And Pilate adjudged that what they begged should take place.
Three times the governor had said he found no guilt in the prisoner. Yet he ends the case with the very verdict the crowd shouted for. That raises the trial's hardest questions: why a judge condemns a man he believes innocent, who carries the guilt, and what God was doing behind it all.
The decisive factor in the courtroom was not proof but volume.
Despite the convictions of the judge and despite the overwhelming evidence for the innocence of the Man Christ Jesus, we read that their voices prevailed and Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they demanded. That sentence goes directly against the evidence, and the simple but telling reason is that the "voices prevailed." When pressure becomes too strong, political judgement bows to pressure. The next verse underlines it: "he delivered over Jesus to their will." The Son of Man makes no comment on these proceedings: "like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth" (Isa. 53:7).
Pilate did not give in all at once. His repeated questioning shows a man still fighting himself.
Pilate asked them a third time, "Why? What evil has He done?" Still struggling! Those battles are not settled in a moment. Conscience loves ease too well to yield in a moment. Pilate is on a battlefield until he is conquered.
Passing sentence was more than a legal act. It was the moment the struggle ended:
Then Pilate gave sentence. There is the victory.
Fear conquered him, not argument — and the favour he bought at the cost of justice could still turn on him.
Pilate was not the last to go along with what was wrong for the sake of present advantage. Such a course may look successful at the time. Very often it turns out badly for the person in the end. Sooner or later conscience will speak and make itself heard. And the people whose favour he bought at the cost of righteousness may in the end turn round and attack the one who acted to please him. Pilate proved this… Weak, and afraid of popular opposition or resentment, he yielded against his conscience and better judgment. "The fear of man lays a snare" (Prov. 29:25).
Many people today stand exactly where Pilate stood.
Your conscience stirs you. You would like to be on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ… you would like to stand up for Him, to be His friend, to be on His side. But then there is the world, and you cannot give up the world… They cannot give up their Caesar. "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar." The moment Pilate heard that word, the decision was made.
The verdict spread the guilt in two directions at once — to the judge who passed it and to the crowd who demanded it.
Pilate passed the death sentence while saying he found no fault in our Lord. That made the Gentiles guilty. The Jews shouted for His death, and that made the Jews guilty.
Yet the guilt was not spread equally. Those who had God's law were the ones pressing hardest for the death of their own Messiah.
So all the world was proved guilty before God, but none were so deeply involved as those for whom it was least fitting. The people who had the law fell under its curse. This was not only because they disobeyed its requirements. Worse still, they were set on rejecting their own Messiah and putting Him to death — and this when the Gentile wanted to let Him go.
Granting their demand meant one man walked free and another went to the cross.
The man proven guilty of rebellion against the government and of murder went free. The judge sent the One he had three times declared to be without fault to be crucified!
Under the surface of this injustice, God was working out another purpose.
Barabbas is seen as a chief of sinners, a rebel and a murderer. The feast of redemption offers him a possible release — but only, on the choice Pilate gave, if Jesus is given up. Jesus becomes, as it were, the Substitute for the chief of sinners… Look deeper than the evil wills of men. In the purpose of God we may see that holy Sin-offering, the true passover, which sets even a Barabbas free — not for any good in him, for Barabbas shows none.
- Pressure decides. The verdict followed the loudest voices, not the evidence. When pressure grows strong enough, judgment bends to it.
- Conscience loses. Pilate fought his own conviction three times over. Passing sentence was the moment his conscience lost.
- Fear enslaves. He feared the crowd and Caesar. The fear of man lays a snare, and that bargain pays you back with a bad conscience.
- Guilt spreads. The sentence exposed Gentile and Jew alike, with the heaviest blame on those who had the most light.
- God overrules. Beneath the injustice, the guilty man goes free and the spotless One takes his place. That is substitution, written into the worst crime in history.
And he released him who, for tumult and murder, had been cast into prison, whom they begged for, and Jesus he delivered up to their will.
A murderer walks free. Pilate hands the innocent One over. Luke ends his account of the trial with that exchange, not with a verdict. Two questions follow. What does the crowd's choice show about the human heart? How could such injustice serve God's purpose?
Start with why a prisoner could go free at all, and with who this prisoner was:
This feast celebrated Israel's release from slavery in Egypt. As a favour, they were allowed to release one prisoner at that feast. Barabbas was a terrible character. "Bar" means "son"; "Abbas" — father. Barabbas — "the son of a father." And here was the Son of God! It was a solemn moment for that nation. Before them stood the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, and this wicked man, the son of his father. Here was the Blessed One, the source of life. There was a murderer, the destroyer of life, "who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder." It is the choice of the human heart — your heart and mine.
Why prefer a robber? One writer points to a clash of two wills:
They did not choose the gracious Giver who would lay down His life for others. They chose the notable robber who could take life itself to reach his selfish ends. They did not choose the One who carried out God's will for man's blessing. They chose the one who forced his own will to the very end, to God's dishonour and his neighbour's loss... The will of God was THIS MAN'S delight, and the bringing in of God's will meant the displacing of man's.
The verse names Barabbas's crimes, and his release depends on Jesus being given up:
We see him as a chief of sinners, a rebel and a murderer. The feast of redemption offers him a possible release. But it comes only on Pilate's terms: Jesus must be given up. Jesus becomes, as it were, the Substitute for the chief of sinners... Look deeper than the wicked wills of men. In the purpose of God we can see that holy Sin-offering, the true passover. Through Him even a Barabbas may go free — not for any good in him, for Barabbas shows none.
Jesus keeps freeing others, and each time the cost falls on Him:
Even in this last scene, Jesus delivers others at His own cost and in every sense. Just before this, He delivered the disciples from arrest. Now He is the means of delivering Barabbas, wicked as he was. He never saved Himself... Barabbas was guilty and condemned, yet Pilate released him. He might have gone out, looked up at the One hanging on the cross, and said, "He died for me; He paid my penalty."
The verse ends with a Person surrendered, not a sentence passed. Pilate gives Him up to whatever the crowd wants:
The world may do what it likes with Jesus. He is "delivered over to their will." Man does what he wants with the Son of God. Christ allows man to do his worst to Him... He says, "Do your utmost. Do your worst. I shall not complain. And when you have done your worst to Me, then I shall do My best for you." When they had nailed Him to the cross, He dies for them. He died in their stead.
This was not one man's failure. Everyone stood exposed:
All the world was proved guilty before God, but none were so deeply involved as those whom it least became. The people who had the law fell under its curse. It was not only because they broke its commands. Worst of all, they had set themselves to reject their own Messiah and put Him to death — and this while the Gentiles sought to let Him go.
Man's wickedness was real. So was God's plan. Note the two deliveries at once:
How good it is to turn away from man and all his wickedness. Learn instead that the death of our Lord Jesus Christ was not only the result of man's evil, but of the counsels of God. He was "delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God," when men took Him with lawless hands to crucify and kill Him (Acts 2:23)... When Pilate delivered up Jesus to be crucified, God delivered Him for our trespasses (Rom. 4:25).
God's care even shaped which man went free:
Their choice confirms the people's guilt. But there is another side: God watches over the scene. He makes sure that His Son is not released as a guilty criminal who is pardoned, but condemned though innocent.
- Delivered — by men. Pilate hands Jesus over to a crowd's wishes, not to a sentence. He gives the innocent One to the will of the guilty.
- Delivered — for us. Pilate acted in cowardice; God acted with purpose. He delivered up His Son for our trespasses, according to His definite plan.
- Delivered — instead of. Barabbas goes free only because Pilate gives Jesus up. A murderer walks out; the sinless One takes the place he had earned.
- Delivered — at His own cost. He rescues the disciples, then Barabbas, and never once saves Himself.
- Delivered — and all are exposed. Rome sought to let Him go; Israel demanded His death. The choice between Barabbas and Christ is one every heart still makes.