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15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. 16 And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy. 19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.” ~ Matthew 27:15-19
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 27 which chronicles the trials of the Lord Jesus at the hands of the religious leaders of Israel and of Pontius Pilate governor of Judea. By now it was early Friday morning and the Lord Jesus was clearly on His way to being punished by Pilate so that the false charges against Him by the Jews would be satisfied. As we will see, there are many ironies to be found in today's narrative. An irony is a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects. Once we begin to see irony in the Bible, we will increasingly see the glory and the sovereignty of God.
In v.15 of today's passage we read, "Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished."
Somewhere just after midnight the religious leaders arrested the Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and then they put Him through a series of three trials throughout the early morning. All three of these so-called trials were unlawful according to the law of Moses and they lasted about an hour all together. After the initial three trials, the Lord Jesus endured three more trials at the hands of Pilate and Herod. According to John 19:14, when Pilate rendered his final verdict, it was 6:00 a.m.
All of this took place at the time of the Passover which commemorated the release of an entire nation from Egypt. During the Passover, Pilate had created a tradition of releasing a prisoner. He fully expected the crowd that had gathered there to choose the Lord Jesus to be released but it didn't happen as he anticipated. According to Luke's gospel, Pilate made a noble effort at being a just judge. Three times he declared the Lord Jesus "not guilty." Pilate tried to do the right thing, but he was under tremendous pressure to be bring justice upon the One who had committed no crime. Nothing worked. Since the religious leaders of Israel led the people to be against the Lord Jesus everything Pilate tried only mounted the hostility of the masses. The crowd became more bloodthirsty and more infuriated as the minutes advanced.
In v.16-18 of today's passage we read, "16 And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?' 18 For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy."
Barabbas, having unsuccessfully plotted an insurrection against Rome, languished in Pilate's prison. Such great irony is discovered in the name of Barabbas which means "son of the father." In Exodus, God identified Israel as "the son of the Father." In Barabbas, Israel saw itself. Yet, both Barabbas and the nation of Israel were very far from being sons of the Father. Ironically, the Son of the Father in heaven took Barabbas' place so that the sons of men could become sons of the Father who in heaven.
We are always at our worst when we are defining ourselves. We have been duped by the enemy to follow him by indirectly putting ourselves on the throne of our lives. As a result, we think that we know what is best for us. Not so! We often choose the kingdoms of this world, and we reject the Father and His Son and their values. If we could only understand that even the unwanted things and events that enter into our lives on a given day, they are all part of His divine will for us for that day. And, it is through such that God defines us.
In v.19 of today's passage we read, "While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, 'Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.'"
Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of Judea. He was given the post in 26 A.D. by Tiberius Caesar and he occupied that post for 10 years. Pilate was not a Roman. He was Spanish. He was born in Seville, Spain. Due to the fact that he loved war, when the Roman legions came to his area of the world, he decided to join the Roman army and fight for Rome. He got the position of governor over Judea by marrying a young lady by the name of Claudia Procula, the granddaughter of Augustus Caesar.
When Pontius Pilate was sitting on his judgment throne, his wife warned him to do nothing wrong to the Lord Jesus. But, as we will later learn, the Jewish religious leaders had persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas to be released by Pilate and that the Lord Jesus should be killed. In the end, the Lord Jesus willingly gave up His power while Pilate held on to his. This narrative drips with irony. The Son of the Father laid down His life for a man whose name means "son of the father." And, the ultimate Judge/King yielded Himself to be judged by a man whom He had put into his position as king. But, the greatest irony of them all is that the wrong thing was being done at just the right moment in time.
