Luke 23:17-23 17[Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner.] 18But they cried out all together, saying, “Take away this man, and release to us Barabbas!” 19He was a certain man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection that had happened in the city, and for murder. 20But again, Pilate addressed them because he wanted to release Jesus. 21But they kept crying out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” 22And he said to them the third time, “For what evil has this man done? I have found in him no guilt worthy of death; therefore I will punish and release him.” 23But they kept on being insistent, with loud voices asking him to be crucified, and their voices began to prevail.
Verse 17 is not found in the earliest and most reliable manuscripts (p75 A B L T 070 892* 1241 ita copsa al). It is most likely an insertion based Matthew 27:15 and Mark 15:6. It breaks up the flow of thought and attempts to explain why Pilate released Barabbas. It neither adds or detracts from the central theme of Jesus’ trial.
The crowd grew restless and insistent that Jesus be punished. It puts the idea of releasing a notorious prisoner name Barabbas clearly on the Jewish leaders and the crowd they had gathered in their support. It is curious how Luke emphasizes this point in light of him writing this to Theophilus, who may have been connected in some way to Roman citizenship. Luke, again, keeps some details out that are found in the other Gospels but does include a reference to who Barabbas was. He was the real insurrectionist and even a murderer. He may have been another reason why Pilate and Herod were both in town. Romans did not keep people alive long after their conviction. It is highly likely that Barabbas’ insurrection took place right then during the Passover. The Jewish leaders would rather let a real criminal go free than the innocent Son of Man.
Pilate was hesitant. He may have been the one to condemn Barabbas to death, and there was no comparison between him and Jesus. The crowd’s intensity grew to the point of flat out asking for death by crucifixion. It was the only answer in their minds. Give Jesus the worse punishment of all. Crucifixion was the most cruel way of execution in that time, and the Romans had developed it into an art and common practice for criminals and those opposed to them.
Pilate’s third try echoes Peter’s three denials. The baseball saying of three strikes and you’re out fits this situation. Pilate was trying to balance his duty to keep peace between the Jews and Romans and placating the restless crowd of influential people who were wanting to execute Jesus. Pilate gave it one last attempt to follow his conscience, but alas, the peer pressure was too much for him. He eventually put politics above conscience as the crowd grew more insistent in their desire.
The Prince of Peace was sacrificed for the freedom of the very type of person the Jews said he was. Jesus’ condemnation to free the sinner named Barabbas was more than a historical event. It was symbolic for why Jesus came to earth as the sacrificial Lamb of God. He took the place of the worst of sinners so that they (we) could be set free from our eternal condemnation. The characters in this part of the story thought they were acting in free will–and they were, but each part was part of God’s eternal plan for the redemption of humanity.
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