Around a month ago, I wrote about Matthew 27, the trial and conviction of Jesus with Pontius Pilate.
Today we read Luke 23, which was Luke’s version of the same events, Jesus’ trial, and sentence to death.
As I read Luke’s version, the person that stood out to me was Barabbas. Luke 23:19 tells us Barabbas “who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.” Several times through Luke 23, Pontius Pilate declared that both he and Herod had found no wrongdoing of Jesus. Pilate was prepared to “chastise Him and release Him (Jesus).” The crowd would not have it. They declared in verse 18, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas.” Pilate pleaded with the crowd to release Jesus, but the crowd shouted in version 21, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Pilate pleaded with the crowd a third and final time, and they wanted Jesus to die. As we know, Pilate relented and allowed the greatest human being to ever walk the earth to be murdered.
What is on my heart today is Barabbas. What was going through his mind during the trial of Jesus when no attention was directed to his crimes? Was he guilty? Why was the crowd letting him off the hook? Did he feel remorse while an innocent man was taking his place to be put to death?
If no one finds out that we did something that was wrong, do we feel guilty about it? Perhaps it was stealing, hitting another person’s car, and not admitting to it, lying, or gossiping about a person and spreading false rumors, or maybe even injuring someone physically and not admitting to our guilt.
Our conscience is a fascinating and wonderful thing. It is that certain little something that tells us the right thing to do, when perhaps we don’t know if we can or should. Or maybe that “voice in our head” convinces us to do what is right, even though it might be to our detriment. If I admit to wrongdoing, it might cost me financially, it might damage my reputation, or I might even be charged with a crime.
Faith in Jesus Christ provides me the moral compass to do the right thing even when no one else is watching. To be clear, I am a sinner and FAR from perfect. I make my share of daily mistakes that I am embarrassed about and many times regret. But I am committed to telling the truth even if it hurts me. Yes, I have hit someone’s parked car. Yes, they were not there. Yes, I could have left and not told anyone. No, I could not bring myself to do it. I left a handwritten note with my name and number and that admission cost me several hundred dollars to repair the persons vehicle. I would do it over again.
Back to Barabbas. It gets me to wonder what the rest of his life was like, carrying the guilt that an innocent man was put to death in place of him. The Bible says in Luke 23:44-45, describing when Jesus died, “Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.” From the very day Barabbas was set free, the earth experienced a scary and unimaginable event. Do you think Barabbas’ conscience kicked in that day and he was scared and perhaps regretted getting away with his crimes?
We are all sinners. We all make mistakes. We all say and do bad things. The awesome part of our faith is that Barabbas had the same opportunity to be saved and spend eternity in Heaven, just like you and I do. If we truly believe, and profess with our mouths, that Jesus died on the cross to save our sins, we will spend eternity with Him in Heaven. I hope Barabbas fell to his knees and asked for forgiveness. The greatest thing about Jesus, our Savior, is that He would have forgiven Barabbas and welcomed him into Heaven with open arms.
