“Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

Matthew 27:15-31 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now at the Passover Feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted. ¹⁶ And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ For he knew that it was because of envy that they had handed Him over.

¹⁹ And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “See that you have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” ²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to put Jesus to death. ²¹ And the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” ²² Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” ²³ But he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” Yet they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”

²⁴ Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; you yourselves shall see.” ²⁵ And all the people replied, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

²⁷ Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort to Him. ²⁸ And they stripped Him and put a red cloak on Him. ²⁹ And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And they spit on Him, and took the reed and beat Him on the head. ³¹ And after they had mocked Him, they took the cloak off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

In today’s text it says: Now at the Passover Feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted. And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was because of envy that they had handed Him over. And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “See that you have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to put Jesus to death. And the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” But he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” Yet they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”

It always seemed inconceivable that they would choose Barabbas, a notorious prisoner, over Jesus, “that righteous Man.” Now though we see the same choice being made every day in our courts. Notorious criminals are released and preferred over their victims. We see it in the media and in government.  Surely what God says in Isaiah 5:20: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, is true for those who chose Barabbas and is true today for those who choose evil over good. It shouldn’t surprise us though Jesus told us many times and in many ways that people would make that choice. In John 15:18-20 Jesus says: “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they followed My word, they will follow yours also.”   In John 3:17-20 Jesus says: “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed.” In Matthew 24:9-12 He says: “Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold.” 

As it was that day, it continues to this day, each one must choose. Contrary to what some believe, many will choose Barabbas than Christ. Those who follow the crowd will be easily manipulated and misled. In Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” The text says: Now when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; you yourselves shall see.” And all the people replied, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.  In truth, Pilate was not able to wash his hands and neither can we. When those in authority yield their authority to a lawless mob, they are still responsible for the outcome. Jesus has given us authority. James 4:17 says: For one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.  We cannot defer or delay our decision. We must choose, Jesus or Barabbas. We must choose the narrow way or the way of the majority; the mob. The question for each and every one is: “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, I choose to honor You, to worship You and to yield to You. I choose Christ, but I acknowledge that it is only because You first chose me. You demonstrated Your love for me in that while I was a sinner, Jesus died for me. Holy Spirit be my guide and the power in my life that I might walk in the narrow way. In every situation, may I choose to do what I know is right. May I choose light over darkness and good over evil. May I choose Christ. Amen.