John 18:40

New International Version (NIV)

They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

For meditation

I thought I could understand this, but I can’t get my mind around it. Here they were, men and women who claimed to be God’s people. Yet, they did not recognize Him standing right before them. Here we are with leaders who register their credentials with great passion to represent God to His people, and yet, they refused to see or acknowledge Jesus as Messiah. But that is what religion without the Holy Spirit does to people. As scripture says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).

Religion has an uncanny way of charming people with form and blinds them to the heart of what God is doing (2 Tim. 3:5). A religious man refuses any spiritual illumination that threatens their preconceived ideas and notions. That is what separates the religious person from the spiritual.

The religious come to trust in their own knowledge and understanding over time. It puffs them up. They begin to enjoy their perceived superiority and erect barricades around them. God stands right at the door, but they won’t let Him in (Rev. 3:20). Who wants to welcome the owner of the house back when they are enjoying its luxury?

Those were the Jewish people and their leaders who led Jesus before the Roman Governor, Pilate (Jn. 18:28). They knew the virgin birth, heard about the angelic announcement, and the shepherds’ testimony (Lk. 2:1-20). They were in the temple when the righteous and devout old man Simeon and the prophetess Anna confirmed Jesus as the Messiah and prophesied about His mission (25-38). He spoke and taught like no other (Mk. 1:27). He healed in impossible ways (Jn. 9:30), cast out stubborn demons (Lk. 8:26-33), forgave sins (Mk. 2:5), fed huge crowds with little provision (6:30-44), and raised the dead (Jn. 11:43-44). He turned water into wine (Jn. 2:7-9), walked on water (6:19-20), and quieted the storm with a command (Mk. 4:39). Yet the Pharisees, high priests, and teachers of the law issued a strong disclaimer to Jesus and misled the people to reject Him. And now they stood before the gentile governor, pressing for His crucifixion. Pilate found no basis for his death, but they would have none of that. He gave them a choice between Jesus and Barabbas. They shouted back, “No, not Him! Give us Barabbas!” (Jn. 18:40). They chose a sinner over the Righteous One. They preferred darkness to light “because their deeds were evil” (3:19).

How easily we fall into the same cauldron many times without knowing it. Every day, God presents us with choices between righteousness and evil. We ignore the tag of evil on our desires, and choose them over righteousness. Our ego stands in the way to prevent surrender to the Lordship of Jesus despite our profession.

We chant the same rejection by the Jews: “No, not Him! Give [me] Barabbas.”

May God help us!

Shalom