Released in His Place

The soldiers went about their work as usual—stakes driven, timbers laid, crosses prepared. It was just another busy Passover morning in Jerusalem.

In a nearby cell sat a man whose day had come. Barabbas—beaten, swollen, and waiting. For him, the hill outside the city would be an end.

But then the door swung open.

“You are being released… another will die in your place.”

Stunned, Barabbas stepped into the light—a free man.

Somewhere behind him, a Galilean took up his cross.

And whether he understood it or not, Barabbas walked away carrying a freedom he did not earn.

Because of that Galilean taking up his cross, so do we.