The journey through the pages of the bible has reflected my walk through life. I was never like Moses but confess that I was one of his followers wandering in the desert for forty years. There were days when I felt like Joseph, thrown in a pit, and sold for slavery because of my financial mistakes without knowing the ramifications. There were periods like Job when it seemed everything was against me, episode after episode despite my faithfulness in God to make it stop.
There were days when I felt like Elijah running away to the wilderness, surrounded by ravens, and asking God to bring me home. I've felt like a mighty warrior only to disobey God like David. There were days wondering about trying to collect money all the time to satisfy my yearning like Matthew. Other days I was stubborn and bullheaded like Peter thinking that my way was better than any other way.
Lately though I have been confessing like Paul, knowing the journey is hard, and to be thankful for my weaknesses. Many days I try to have the love that John had, seeping deep within my heart. And on those satisfying days I came home knowing I acted just like Jesus that day.
Pinpointing the exact character that I was like most of the time was difficult until I read about a man named Barabbas.
Like him most of my life, I sat in that cell looking through the small window awaiting my sentence from God. The charges within my lifetime were so many pages that I could publish a book. I stole from the good things in life and killed blessings for others and myself. All I could see out of that window was a peephole that gave a vision of a cross on a hill where I would be punished for my actions. Awaiting the final hour of my judgment, the crowd started shouting release Barabbas, for they wanted a man named Jesus instead, a man who did nothing but good His whole life, to take my place. That day was a miracle come true for me as well as Barabbas, as on that gloomy day a "CROSS EXCHANGE " occurred. Jesus withstood to take the penalty, took all the pages on Himself and freed me.
The bible doesn't say a lot about this man named Barabbas, only that a terrible sinner encountered a "CROSS EXCHANGE " that day. A "CROSS EXCHANGE " in definition refers to a rate used to determine the value of various currencies in relation to each other to determine its worth. The currency is considered both you and Jesus and the value set on high. Jesus had much more value than any one of us, yet He placed the value to be higher on you. The rate was fair to Him, but He decided that you rate more than anything on this earth. Who do you resemble most in the bible? We all have acted like Barabbas maybe to a lesser degree, but even the worst of men can be saved by Jesus .So this Easter resurrection Day remember that if your feeling worthless like Barabbas, more than 2000 years ago there is One who stuck by your side and rated you higher than Himself on that day of the "CROSS EXCHANGE ". HE only asks now that it is finished, that you become more like Him, more than any others found in the pages of the bible, the most important character that the world needs to be like every single day in their life.
Joseph Steuhl
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see
John Newton
MARK 15:15 ESV
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
MATTHEW 9:12-13 ESV
12. But when he (Jesus) heard it, he said, " Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice: For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. "
ROMANS 5:8 ESV
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 TIMOTHY 2:6 ESV
Who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time
GALATIANS 2:20 ESV
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.