Whatever happened to Barabbas?
11: Whatever happened to Barabbas?
That’s a question that has been asked for hundreds of years, and the truth is, no one actually knows, despite two films having been made about him! What do we know about him? What did he do?
All four gospels tell us that there was a custom at the Passover festival for a prisoner to be released at the request of the Jewish people. There are no other records of this, so it’s not clear how it worked, but it’s not difficult to see how the Romans could use such a ‘deal’ to keep some of their Jewish supporters like the Sadducees on their side. It’s a ploy that is often used in politics today.
This is Matthew’s account of Jesus’ trial: (Matthew 27:11–26)
11 Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. “Are you the king of the Jews?” the governor asked him.
Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
12 But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. 13 “Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded. 14 But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.
15 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd — anyone they wanted. 16 This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas. 17 As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you — Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)
19 Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”
20 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. 21 So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?”
The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”
22 Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”
But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”
25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death — we and our children!”[e]
26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
On this particular Passover the Roman governor of Judaea, Pontius Pilate, wanted to release Jesus. There were several reasons for this. Firstly there was no evidence that Jesus had done anything wrong. Secondly, Pilate knew that the Jewish authorities wanted Jesus dead because they were envious of him, and that they had trumped up false charges. Then Pilate’s wife began to plead with him to release Jesus after she had had a horrific nightmare the previous night: it’s always a good idea to keep the wife happy! It’s also clear that Pilate was afraid of this man who would not answer his questions in order to be released, and who claimed to be the Son of God — a title also claimed by Caesar, Pilate’s ultimate employer.
So Pilate thought up a cunning plan — he offered the crowd a choice. Either they could have Jesus released, or Barabbas. All four gospels tell us something about Barabbas. Matthew tells us that he was a ‘notorious prisoner’ (27:16). Mark calls him ‘a revolutionary who had committed murder in the uprising’ (15:7). Luke confirms this, saying Barabbas was ‘in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder’ (23:19). And John simply calls him ‘a revolutionary’ (18:40). Surely there was no way they would vote for Barabbas, was there?
There is nothing in any of the accounts to suggest that Barabbas actually led an uprising. If he had been a popular freedom fighter, there is no way that Pilate would have offered to release him! Much more likely, given his ‘notorious’ label, is that he joined in one of the rebellions that happened from time to time, used it as a cover to commit murder, was caught, imprisoned, and sentenced to death. Barabbas had already eaten what he thought was his last meal on earth, and was awaiting the arrival of the soldiers to take him to his crucifixion.
What would you do if you knew, as Barabbas did, that this was your last day on earth? Almost certainly you would be reviewing in your mind how you got into such a mess. Perhaps you would still be defiant, pretending that none of it was your fault. More likely that outward bravado would have long since evaporated, leaving you a quivering wreck, pleading with the guards for mercy. Or just maybe you would be on your knees, confessing your sins and asking a merciful God for forgiveness.
Sadly, I don’t think that Barabbas ever did ask for God’s forgiveness — and here’s the reason why. There are two unsubstantiated traditions about what happened to Barabbas when they released him. One says that he went and watched the crucifixion of Jesus, and the other that he was killed in another insurrection later on. Neither are corroborated, but I am pretty sure that, if Barabbas ever became a Christian convert and joined the Church, that one of the gospel writers or the apostle Paul would have said so! It would have been a very dramatic conversion for someone so notorious! Somewhere there would have been a clue in the scriptures, just like Mark’s reference to Simon of Cyrene’s two sons indicated that they — and by extension he — were now part of the Church.
How sad that someone, released from an excruciating but deserved death by an innocent man taking his place, should not be eternally grateful for it. Yet that’s not much different from the choice that faces us all.
The Bible is clear that we are all sinners who deserve to be eternally separated from God. But it is also clear that Jesus has paid for our sins, so that we can go free, if we put our faith in Jesus. 2 Corinthians 15:21 says, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ”.
Barabbas was set free physically, but nothing indicates a change in his spiritual condition. We all, like Barabbas, have two options. We can stay as we are, going our own way, cut off from a God who loves us — or we can turn from the path that leads to eternal separation from God, and accept the free gift of salvation that was bought by the willing sacrifice of Jesus.
The choice is yours.
