"Give us Barabbas!"
      The prisoner cringed as he heard the mob outside the Roman governor's house.  Had his time come so soon?  The famous criminal Barabbas was awaiting execution.  His crimes: murder, theft, and insurrection.  Dragged before the Roman governor Pilate, Barabbas was outwardly defiant but inwardly terrified.  The crowd was screaming for blood--his blood.  But wait.  Barabbas listened again to the shouting crowd.  They did not want his blood; they were demanding his freedom!
      Another prisoner was present, bound, beaten, and bleeding.  He was Jesus the Nazarene who claimed to be the Messiah.  Barabbas had heard of this man and His many miracles.  Jesus, they said, healed the sick, confounded the wisdom of the scribes and Pharisees, and even raised the dead to life.  Yet there He was, tortured and humiliated.  Pilate gestured to Jesus and then to Barabbas and asked the bloodthirsty crowd, "Which of these men do you want me to set free?"
      Everyone knew that during the yearly Passover celebration Pilate's custom was to release a prisoner of the people's choosing.  On this occasion their choice was between the untainted and the terrorist--Jesus and Barabbas.  Barabbas could not believe his ears.  Not only had the surging crowd chosen him to live, but he would be set free!
      Then Pilate washed his hands as a symbol that he was not responsible for taking Jesus' innocent life.  It was the crowd (or the crowd's instigators) who were to bear this liability.  He ordered Barabbas released and Jesus scourged.
      Barabbas said nothing as he waited impatiently for the guards to unshackle him and did not pause to watch the flogging of the Nazarene.  Fearful that the people would change their minds, Barabbas fled into the morning, retreated to the back streets of Jerusalem, and disappeared from history.
      One may ask, did Barabbas ever wonder about the innocent man who had taken his place on the cross that day -- the one who died in his place?  Did he repent?  Did he believe?  Or did the reprieved Barabbas continue to live as a criminal?  Does he live today in the understanding of New Testament readers as the model of all of humanity -- deserving of death but released to life by the sacrifice of God's Son?