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Pilate\u2026said, \u201cI have examined [Jesus] \u2026 and have found no basis for your charges against him\u2026 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.\u201d But the whole crowd shouted, \u201cAway with this man! Release Barabbas to us!\u201d (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, \u201cCrucify him! Crucify him!\u201d (Luke 23:13-21).

Among the Evangelists, Luke has the most interesting cast of minor characters. Barabbas comes into focus here. His inclusion helps us understand what happened to Jesus, why it happened, and what it means for us. We need to enter his story to see the tragic day unfold from his perspective and to learn from him.

Barabbas was not a common criminal. He had been thrown into prison for his part in a violent rebellion that had taken place in Jerusalem. Such events were a regular occurrence. Political and social frustration would regularly spill over into violence, sometimes targeted, sometimes mindless and born of the apparent hopelessness of the cause. Because of such events both the Romans and the chief priests were nervous of popular or messianic movements, not least at the time of major festivals.

We know about Barabbas, but he was only one of many rebel leaders in the period. He escaped crucifixion that Passover time, but the cross claimed many, perhaps dozens or even hundreds, even when no major disturbance had taken place. Rebels were crucified. That was the Roman way.

Luke describes the event in such a way that we can hardly miss the point. Barabbas is guilty of some of the crimes of which Jesus, though innocent, is charged: stirring up the people, leading a rebellion. Moreover, Barabbas has committed murder; Jesus was never accused of that. We don\u2019t know whether Barabbas saw himself as a possible \u2018king of the Jews\u2019, but that is possible. One of them is to die, Barabbas or Jesus, and it turns out to be Jesus.

Either Barabbas or Jesus must die; either Barabbas, who stands for violent revolution, which Jesus has opposed from the beginning, or Jesus who has offered and urged the way of peace. Jesus ends up dying the death appropriate for the violent rebel. He predicted that he would be \u2018reckoned with the lawless\u2019 (22:37), and it has happened all too soon.

We are by now used to seeing Jesus in company with tax-collectors and sinners. We have been told, from many angles and with many parables, that this was the focus of his ministry. He embodied the outstretched love of God to all in need, going in search of lost sheep wherever they might be found.

But we were not quite prepared for it to end like this. It is one thing for Jesus to go in to eat with a man who is a sinner (19:7). It is a considerable step beyond that for him to go off and die the death of the violent rebel. But this is in fact the climax and focus of the whole gospel. This is the point for which Luke has been preparing us all along.

All sinners, all rebels, all humans are invited to see themselves in the figure of Barabbas. As we do so, we discover in this story that Jesus comes to take our place, under condemnation for sins and wickednesses great and small. In the strange justice of God, which overrules the unjust \u2018justice\u2019 of Rome and every human system, God\u2019s mercy reaches out where human mercy could not. Jesus not only shares in our life but goes so far as to take our place in death, receiving our punishment, our fate.

Though the sin we commit may not be murder, nonetheless Jesus suffers on the cross for our sin. Barabbas represents the position we are all in because of Jesus\u2019 death: we live because he died. Amidst all this injustice, the grace of God shines through. Jesus overcomes evil and injustice, even while in the midst of it.

Barabbas\u2019s story is our story. Jesus freed us by his death, just as Barabbas was freed. One who saves a life is owed a life. Our Christian walk is a statement of gratitude to the one who has taken our place. We willingly take up our own cross and follow him.