And so the Romans have two revolutionaries locked up. It is around festivity time. And Pilate stands out before the Jews with these two prisoners - potential radicals. And Pilate says, “You know, around this time of year, I get very gracious. I want you to know that I love all you dear Jewish people. Why, some of my best friends are Jews. Now, I’m going to release one of these men to you, and I want you to tell me which one you want. Over here I’ve got Jesus Barabbas (that was Barabbas’ full name), and, here, just plain Jesus. So you’ve got two Jesuses on your hands.” So it is not a question as to whether there is going to be a revolution. It is which revolution. Pilate went on: “Over here I’ve got Barabbas. Barabbas has been burning the system down, killing people. Do you want him? And over here I’ve got Jesus, who claims to be the son of God. I’ve interrogated him, and I can’t find anything wrong with him, other than the fact that some dead people are alive because of him, some blind people have seen, some deaf people are hearing and, by the way, lie did feed a few thousand people with a welfare give-away program, but other than that I can’t find anything wrong with him. So which one do you want? Jesus or Barabbas?” And with one voice they cried out, “Give us Barabbas!” The question is: Why Barabbas and not Jesus? Barabbas is the cat burning the system down, he is killing people. Why him instead of Jesus? Very simple. If you let Barabbas go, you can always stop him. The most Barabbas will do is go out, round up another bunch of guerrillas and start another riot. And you can always stop him by rolling your tanks into his neighborhood, bringing out the National Guard and putting down his riot. Find out where he is keeping his ammunition. Raid his apartment without a search warrant and shoot him while he is still asleep. You can stop Barabbas. But how do you stop Jesus? They nailed him to a cross. But they did not realize that, in nailing Jesus to the cross, they were putting up on that cross the sinful nature of all humanity. Christ, nailed to the cross, was more than just a political radical dying; he was God’s answer to the human dilemma. On that cross Christ was bearing my sins in his own body, and he was proclaiming my liberation on that cross. He shed his blood to cleanse me of all my sin, to set me free. Then they buried him, rolled a stone over his grave, wiped their hands and said, “There is one radical who will never disturb us again. We have gotten rid of him. We will never hear any more of his words of revolution.” Three days later Jesus Christ pulled off one of the greatest political coups of all time: He got up out of the grave. When he arose from the dead, the Bible now calls him the second man, the new man, the leader of a new creation. A Christ who has overthrown the existing order and established a new order that is not built on man. Keep in mind, my friend, with all your militancy and radicalism, that all the systems of men are doomed to destruction. All the systems of men will crumble and, finally, only God’s kingdom and his righteousness will prevail. You will never be radical until you become part of that new order and then go into a world that is enslaved, a world that is filled with hunger and poverty and racism and all those things of the work of the devil. Proclaim liberation to the captives, preach sight to the blind, set at liberty them that are bruised, go into the world and tell men that are bound mentally, spiritually and physically, “The liberator has come!