The One I’m Dying For

Outside I hear them talking
Could it be its me they’re mocking
An eye for an eye is all that matters anymore
Pilate put me in this prison
And I deserve what I’ve been given
A life for a life and that’s the one I’m dying for
I caught the eye of a man who was beaten
I saw the truth, even I believed him
Now I can tell from my cell, who they’re wantin’ more
I hear them cry, “Release Barabbas!”
In disbelief I turned to Jesus
He looked at me and He said go free, you’re the one I’m dying for.

For the one who is hurting and the one who has done wrong
For the one who needs healing and feels like hope is gone
For the weary who can’t carry his cross anymore You’re the one,
You’re the one I’m dying for
For the one with all the questions and the one who just believes
For the one who casts the first stone and the one down on her knees
For the weary who can’t carry his cross anymore You’re the one, You’re the one You’re the one, You’re the one I’m dying for  

I remember hearing this song on the radio from the Isaacs’ a few years ago and completely fell in love with it. The viewpoint was unlike anything I had ever heard before and the tune would be rattling around in my mind for hours. With Easter right around the corner, let’s look at the characters described in this song and see what they hold in store for our walk with Christ.

 John 18:39-40 “‘But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the Passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews’? Then cried they all again, saying, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas’. Now Barabbas was a robber.”

Barabbas:
We don’t know much about Barabbas. The Scripture tells us that he was a robber, but other than that, he remains somewhat of a mystery. We don’t know if he believed in Christ or just walked away from prison never changing, so let’s look at this story from the songs point of view… In the first couple verses of this song, Barabbas wonders if the people are mocking him. We know that they are really scorning the Lord, but I’m sure in his position, Barabbas could’ve convinced himself that it was him they were talking about instead. After all, he was guilty. Moving on to the second verse, he’s convinced that he is worthy of whatever they will sentence him to. A life for a life…he anticipates death. But when he hears the multitude cry out for Jesus instead of him, he’s dumbfounded. Why would they want him released unto them? The song sketches a picture of him looking to Jesus, who says, “you are the one that I’m dying for.” Barabbas can be a parallel of us before we came to the saving knowledge of Christ. Think about it, we were just like him! In the prison of sin, waiting an eternal death that was sure to come and no way to escape on our own. Justice was to be served and Romans 3:23 says we all were guilty. Barabbas may or may not have realized this, but instead of being sentenced to death, (the one that he deserved), he was sentenced to grace…all because of Jesus.

Did you know: the whip used to beat Jesus was made out of a stick having leather thongs on one end, each thong contained pieces of bone and sharp metal attached to it? Once sunk into the flesh, the whip would literally rip the skin off a persons back.

The Savior:
If we look at the lyrics carefully, we will see that everything that should have been done to Barabbas was shifted to Christ. Barabbas deserved to be mocked, instead, they did it to Christ. Barabbas was the one who should have been beaten, yet, our Lord endured the stripes. The guilty man should have been crucified…nevertheless, the innocent man died. The Light was in their midst – they preferred darkness. They could have desired the Man who never did anything wrong in His life to be spared – but they requested that the robber be set free. Releasing evil back into society – they condemned Righteousness to be crucified. They obviously didn’t want Him there. Though, it was necessary for sin to be dealt with… “And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.” (1John 3:5) “But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you.” Acts 3:14 What we see is this: Christ endured everything that should have been done to Barabbas – He saved him, so to speak. He took Barabbas’s place. If the Jewish leaders of that day didn’t hate the Messiah the way they did, Barabbas would have been the one to die. By His death Barabbas lived. Christ did the same for us. The only reason that we have the opportunity to be saved, is because Jesus died. He took our place. If He would not have bore the sin of every single human being on Calvary, we would spend eternity in separation from God. Thanks be to God, that by His death we live. As He hung on the cross that day, Jesus knew you by name, He knew the name of every person in the world, throughout the history of mankind, and could say of each one, “You’re the one I’m dying for…”