Part 2: Pilate Sentences Jesus (Matthew 27:15–26)
I feel for Pilate. He’s in a tough spot. He knows that Jesus is before him out of spite. But at every attempt to free our Lord, the chief priests and elders would rile up the crowd. Even up to risking a riot erupting before him!
Yet there was also a custom. The governor would release a criminal to the crowd. So seemingly in a move of desperation, Pilate offers the worst of the worst for them. An insurrectionist. A man who was guilty of the very thing Jesus was being falsely accused of. His name was Barabbas. Are you aware of what the name Barabbas means? Son of a father. While Jesus usually uses the term Son of Man for himself, he is the Son of God. He is the true Son of the Father.
So, Pilate gives the Jews a choice: He can release to them the terrorist Barabbas or the actual Son of the Father. Pilate must be thinking that, given this choice and even with their leaders’ hatred of Jesus that they will ask for Jesus to be released. Surely, they wouldn’t ask for and receive a murderous rioter. But given the choice between the Son of Man and the son of a father, the crowd chooses Barabbas.
Dumfounded, Pilate asks, “Why, what evil has he done?” Notice the crowds do not answer the question because there is no evil that Jesus has done. So instead of answering, they only shriek all the more, “Let him be crucified!” Jesus has done nothing but good. And in an unenlightened, morally upside-down world, this is precisely the reason that He must be opposed, slandered, and, finally, killed.
And just as the guilty man is let go to be free among the people, the just and righteous Son of God is condemned to death. He is to die for the same people that are crying out for his blood. Pilate understands that Jesus is innocent and tries to absolve himself by washing his hands and claiming to be innocent of the blood of Jesus. But because he too is a sinner, he is just as guilty as the Jews who answer, “His blood be on us and our children.”
On that day, Pilate didn’t want to be responsible for the injustice of condemning an innocent man to death. Meanwhile, these Jews were happy to see Christ murdered. But what does it mean for us today to have the blood of Jesus be on us and our children? Simply this: Since He is the Christ, He has taken all our sins upon Himself, even those of Judas, Pilate, the crowd, and Barabbas. And He has been crucified for them, as we will hear shortly.
And now? You are washed clean by the blood of Christ. The holy, precious, and innocent blood of Jesus spilled because of your sin.
Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD
©2021 Brent Keller. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.
