We are Barabbas

"Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified." (Matthew 27:26)

Here we have 2 men: Barabbas and Jesus. Barabbas was a notorious criminal who was rightly imprisoned. Then you have Jesus, the Son of God, who was totally innocent of any crime and never sinned a day in His life. But it was decided by the people that Barabbas should be set free and that Jesus should be put to death.

It was customary for Pilate to have a prisoner released during the time of feast. This was probably done as a way to win the favor of the masses. But if this decision was between Barabbas and any other prisoner, Barabbas probably would not have been chosen.

There was nothing special about Barabbas that made the people pick him to be released over Jesus. It was actually the peoples hatred for Jesus that made them pick Barabbas.

When I read this scripture I see something:

We are Barabbas!

We are the criminals who deserve to be punished like Barabbas. We are the ones who are guilty just like Barabbas. But just like Barabbas, we get to go free because it was chosen for Jesus to be punished instead of us. Jesus traded places with us when He was on the cross.

Barabbas is probably the first person to benefit from Jesus' death on the cross. In some sense, Barabbas was "saved" by Jesus' death. I don't know if he ever became "born again" and went to heaven, but his life was definitely spared because of Jesus.
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