Barabbas or Jesus? The Choice That Reveals Our Sin—and God’s Grace

Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:15-26

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

The Great Exchange: What Barabbas Teaches Us About the Crucifixion

Palm Sunday / Passion Sunday

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Holy Week Begins: Two Celebrations in One

Today is the beginning of Holy Week, and we have two celebrations simultaneously. We call today Palm Sunday, because it remembers the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is also Passion Sunday, because we read not just the story of his entrance, but also the story of the crucifixion. We do that partially because not everybody can make it to a 7pm Good Friday worship service — so we all get to hear it together on Sunday, when everybody is here.

This week begins the celebration of the most important events of Jesus's life: the Last Supper and his institution of communion, the washing of the disciples' feet, the Garden of Gethsemane, his arrest, his trial before the Sanhedrin, then before Pilate, his crucifixion, death, burial, and finally the joyous resurrection on Easter Sunday. What a week we are celebrating, where all the greatest and most important events of Jesus's life unfold. I hope you are able to come and focus on all of them at our different services this week.

Today, I'd like to focus on the crucifixion story — specifically on the dialogue that Pontius Pilate has with the crowd and Jesus about whom he will release.

Pontius Pilate's Dilemma: An Innocent Man on Trial

Matthew tells us this interesting story: "Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted."

What an interesting custom. It was likely related to the freedom festival happening at this time — the Passover. Passover was a celebration of release, going all the way back to when Israel was freed from slavery by the power of God, so that they could be his people and go to the promised land. Every year they celebrated freedom from slavery and the covenant that made Israel God's people. So it makes sense that one prisoner could be let go.

I imagine that most of the time it was someone the people liked — perhaps a prisoner who had been wrongly imprisoned, and this was a way to give justice without anyone losing face.

I think Pontius Pilate is trying to get out of a bad situation here. He knows there is nothing wrong with Jesus. This is an innocent man who has been charged simply because other people don't like him. We can tell this from several details: his wife sends him a message in the middle of the trial — "Have nothing to do with this righteous man" — and even Pilate himself knows that Jesus was only brought there because of envy.

After trying to get Jesus to testify in his own defense — if Jesus had simply said, "Governor, these accusations are baseless," Pilate would likely have released him — Jesus says nothing. Pilate marvels at this, amazed by his silence.

So his next step is to offer the crowd a choice: Barabbas or Jesus, who is called the Christ.

Who Was Barabbas? The Notorious Prisoner

Matthew gives us an important detail: "they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas." Notorious, prominent — and a prisoner. The only way to become a notorious prisoner is to do terrible things. Barabbas was famous. The other Gospels tell us he was a rebel, a murderer, an insurrectionist. He was a genuinely dangerous man, and everyone knew that if he were released, he would keep doing terrible things.

I think Pontius Pilate believed no one would ever choose Barabbas over Jesus. It's a bit like what you do with a small child — you narrow their options down to two: one they would clearly hate, and one you know they'll choose, which also happens to be the one you want them to pick. You give them those two options, confident the outcome is settled.

But every once in a while, that two-year-old gets so angry and so defiant that they choose the thing they hate, just to spite you.

Pilate is surprised. They choose Barabbas.

Barabbas or Jesus: The Choice That Changed Everything

Notice how Matthew frames the choice: "Whom do you want me to release for you — Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?" He uses a religious title for Jesus — the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, the one that everybody was supposed to be looking for. Not "king," which would be a political crime, but Christ.

And Jesus was no notorious prisoner. He was not a rebel. He was not a murderer. What did Jesus do? He healed people. He proclaimed the Word of God. He taught in the synagogues. He drove out demons. He did exactly the kinds of things the Messiah was supposed to do.

Yet like a willful child, the crowd stamps its feet and shouts: No. We want Barabbas.

Instead of their Messiah, they take a rebel. Instead of their King, an insurrectionist.

The Great Exchange: What the Crucifixion Really Means

Matthew doesn't include this detail by accident. He isn't just offering an interesting historical tidbit. He's helping us see exactly what happens in the crucifixion itself.

The notorious prisoner is set free. The innocent Son of God is punished and dies on a cross.

And that is the beautiful exchange.

We may not be murderers and insurrectionists like Barabbas — but we are certainly sinners, rebels against our true God. We are not stuck in a Roman cell, but we are stuck in our sin, trapped in a condition we are born into. We deserve the punishment that Barabbas deserved. Whether you are the best of us or the worst of us, we know that we are guilty. Our own hearts tell us this — they accuse us when we make mistakes, when we hurt others, when we sin against God.

It was Barabbas who was set free by Christ's crucifixion. And so are you.

Jesus doesn't defend himself. He doesn't say, "No — I don't deserve this." He goes to the cross for you. He allows the exchange: let the rebel, the sinner, go free — while he goes to the cross and dies so that sinners just like us do not receive the punishment we deserve.

"His Blood Be On Us": The Most Misunderstood Line in the Passion Story

Pilate tries to get out of it one last time. He washes his hands in front of the crowd and says, "I am innocent of this man's blood — see to it yourselves."

And Matthew records the crowd responding: "His blood be on us and on our children."

Many people read that line the wrong way — as though it is a curse, a declaration of guilt falling on a people. But that reading only makes sense if you don't understand what the blood of Jesus Christ does.

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

I love the image St. John gives us in Revelation: the saints in heaven receive robes, and they wash them in the blood of Christ — and they come out white. Now, if you've ever tried to wash blood out of a garment, you know that's not how it works in the natural world. But when the blood of Christ comes to us, it cleanses us. It forgives us. It makes us clean. It makes us righteous.

That is why you and I — we cry out with the crowd: His blood be on us and on our children.

We come forward every Sunday to eat his body and drink his blood, because we want it to be on us and on our children, and on every generation from the day Jesus died on the cross until the day he returns. Because his blood sets us free — just as Barabbas was freed from that Roman cell — to be his people, to be one, to live forever with him.

The Righteous Dies for the Sinner: The Heart of the Gospel

Jesus goes to the cross as the great exchange: the righteous dies for the sinner, the perfect for the insurrectionist. And because of that, we receive his glory and his life.

In Jesus' name. Amen.