He Took My Place
TRANSLATION
(1) And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests made their plans with the elders, the teachers of the Law, and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. (2) Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered, “You have said so.” (3) And the chief priests accused him of many things. (4) Pilate again asked him, “Are you not going to answer? Do you not see how many charges they are bringing against you?” (5) But Jesus gave no further answer to Pilate’s amazement.
(6) Now it was the custom at the festival to release one prisoner whom the people requested. (7) There was one prisoner among the rebels called Barabbas who had committed murder in the insurrection. (8) And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do what he was accustomed to do for them. (9) Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” (10) For he could see that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. (11) But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. (12) Pilate again asked them, “What then should I do with the one you call ‘the King of the Jews?’” (13) And they cried out again, “Crucify him!” (14) And Pilate said to them, “What evil has he done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify him!” (15) And Pilate, wanting to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and delivered Jesus, after being flogged, to be crucified.
OBSERVATIONS
Two names, “Pilate,” found eight times in the segment and “Barabbas” used three times, pointed to the central roles both the Roman governor and the prisoner he offered to release in Jesus’ place played in this plot. Several other repeated words and phrases help us discern the message of this segment. The use of “chief priests” identified the instigators of the plot to have Jesus executed (four times in vss. 1, 3, 10, & 11). The use of “answer” (vss. 4 & 5) highlighted Jesus’ refusal to defend himself against the charges made against him. “King of the Jews,” the title Pilate mockingly gave to Jesus (three times in vss. 2, 9, & 12), portrayed the contempt Pilate had for the Jewish leadership. Two other terms, each used three times, show us the alternative Pilate unsuccessfully offered to Jesus’ accusers: “release” (vss. 6, 9, & 11) versus “crucify” (vss. 13, 14, & 15).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus faced Pilate to answer the charges the Jewish leadership had brought against him. (1-5)
II. The crowd demanded that Pilate release a known criminal so that he might condemn Jesus. (6-15)
IDEA STATEMENT
Although declared innocent by Pilate, Jesus was condemned to death due to the crowd, manipulated by the Jewish leadership, demanding Barabbas’ release and Jesus’ crucifixion.
APPLICATION
Pilate’s offer to release Jesus contains some fascinating overtones (vs. 6). Apparently, the Romans had adopted the practice of releasing one prisoner during the feast of Passover in an attempt to suppress Jewish unrest and dissatisfaction with being forced to live under the repressive rule of a foreign power. Barabbas, mentioned in all four Gospels, was a notorious insurrectionist and murderer, representing the worst element of Jewish resistance to the Romans. It also appears that Pilate was caught off guard when the crowd, manipulated by the Jewish leadership, demanded Barabbas’ release in response to his offer to free Jesus.
Neither Pilate nor the chief priests of Israel could have grasped how setting free a convicted criminal facing execution while, at the same time, sentencing to death one who was clearly innocent foreshadowed what Jesus was about to accomplish by his death on the cross. Jesus’ death in Barabbas’ place served as a vivid portrayal of the doctrine of “substitutionary atonement” in which an innocent victim, a sacrificial lamb, was put to death instead of the sinner who deserved God’s righteous judgment. The hymn writer, P. P. Bliss, captured the essence of what took place at Calvary with these memorable words:
In my place condemned he stood,
Sealed my pardon with his blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!