Read John 18:38-40. Circle the word(s) that stand out to you. What is the Lord saying to you?
39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.
Reflections on the Word.
The Passover. Since the Exodus, God commanded the Israelites to remember and celebrate the Passover every year. In the first Passover, anyone who did not want to receive God’s judgment of death of the first born was to set aside a flawless lamb to be sacrifice with its blood placed on the doorway of their homes. When it was time for judgment, if God saw the blood of the lamb on a doorpost of a home of an Israelite or Egyptian, He would pass over it without judgment. In other words, a person could escape God’s judgement because a flawless lamb died in their place and its blood covered their door. Soon it was going to be the time for Israel to celebrate and remember Passover again.
John the Baptist pointed out that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. The time has come for the Lamb to be sacrificed. Jesus didn’t come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.
Pilate offered up a choice the people of Israel to free one of two men: Jesus or Barabbas. The choice should have been clear to them: free Jesus and crucify Barabbas. Barabbas was an insurrectionist who committed murder and brought the wrath of Rome on the people, but Jesus brought God’s peace, healing, and truth to the people. But instead of picking Jesus, they shouted for the release of Barabbas. While this situation was a tragedy for Jesus, the people without fully realizing it was fulfilling the plan of God. Jesus was to become The Passover Lamb, the Perfect One to die in our place that we might escape the judgement of God.
The greatest moments in human history were about to come. The question for each person is, “Who is Jesus?” Take a moment and consider: Who is Jesus to you? May you come to know and place your faith in Jesus who the perfect Lamb of God that died in your place.
-Kingston