Title: Jesus or Barabbas?

Scripture reading: Mark 15:6-15

“Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. ⁷ And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. ⁸ Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. ⁹ But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. ¹² Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁴ Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!” ¹⁵ So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”

Main idea: God is sovereign over the world, including its evil.

Release one Jewish prisoner at the feast (Mark 15:6-8).
To appease the Jews, it was the custom for the Roman Governor to release one Jewish prisoner at the feast, that is, Passover (Mark 14:1). One such eligible prisoner was Barabbas, guilty of rebellion and murder. When Pilate offered to release Jesus, the people were primed to ask for Barabbas (Mark 15:11). The very ones who were charging Jesus with treason against Caesar were asking the release of a man who was actually guilty of that crime!

“Two forms of amnesty existed in Roman law, the abolitio or acquittal of a prisoner not yet condemned, and the indulgentia, or pardoning of one already condemned. What Pilate intended in the case of Jesus, who at this stage of the proceedings had not yet been sentenced by the court, was clearly the first form.” (Lane, p. 552).

“Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:9).
Pilate asked what he should do with the One whom they called the King of the Jews. The crowd was to make a choice between two men: the one who sought solutions by force or the one who ruled by love and was ready to sacrifice himself. It seems that the crowd came to Pilate’s tribunal for the primary purpose of releasing Barabbas, even though Pilate gave them a choice.

“What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
Pilate asked them a question that is a question that is very relevant to each one of us, What are you going to do with Jesus who is called the King of the Jews? That’s something that every one of you have to determine in your own hearts. You’ve got to do something with Him. You’ve got to either believe Him or not believe Him. You’ve got to receive Him or reject Him. In other words, you can’t be neutral; you’ve got to take a stand one way or the other.

To believe in Him, to receive Him, to confess Him is to receive eternal life. To not believe in Him is to receive eternal damnation. And each man must make the decision for himself; you can’t leave it up to Pilate to make the decision for you. Your decision concerning Jesus will determine where you spend eternity.

“They cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”
The people chanted savagely, “Crucify Him!” Pilate demanded a reason, but there was none.” The change in the people in just a few days is tragic. On Sunday they were shouting, “Hosanna!” and placing palm branches in Jesus’s path (Mark 11:8-10), and on Friday they are shouting, “Crucify him!” (Mark 15:12-14).

They seek mercy for guilty Barabbas and crucifixion for the one who has “committed no crime.” Three times Pilate hopes to free Jesus (Mark 15: 9, 12, 14), and each time religious leaders and the crowd demanding his death. They do not merely want Jesus to die; in effect, they want him “put on a tree” (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13) outside the camp (Exod. 29:14; Heb. 13:12)—that is, cut off from the covenant.

“Released Barabbas to them” Mark 15:10-15).
Barabbas means “Son of the Father” in Aramaic. In Mark 14:36, Jesus addressing God as Abba, Father. Jesus, the true Son of the Father, is innocent but condemned to death, while a man guilty of rebellion and murder, goes free in his place. The true “Son of the Father” will die in the place of the wicked “son of the father.”  Jesus had prophesied that his death would be a “ransom,” making atonement for many who deserved to die (Mark 10:45). Barabbas is the first of many rebels to be ransomed by Jesus.

The Scourging of Jesus.
The typical prelude to a Roman execution was to be scourged, a terrifying punishment. Once sentence was passed the victim was stripped naked, bound to a post or pillar, and lashed until the flesh hung in shreds. The instrument was a whip of rawhide, braided with bone or metal. There was no limit to the number of strokes (unlike Jewish law, which set a limit of thirty-nine; 2 Cor 11:24). Josephus records instances of flagellation until the prisoners’ entrails or bones were visible. (Jewish War 2.21.5; 6.5.3).

Jesus was scourged as Isaiah tells us, although it is by the Cross we are saved, it is by His stripes that we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

“When I consider my crosses, tribulations and temptations, I shame myself almost to death, thinking what are they in comparison to the suffering of my blessed Savior Jesus Christ.” (Martin Luther)

“He delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.”
Mark’s use of the phrase “delivered Him” (NKJV) or “handed Him over” (NIV) process began with Judas—is now complete: Judas handed Jesus over to the chief priests (Mark 14:10), who handed him over to Pilate (Mark 15:1), who hands him over to be crucified (Mark 15:15; Isa. 53:6, 12).

There has been much debate about who is guilty for putting Jesus to death. The Jews demanded his death, the Romans executed him when Pilate could have exercised his authority to release Jesus. The disciples deserted and even denied Jesus, leaving him to die alone. All were guilty of Jesus’s death. In fact, all of us are guilty because Jesus was primarily destined by God to bear “our sins in his body on the cross” (1 Pet. 2:24). He died for each of us.

Application
Pilate a man in high places without religious principles is one of the most dangerous sights in the world. Let us pray much for men in authority. They need great grace to keep them from the devil. No wonder Paul asks intercession “for kings and all those in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1).

What a striking symbol the release of Barabbas gives of the Gospel plan of salvation. The guilty is set free and the innocent is put to death. The great sinner is delivered, and the sinless one remains bound. Barabbas is spared, and Christ is crucified. In this we see a picture God pardons and justifies the ungodly. We are all by nature in the place of Barabbas.

The Jewish crowds did say, “His blood is on us and on our children” (Matt. 27:25), but the truth is that Christ’s blood was shed for them and for us redemptively to make possible the salvation of everyone.

We are guilty and worthy of condemnation, but “when we were without hope,” Christ the innocent Lamb of God died for the ungodly. And now God for Christ’s sake can be just, and yet “the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). May we never rest till we can say by faith, “Christ is mine. Christ has died for me, and believing in him I have a hope of heaven.”

I leave you today with these words taken from Galatians 3:13 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”).

Let’s pray together
heavenly Father, Christ is mine, Christ has died for me. Thank you Lord, You adopted me into Your family. In Jesus Name, Amen.