The crowds were right: somebody needs to pay. We all want justice, and the craving for it is a righteous one. Sin cannot go unpunished, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
In Matthew 27 we read the account of Jesus and Barabbas, two men paraded before an angry crowd under the watchful eye of Pontius Pilate. A strange custom was unfolding; mob mentality was both judge and jury. Given the choice between two prisoners, the crowds got to decide who walked away a free man.
Barabbas was guilty, and no one was denying it. His crimes were “notorious,” widely known (Matthew 27:16). Jesus, on the other hand, was innocent. Still the crowds looked at Him and screamed, “Crucify him!” (v.22). They were not blind to Barabbas’s guilt—they simply failed to recognize their own. Spiritual blindness kept them from seeing how much they needed the Savior standing right in front of them.
“You denied the Holy and Righteous One
and asked to have a murderer released to you.
You killed the source of Life,
whom God raised from the dead;
we are witnesses of this” (Acts 3:14–15).
The crowds allowed the guilty man to walk in freedom. Is this ringing any bells? We are all Barabbas. All of us “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). When it comes to sin, we’re guilty, notorious sinners who cannot stand against the holy scrutiny of God.
Though I’d love to read this passage and villainize Barabbas, I can’t, not really. He is the poster child for the good news, a symbol of the atonement Jesus made for us all. True, Barabbas was guilty, but there’s no use in pointing fingers. In one way or another, we are all guilty.
For soon after Jesus took Barabbas’s place before the crowds, He took our place at Calvary. This is the gospel! Jesus chose the cross. He walked toward it willingly so that the guilty—like Barabbas, like you, like me—could be spared the punishment we deserve and walk away in freedom.
Leave a Reply
37 thoughts on "Barabbas"
How was Barabbas’s life changed by Jesus?
Was he a follower of Jesus after he was released or did he go on thinking he had just ‘dodged a bullet’?
May I be ever grateful for what Jesus did for me – that He chose to die in my place.
May I recognize his love for me.
May I recognize the wonderful gift – the grace and mercy – that was given to me that day.
May I rejoice that I now walk in freedom.
And may I live in that freedom well.
Thank you Tina for responding exactly as I was thinking.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.
Amen
Tina, you said it perfectly. Amen. Thank you Jesus for taking my sin and letting me walk away. Thank you Lord for being present in my life. Lead me in your way.
Thank you Tina!
Injustice doubled. It was unjust to condemn an innocent Jesus to death. It was unjust to set a guilty murderer free. Yet God turns evil upside down in His economy. What was meant for evil turns to good. Jesus came as the substitutionary sacrifice for us all, to save all us guilty ones from the death penalty we deserve. Barabbas’ undeserved freedom is a type for us all. He was merely the first. We who believe all stand in line behind him. Jesus paid our debt. A debt we can never repay. Praise God, we don’t have to. Jesus did it all!
Reading this reminded me of the film, Sliding doors.. a story of a woman fired from her job, comes home and catches her boyfriend with another… or does she?? Two parallels.. catch the train, this scenario, miss the train, that scenario..
Here’s my thing, if, in our minds now, as we read this story, we think Jesus should have not been crucified, but Barabas, where would WE be now? What sort of world would WE be living in? Would we be meeting here most mornings to share our Love of Jesus and the Goodness of God..?
I have to believe that this had to happen, that although, it doesn’t make sense in our minds of good and bad, like any book or story with a hero, we want them to win through, ‘this hero’ Jesus, could not end the way it should have, to make it all rosy and fluffy…
No..
But God…
He, being the writer/ author of our story, had a far better plan than what our minds can or could conceive. To show us His love, to help us understand His unconditional, for always, don’t matter where, what, how we’ve journeyed, whatever our sin, His love for us, yes the same ‘us’, shouting “crucify him “, endured for us, absolutely whatever should have been our punishment for our sins, that we might be put right with God..
‘…so that you and me, we, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love.
(Ephesians 3:18)
The story, was written, prophesied even, and was as it was meant to be, for US. For our Salvation. For our Redemption. For our eyes to be opened to the Faithful, Awesome, Redemptive Love of God. That story had to begin there.. Jesus or Barabas… Barabas or Jesus..
It’s hard to get ones head around..
But God…
This had to happen, for us to be saved..
Thank you Jesus, for taking my sin, my shame upon yourself, for fighting for me, in your silence, for STILL, taking and carrying MY cross, even as Imy voice could be heard shouting “crucify him”, tears flow as I write, and so they should..
But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!
Romans 5:8
THANK YOU JESUS. THANK YOU..
Amen..
Go in peace Sisters.. wrapped in love and hugs for a God blessed day.❤
Amen!
♥️