"So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?'"
-Matthew 27:17
In this season of Christmas, I've been trying to spend time reflecting on who the person of Jesus Christ is. It's so easy to get caught up gifts, friends, winter break, and movies (for me, anyway). The whole point of celebrating Christmas is to remember Jesus who was born as a gift for us. We are supposed to celebrate the salvation that came through Jesus Christ and the hope that He gave us when He was born. For some reason I've been thinking about the story of Jesus and Barabbas. Today I thought I would share some of my thoughts on this passage.
I'm sure most of you who read my blog already know the story of Jesus standing trial before Pilate, but it's always good to have context when studying anything in the Bible. Before Jesus actually is arrested and brought to trial, He is adored by crowds of people. He has been among the people for years; teaching them and healing them. However, the chief priests and elders find Jesus to be a threat to their social status, so they decide they want to kill Jesus. They are able to convince one of Jesus's disciples, Judas, to give them Jesus. Jesus is then arrested and taken to trial before Pilate.
As Jesus is standing trial, the very people who had been following Him began to falsely accuse Jesus. Jesus does not respond to any of their accusations, to Pilate's amazement. The people get more aggressive, and they start demanding that Jesus be crucified. Pilate knows that Jesus is an innocent man, yet he does not want to anger the demanding crowd and perhaps start a riot. In an attempt to please the crowd and release Jesus, Pilate offers the people a choice; the death of Jesus or the death of Barabbas.
Barabbas was a murderer and a violent man, and the people knew it too. Jesus was full of grace and truth, and He never hurt anyone. Barabbas deserved punishment for his crimes, and Jesus deserved respect from the people. However, the crowd was so riled up against Jesus that they chose Barabbas to be released and Jesus to die. Pilate still wants to release Jesus, so he tries to get the people to think rationally by asking, "why, what evil has He done?". The crowd at this point cannot be reasoned with, and they start chanting "crucify Him". Pilate finally gives in to the demands of the crowd, and hands Jesus over to be crucified.
So what can learned from this passage? One of the first things I always try to look at when studying a passage is how I can be like Jesus. Jesus was constantly accused by the people for things He had not done, yet He remained silent. Jesus wasn't angry at the people, He simply let them accuse Him and He even let them sentence Him to death instead of Barabbas. Perhaps we can learn to remain faithful to God even in times of distress. Or perhaps we can learn to bear the burdens of other people, as Jesus took the burden from Barabbas.
However, in this passage I think what we learn is not how we can be like Jesus, but what Jesus has done for us. I once heard in a message that in this passage, we are not like Jesus; we are actually like Barabbas. Think about the truth of that statement for a second. We have done nothing to help other people, and ultimately there is nothing we can do to save anyone's soul. Jesus has done all of the work on the cross, all we can do is lead others to Him. We are Barabbas; when we were condemned to death because of our sin, Jesus took our place. We were standing trial before God, "but God demonstrates His own love for us in this; that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)". It was not only the crowd that wanted Jesus on the cross, it was God's will also. God would rather send His own son to die than to allow us to suffer the consequences of our sin. That's the true story of Christmas.
-Smart
