I wonder who you think is in control of the situation in Matthew 27? Is it Pilate? Is it the crowd? Or could it be Jesus? At any point Jesus could have said the right words, or prayed the right prayer and walked free. But he didn’t. Why? Well looking again at the question of who is in control, we might deduce that the one person without any autonomy in this situation is the criminal Barabbas. The leader of a revolt, and now at the mercy of Rome and the people.

So if Jesus could have simply said the word and walked free, sending Barabbas to his deserved fate, the fact that He didn’t was an amazing act of mercy and grace towards Barabbas. Jesus’ silence in this moment set Barabbas free. Jesus took Barabbas’ place on the cross. Jesus died for Barabbas.

What a stunning picture of the Gospel. Barabbas had done nothing to earn this freedom, and yet it was his shackles that were loosened as Jesus’ were tightened. What must have been going through Barabbas’ head as he found himself taking his first steps into freedom, whilst this Jesus journeyed towards the cross meant for him?

The truth is we don’t know what happened to Barabbas following this moment, but perhaps he began to grasp something of what it means to receive, first hand, God’s outrageous grace, mercy and forgiveness. 

Of course, we are all Barabbas. Undeserving, messed up people in need of someone else to step in and rescue us and we too can find freedom and hope for the future in the man who went silently to the cross on our behalf.

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Questions:

• Try to describe what might have been going on in Barabbas’ head during this scene in Matthew 27. Can you resonate with any of the emotions?
• What might Jesus have said to Barabbas if they had a moment together before he walked free?

Action:

Take a moment to marvel in the good news that ‘while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Romans 5:8)