NAMED, BUT UNKNOWN - BARABBAS

“God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

(Romans 5:8).

These words weren’t theoretical… not to Barabbas.

Barabbas was a “notorious prisoner” (Matthew 27:16), a “revolutionary” (John 18:40) who “had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder” (Luke 23:19). He was a convicted felon, a murderer, guilty and rightly deserving of execution.

But Barabbas wasn’t executed. He was pardoned. Jesus died in his place.

You know the story.

“At the (Passover) festival the governor’s custom was to release to the crowd a prisoner they wanted” (Matthew 27:15). When Pilate offered to release the innocent Jesus, the crowds called for Barabbas to be release and Jesus to be executed.

“Pilate asked them, ‘What should I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ?’ They all answered, ‘Crucify him!’ Then he said, ‘Why? What has he done wrong?’ But they kept shouting all the more, ‘Crucify him!’ ” (Matthew 27:22-23).

Barabas was released. Jesus was crucified.

Barabbas might have thought that he was being released on a legal technicality. He might have assumed that his co-conspirators had bribed the governor. He might have wondered if false witnesses had come forward causing his conviction to be overturned.

When Barabbas discovered that Jesus had been executed in his place, what was his response?

Did he come to understand God’s great gift of grace? Did he ever realize that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Did “amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me” become his theme song?

I hope so.

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).