jesus but he failed. Why did he fail? Because he tried to pardon Jesus. Jesus had no crime to be pardoned from. He only had false accusations. How can you pardon him? He didn’t need a pardon! Only we need a pardon from the Lord Jesus. When the Jewish elders accused Jesus of many things, from v12-v14, Jesus answered nothing.

And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing. Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.

Pilate marveled greatly that Jesus did not defend Himself. He wasn’t guilty, why should he defend Himself? Pilate testified that Jesus was not guilty of evil, like in v23.

Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?”

In Jn 19:4, “I find no fault in this man.” Although Jesus did not defend Himself, and although Pilate testified that He was not guilty, Pilate did not ensure that Jesus was not sentenced to die. Human rulers are appointed by God to execute justice. Pilate was governor. He had the full authority to execute justice.

Rom 13:1-7
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

This passage tells us that we should obey our civil rulers. Their authority comes from God. And it is God who gave them the appointment and power to execute justice, hence we must listen to them. Pilate was given the authority to release Jesus.

Jn 19:10
Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

Pilate himself said that he had the power to release Jesus. ‘Release’ may not mean ‘to pardon’. Because Jesus did not need to be pardoned. ‘Release’ can mean you find no guilt in him and you release him. He had the power to do that.

Prov 31:8-9
Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

This is what a ruler should do. We don’t know exactly who king Lemuel is. Some say he is Solomon. It does not matter. Whether you are a Jewish king or any king, your authority comes from God. You are the governor, proconsul, your authority comes from God. What is your God-given duty? To open your mouth for the speechless, in the course of all who are appointed to die. ‘Judge righteously’, but Pilate did not ensure that his sentencing was just. Talking was not good enough. Just finding him guiltless wasn’t good enough. Judas had a SEARED conscience, that’s why he committed the sin. But Pilate had a WEAK conscience. He knew what was right so he defended Jesus. But his conscience wasn’t strong enough to make the unpopular choice to release Jesus. If he released Jesus and pronounced Him guiltless, that would mean His accusers were wrong.

Matt 27:23
Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”

When Pilate asked what evil Jesus had done, they cried even louder to crucify Him. The masses made the sentencing, and Pilate became the rubber stamp.

Matt 27:19
While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”

In v19, the wife told him about the divine warning - she had had a dream. It was at the judgment seat. He had the power of judgement. And then came the divine warning. And we know that this dream must have come from God. Conscience is toward God. But that conscience was weak in Pilate. Yet his fear was strong.

V24
When 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.”

He could not prevail at all, there was a tumult rising. He was afraid of the riot. That fear was so strong that it overcame the voice of his conscience. Earlier on in v15, it tells us that during the feast of the Passover, the governor would be accustomed to release a prisoner.

V21
The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!”

When you seek to release Jesus in this manner, and put him together with Barabbas and ask the people to make a choice, you are already equating him with a sinner, a criminal. It means that He needs to be released because of this custom. If Jesus is guiltless, you would not have to wait for the passover, because you don’t even need to sentence Him. You would just throw the case out of the court. Here you put him together with Barabbas. And Pilate knew what he was doing was wrong, so he washed his hands off. “I am innocent of the blood of this man.” But Pilate cannot be innocent. He cannot be innocent because he did not make sure that Jesus’ innocence met with a just sentencing. He did not execute justice with his God-given authority. He was irresponsible to leave it in the hands of the people.

We have to think of ourselves as well. Are there times when we could have done something, yet did not? We had the power to do it, the conscience to tell us, but we let the wrong prevail? Every human has a duty to do what is right, to defend against wrong. What more us? We are the children of light.

3. Barabbas: Unbelievable Pardon

Barabbas represents an unbelievable pardon. He was pardoned. He was a robber, was murderous, but was pardoned. What’s the meaning of his name? “Bar” means ‘son of’. (E.g. Barnabas - son of consolation) “Barabbas” means ‘son of Abba’. And Abba is father. “Barabbas” hence means ‘son of father’. We are all a child of a father. But it is interesting that the person who was released, Jesus taking his place, was called son of father. Jesus is son of the Father.

Jn 3:35
The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.

Jesus is the son of the Heavenly Father. And God the Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.

Rom 8:31-32, 35, 37
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

The Father loves the Son and has given everything into His hand. And the Father loves us and has given us His Son! He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. This means that the Father has given us the Son AND all things. What a beautiful statement. How much does the Father love us?

Barabbas. Son of a father. Every son has a father. But Barabbas’ human father could do nothing for him. But for us, God has given us all things. Because we are His children.

1 Jn 3:1-3
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

We are NOW children of God. It is not something in the future. It is now.

1 Jn 3:9-10
Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

If we are children of God, we would keep ourselves pure, like God is pure. And we cannot sin. A person with a seared conscience will just go ahead to sin. A person with a weak conscience will not go and sin, but when faced with pressure, will go and sin. What kind of conscience do we have? If we were people with a strong conscience, we would not let ourselves sin. Some people don’t know how to lie. Once they lie, people can tell.

May we be changed, and so transparent, that we do not know how to sin. Let us be the real Barabbas, not just son of any father, but son of the Heavenly Father. Imagine you were Barabbas, waiting for someone to call you up from the prison, hoping the time doesn’t come. Suddenly, someone calls you to get up. You think, ‘is the time so soon?’ But, his chains fell off. They released him. “Barabbas, you are free to go.” This is the amazing love we sing about. “My chains fell off!” Amen.

If the eye of Jesus could cause Peter to grieve, yet the warnings of Jesus could not cause Judas to repent, we see how different two different hearts can be. When we read something in the Bible, a message from Jesus, how do we feel? Do we fill our lives with the word of God? If so, what kind of conscience will we have? A conscience that will melt, like that of Peter? Or better still, a conscience that does not allow us to sin.