Read Matthew 27:21–22

“Which of these two do you want me to release to you?” The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!” Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:21–22)

Although he never appears on centre stage, Barabbas played a major role. Having been convicted and condemned to die, his cell was most likely located in the fortress of Antonia in Jerusalem. From there, Barabbas probably heard the crowd crying for Jesus’ blood. He couldn’t decipher every word and nuance, but he could hear the mob shouting at the top of their lungs, in their frenzy to influence Pilate.

But Barabbas’ life didn’t end on a cross. The jailer who opened his cell didn’t march him to his place of death. He set him free! Wouldn’t you love to know what happened to Barabbas after he was freed? After he learned that an innocent man had died in his place? Wouldn’t you like to know what he did with the rest of his life?

If any man on this planet knew what it meant to have Jesus literally bear his cross and die in his place, it was Barabbas. And, strange as it may seem, if there is one person each one of us can identify with, it is Barabbas. Barabbas, fully expecting the soldiers to come and take him to be crucified, suddenly found himself a free man.

How keenly Barabbas’ life models the doctrine of the substitutionary atonement. But let’s not forget, Jesus is our substitute too. He bore our sins and died the death that we deserve, just as He died the death that Barabbas deserved. He hung on the cross intended for Barabbas, just as He hung on the cross in our place. We have been set free for eternity.

I understand something of the feelings Barabbas must have felt, because I understand what it means to be set free from guilt and condemnation. But my question is, do you?

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heav’n, and let us in.
—Cecil F. Alexander, 1848

Adapted by Insight for Living staff from The Darkness and the Dawn by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2001 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com