At the August 29th, 2026 Forge Gathering we discussed why Barabbas is in the story of Jesus’ trial, using John 18:38:19:6. Annually, the Roman governors would benevolently offer to release a prisoner of the Jew’s choosing. Pilate gave them the choice of the notorious thief, murderer, and rebel known as Barabbas, or the innocent Jesus. The story of how they choose Barabbas is mentioned in all four gospels. It illustrates for us the substitutionary atonement of Jesus’ death; that he died to atone for our sins so that we can all be free. Hence, Barabbas—who very much deserved to go to the cross and be between the other two thieves—instead went free because Jesus took his place and took the punishment even though he was perfectly innocent. Pilate mentions three times in the passage that he could find “no fault in him at all.” Though this was deeply unfair to Jesus, he chose to suffer for our sins so that we could all be free. This event did not happen against his will, for Jesus had the power and authority to escape the cross. In fact, at any moment he could have even destroyed everyone involved. But, moment by moment, hour by hour, he did not bail, he did not quit. He was unfathomably tough. Why did he do this? Romans 5:8 says,
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Barabbas, as an indisputably sinful and guilty criminal, represents the freedom given to anyone who chooses to place their faith in Christ and receive his atoning work done upon the cross. No matter the severity and depth of our sin, through Christ there is atonement, forgiveness, and freedom. We can be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. No where else can this be found but in Jesus Christ.
We know all this is true because God proved it is by raising Jesus from the dead. The Resurrection is an historical event. In fact, history makes no sense unless it is true. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, if Jesus is still dead, then we are still in our sins. If he didn’t rise, then the work wasn’t completed. But we know that since he did rise, so will we if we are in Him.
Pietro Sarubbi, the actor who played Barabbas in Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, shared about an experience he had when filming: that when he looked at Jesus (Jim Caviezel) during this scene he had an encounter with the real Jesus that completely changed his life and led to him becoming a Christian.
In John 19:5, Pilate brought Jesus out before the crowd after his scourging and said to the crowd, “Behold the man.” The entirety of the Christian life can be summed up in those three words. Like Pietro Sarubbi, we sometimes just need to look Jesus in the eyes, and see him looking back. Spiritual maturity comes by looking at Jesus longer, and deeper, and clearer. The deeper our revelation of Jesus Christ, the further our progress in our walk with God will be. We cannot help but be transformed when we behold Jesus Christ.
You can watch Chris’s message from August 29th here.
