Two of the people in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion are worth looking at.  

The people asked for Barabbas. Barabbas is a name meaning “son of the father” and he was a prisoner who was a robber and a man caught in insurrection and he was in gaol under penalty of death.

He represented every son of every father, every daughter of every mother.  He was locked up and the only way out was his crucifixion. We are sentenced to death also. Then somebody came along and threw the gate open and said “you’re free – someone else has died in your place”. And so Barabbas walked out having had Jesus die for him. Jesus died for his sins. Jesus died for our sins.  

The other person that day who interacted with Jesus’ salvation was the thief on the cross. He didn’t escape crucifixion; he was crucified with Jesus and he was the one who was promised everlasting life, not Barabbas.    Barabbas got maybe another 30 or 40 years but would have died just the same unless he came to Jesus as well.

And the lesson is, yes Jesus will die for us and carry our sins to the cross, but oddly enough we must pick up our cross daily and willingly go with him to be crucified ourselves.  

See also – Live for Christ, Die for Christ