October 27 ,2023
Favoring The Guilty
“But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews? So they cried out again, saying, ‘Not this Man, but Barabbas.’” Now Barabbas was a robber.” John 18:39-40 (NASB)
I witnessed a similar event some years back. After being convicted of 1st-degree murder, the defendant who killed his brother was released earlier than anyone would suspect. He faced the death sentence for the premeditated murder of his brother. As the lead detective in the case, it was a slam dunk case. All the evidence was undeniable. Although a victim of domestic violence over the years from his now-deceased brother, he still faced the death sentence. The mother of the two brothers at sentencing, pleaded with the sentencing judge to allow her to have at least one son left alive. The judge heard her plea and reduced his sentence to 7 years. Barabbas, on the other hand, was about to have his death sentence completely commuted.
“But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover;” This custom is discussed in the book of Matthew 27:15, “Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted.” “From the New Testament sources we learn of the existence of a singular custom on the eve of Passover in ancient Roman Jerusalem, namely, that on the eve of every Passover leaders of the Jews appeared before the Roman governor and asked him to release a certain prisoner, and the governor was obliged to set the specified person free… Scholars are also very much divided. One school holds it to have originated with the Roman procurators of Judaea who instituted it for the mere purpose of gratifying the Jews and of showing them their keen sympathy and understating of the Jewish Passover. A second school looks to the Greek and Roman world for the origin and essential character of this practice… According to this school, Herod the Great is to be credited with the introduction of this procedure into Israel, the Roman governors after him merely following the beaten path of a custom which had been familiar to them from their own religious festivals.”[1] This in Pilate’s mind would have been easier. Scourge Jesus and send Him on His way. He could be released as soon as the decision was made. What is interesting, is Pilate’s usage of “King of the Jews.” If Jesus was no king in Pilate’s mind, why would he continue the usage of “King?” Perhaps its usage was for identifying Jesus more easily. Perhaps he used it as a veiled insult to Jesus. “So they cried out again, saying, ‘Not this Man, but Barabbas.’” Now Barabbas was a robber.” “Barabbas was a robber (John 18:40) who had been imprisoned for committing murder during an insurrection (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19). He was regarded as a “notorious prisoner” (Matt 27:16). His “insurrection” may have been an unusually violent act of robbery or an internal struggle among the Jews, but many scholars view it as a political insurrection against the Roman forces in Jerusalem. It is not unlikely that Barabbas was a member of the Zealots, a Jewish political group which sought to throw off the yoke of Rome by violence. The word translated “robber” can denote either a bandit or revolutionary.”[2]
Jesus; traded for a murderer. Yet you and I stand convicted without Jesus’s forgiveness.
[1] https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-biblical-literature_1941-09_60_3/page/274/mode/2up.
[2] Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Barabbas. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 263). Baker Book House.