Pilate

Pilate

Q: Who did the crowd want released instead of Jesus?

• a. Judas
• b. Barabbas
• c. Matthias

After Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, Jesus was questioned many times. First he went before Annas, then Caiaphas, and lastly the Sanhedrin. These were religious leaders who should have been looking for the Messiah, but they were interested in their own plans.

The religious leaders took Jesus to Pilate. The governor saw at once that Jesus was innocent, but he was afraid the religious leaders would cause problems for him. So Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, the ruler of Galilee, who was in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. When Jesus refused to defend himself, Herod sent him back to Pilate.

Pilate didn’t want to condemn Jesus to death, but he knew the religious leaders could make trouble for him and cost him his job if he saved Jesus’ life. It was the custom to release one prisoner during Passover, and Pilate tried to get the people to release Jesus. But they chose to release Barabbas, a man who’d rebelled against Rome and committed murder. Most of the Jews didn’t care about his crimes, because they hated paying taxes to Rome and being governed by the Romans.

Pilate had Jesus beaten as a compromise, but that didn’t satisfy the Jews. Pilate knew Jesus wasn’t guilty of any crime, but he gave in to the pressure and turned Jesus over to be crucified. He was afraid if he didn’t, there would be a rebellion and it would cost him his life. Pilate knew the right thing to do, but he chose not to do it.

For You

You will never have to make the choice Pilate made, but you do make choices every day about whether you will follow Jesus and do what’s right, or take the easy road. Ask God to help you when you are tempted to take the easy way out.

Answer: b

[Pilate said,] “You have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?” But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)   John 18:39-40

(The Whole Story: Matthew 27:15-31; Mark 15:6-15; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28–19:16)