The Man Who Got to Walk Away

A brief consideration of one of the most interesting characters in the Scriptures

As Pilate stood before the Jewish people, he presented to them two prisoners. It was tradition that at the feast of Passover, Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, would release one prisoner of their choice. On one side stood Jesus, the Son of God, and on the other side stood Barabbas, an insurrectionist and murderer. The choice should be simple. Barabbas had literally murdered people and incited an insurrection against Rome. There was nothing about Barabbas that made him worthy to walk away from the punishment that he deserved. Jesus, on the other hand, did nothing wrong. He made the lame to walk again. He opened deaf ears. He gave sight to the blind. He taught that you should love your neighbor as yourself and he taught that He was bringing resurrection and life. He was the light of the world. He brought hope to a hopeless people. Jesus did nothing, but good. Surely the Jewish people would want Jesus. They chose Barabbas…

How could this happen? This man named Jesus wasn’t just any other person. He was the Son of God. He was the Messiah. He was God in the flesh. How could the Jewish people choose Barabbas over Jesus? In addition, the Jewish people went a step further and called for His crucifixion.

Think about everything Jesus had been through the last 24 hours. On the Mount of Olives, Jesus prayed in agony about the events to transpire.  The gospel of Luke informs us that His sweat became like great drops of blood (Lk 22:44). If we were in the position of Jesus, how would we react? I presume that most would react in anger. The Jewish people were putting the greatest man that has ever walked the Earth to death. Did they not understand what they were doing? If we were in Jesus’s position, we would pronounce judgment on them or call down thousands of angels to destroy the world. Perhaps many would defend themselves against the accusation. Jesus had done nothing wrong. The trial of Jesus was a sham. When Jesus was before the Sanhedrin Council Matthew writes that the council “were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put Him to death” (Mt 26:59). The Jewish authorities and elders were so intent on taking down Jesus that they were willing to produce false witnesses. If we were in Jesus’s position, we would defend ourselves against the false accusation. What did Jesus do? He stood alone, in silence.

While Jesus stood alone and took the unfair punishment delivered to Him, Barabbas got to walk away. He got to walk away from the punishment that he deserved. He got to walk away from the whipping and the lashing. He got to walk away from the shame. He got to walk away from the suffering. He got to walk away from the cross. Barabbas was the man who got to walk away. Do you think Barabbas ever looked back to Jesus? Do you think he ever wondered how special of an event this was? Do you think he ever thanked Jesus for taking His punishment? Do you think Barabbas changed his life and followed Jesus? The text does not tell us any other information about Barabbas and that is fine, because what became of Barabbas is not the point of the story. The point is Jesus loved Barabbas.

We cannot understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ until we recognize who we are in this story. We are Barabbas. We are the people that got to walk away. We got to walk away from the punishment that we deserved. It is certainly true that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the punishment of sin is death (Rom 3:23, Rom 6:23), but consider the words of Paul. He writes, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:6-8). There is nothing we could possibly do, say, or feel that would make us worthy of not being punished, but at that same time there is nothing we could possibly do, say, or feel that would remove us from God’s love. Paul writes in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Consider the words of Paul in the book of Titus, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit” (Tit 3:3-5). God wants to save us. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9). No matter who we’ve been and what we've done, the grace of God has appeared to all people. Jesus loves us enough to take our place. This is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

While we do not know whether or not Barabbas changed his life, we still have the opportunity to live a changed life. We have been set free by God’s grace and have been enabled to walk in newness of life. I encourage you to walk in the light of God’s grace knowing that God can set you free.