We Are Barabbas

     Important doctrine is often hidden within the text. Scripture can't be read. It must be considered. Each and every word has importance or it wouldn't be there! Why would the reader even care that Barabbas was freed? We are Barabbas!

John 18:37 ...To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. 39 But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. 19:6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. 7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

          This all occurred at Pilate's "hall of judgment "b(John 18:28).  Pilate "sat down in his judgment seat" (John 19:13) as he judged the case: the Jews vs. Jesus. Jesus pointed out to Pilate that he (Pilate) could do only what God allowed (John 19:11). Pilate was forced into judging, albeit he was afraid! The prosecution (the Jews) changed their law very quickly:

John 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 

Before, they had said:

John 18:31 Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.

     The Jews transferred the task and guilt from themselves to Pilate. Don't you suppose that Pilate judged because he was afraid. In his face, the Jews changed their laws just for Jesus. Why so? That prophecy be fulfilled! (John 18:32), as foretold by Jesus himself:

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

      Jesus purpose is clear from John 18:37 above that he should "bear witness to the truth" to which Pilate asked, "What is truth?" (verse 38). However, Jesus had already answered that by saying, his voice is truth (verse 37 again).  We know from Genesis Chapter one and John Chapter one that the "Voice" in the beginning was Jesus, and that Jesus is "the Word". Whatever Jesus says is truth whether it be by his Voice or men inspired to write God's directives and teachings (Job 32:8; 1 Tim 3:16).  Jesus had to die! This "court" was what is called a "kangaroo court" in modern times!
     The prosecution lied as usual. They changed the law specifically for Jesus. Originally, Jesus was accused of claiming that he is God. That was not punishable by crucifixion in the Roman Court of Law but sedition is! We know that Jesus was accused of sedition because that crime resulted in crucifixion in their law. The Jews could not crucify Jesus by their law so they played the serpent and deceived Pilate. Sedition, at that time, was prevalent, and many were regularly crucified on Calvary for sedition. However, only one was resurrected from the dead, and that was Jesus the Christ!
     Now back to Barabbas: Although guilty he was not judged! He was released and made a free man although a malefactor: a seditious robber and murderer. Jesus was innocent of all charges and Pilate knew that as he said it several times. Mob mentality ruled. Pilate, we know from history, was cautious to be fair to the Jews because of the shadow Jewish government - the zealots- who were trying to overthrow the Roman government. There was a revolution in progress and because he was "king of the Jews" in Herod's place, Pilate may have had doubts about Jesus guilt as proclaimed to him by the Jews. He may have believed Jesus to be part of the plot to destroy Roman rule. Pilate was entrapped: he feared the mob and feared the possible sedition of Jesus the King of the Jews.
     This "trial" is typology as well. Pilate sat in the judgment seat in the "hall of judgment" judging God! How ironic can it get! The liberal theologians don't care for this, but Jesus will judge the world:

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory... 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

     But here we have Pilate doing the judging on his throne, ironically in Gloryland  (which I believe Israel is), and he is judging God! The prosecution and jury are the Jews and their biasness has not been questioned! They care not for justice but want done what is "right in their own eyes" (Judges 21:25) similar to when their law was lax. That corrupt jury, without a trial, freed Barabbas. Jesus is the True Judge but the Jews had the audacity to determine who lives and dies. As representatives of mankind, they allowed the criminal to live and the innocent One to die! Barabbas was guilty but was not even charged. Jesus died in his place. We are Barabbas!
     Barabbas, in this trial, is typical of us. We sinners have yet to stand trial. Pilate's gift to the Jews was release of Barabbas. God's gift to mankind is our release. Barabbas did nothing at all to be freed. Neither did we! "Jesus paid it all," as the song goes! Barabbas accepted his freedom but thought it was from his peers. However, the truth is that Jesus had to die! By mercy, Barabbas was freed because God allowed the substitution and even planned it in advance! You see, there were only three crosses ready! Someone had to be released and God's Plan was for it not to be Jesus! (That was Jewish custom, not Roman!)
     If children of Satan were to receive justice, the Romans would have had to have billions of crosses. Since Jesus died for all of us, God needed only one cross! (The other two crosses had their purposes as well but that is another story; they too were types so that we understand.) We don't know what happened to Barabbas. Perhaps he was born-again as he looked up at Jesus on the "pole" in his place! If Barabbas lifted up God's Name, and didn't take Jesus's death frivolously, perhaps indeed he was saved. We jus don't know!
     We do know who he represents. We are Barabbas! As mentioned yesterday in my blog, Origin recounted that his full name was Jesus Barabbas, meaning "Jesus - son of the father". Two Jesus's were subject to crucifixion. One was God and the other godless. What is the symbiology in his name? Like us, he was "son of his father":

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

     Jesus Barabbas was Jesus - the son of the devil - as the description fits. Because his name was Jesus and his father the Devil, Barabbas was a type of antichrist. (Not the Antichrist but a type of one.) If you'll remember, Jesus said that he came into the world to bear truth. John says that children of the Devil "abide not in truth" in the passage immediately above. Barabbas was there representing his father the Devil. Perhaps, rather than lifting Jesus up, he sneered in glee because it was not him!
     Some people do that! I believe that Barabbas likely broke the Fifth Commandment which is "Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord in vain." He may have looked at God's Name on His "pole" and took His death frivolously. I would gamble that Barabbas enjoyed the mob mentality and was so pleased with his own freedom that he missed the point of Jesus's death.
     We are Barabbas. Some people do that! I won't judge Barabbas. Pilate didn't either. However, I can judge myself in preparation for my own trial. My hope is that God says, "well done good and faithful servant", and I not stand where Jesus stood. He already took my malefactions and delivered them personally to the Devil in Hell. He didn't give Barabbas any more recognition. He was likely only a mere servant to his master - his father the Devil.