MATTHEW 27:15-22 I BARABBAS

Written by , Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia
 

¹⁵ Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. ¹⁶ At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” ²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
²¹ “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
²² “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”

Barabbas, the rebel and “notorious prisoner,” who was headed for execution, is brought out by Pilate as the rational choice for death. His sins against society were obviously well known and he was not heralded by Matthew as a leader of a popular rebellion. If that had been the case, Pilate would have just sealed Jesus’ fate by offering the Jews that choice.

We have no idea what happened to Barabbas after he was released. That was not seen as important to the story of the Gospel. However, his deliverance presents a vivid symbol of Jesus’ redemptive death. The one known to everyone, Jew and Gentile, as deserving of execution is set free by the condemnation and death of another who was innocent. Like the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which was a deliverance from physical death, the deliverance of Barabbas from the penalty of death was also only confined to this physical life. But both actions were symbolic of Jesus’ power and grace available to us in the spiritual and eternal life.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

We like Barabbas have earned the wages of sin which is death (Romans 6:23), not physical but spiritual death. And like Barabbas, Jesus has suffered death in our stead. Eternal life is offered to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus, but the reception of that gift is through faith.

¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:14-15)

Thank you, Lord Jesus for taking upon yourself the wages of my sin and dying in my place. But even more than that, thank you for the gift of eternal life that you have offered me in the place of the death that I deserve. Empower my meager faith through your Spirit, that I might believe you and what you have done and proclaim my faith through a life lived under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Attachment	Size
Download and Print This Devotional	131.65 KB