Matthew 27:16 And they had a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?
20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
The verses above are taken from one of the darkest chapters of the history of God’s chosen people, who up until this time were His peculiar treasure on the earth. God is long-suffering and merciful in all of His dealings with the human family and especially those who have entered into a covenant relationship with Himself.
Thus, in harmony with His nature of love, God bore long the chosen people, sending various prophets and messengers to speak kindly to them entreating all who would, to take refuge in the Only One who is able to save us from ourselves.
This covenant of peace was extended not merely for a matter of weeks or months but for many years, as God nurtured, instructed, reproved, and taught His people, concerning The Messiah who was to come. In the prophecy of Daniel, it was revealed that a set probationary time was to be granted to the nation, so that they would get their act together.
During the time that was to elapse, great knowledge and understanding of future events were revealed from time to time, so that when Messiah came, the chosen people should be ready to receive Him, as is made plain in the 490- day/ year prophecy given to the prophet Daniel, which is the first portion of the longer 2300 day/ year prophecy. Let’s read:
Daniel 9: 24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Sadly, located in that prophecy was the intimation that Jesus would die an unnatural death, which was to bring the daily sacrifices to a permanent end, as it pertained to the earthly sanctuary services. All of the sacrifices executed in the temple, from day to day, and from year to year, pointed squarely to the Messiah.
Therefore, in harmony with the precise fulfillment of the prophecy, the final command to build again the wall was issued by king Artaxerxes in 457 B.C, which was actually issued in three stages, beginning with Cyrus, and thus, brought the chosen people of God down to that prophetic week, referenced in our first passage beginning in A.D. 27 and ending in A.D. 34.
As Jesus began His ministry, there was an immediate animosity manifested towards Him, for as He gave His first sermon, He was met with an apprehension that you would not expect from the chosen people who were supposed to be expecting Him in eager anticipation.
From His first sermon onwards, that animosity from the leaders of the nation only grew worse, because very often, Jesus found Himself having to sidestep questions that were mostly designed to trip Him up into saying, or doing things that would’ve been out of harmony with His mission.
Christ would have to carefully consider the meaning and implications of His answers, lest He be mistaken for One who came to unseat the Roman power, who at that time had taken jurisdiction over the chosen people. In fact, the adverse situations surrounding Christ first sermon, ricocheted throughout His entire sojourn on earth and culminated in our first verses. Let’s read:
Luke 4: 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?
23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way.
Obviously, Christ’s first sermon didn’t go well at all, and from that time forth the leaders of the chosen people would seek to destroy Jesus, until it reached a tipping point at His mock trial. At that time Jesus was accused of all sorts of unsubstantiated crimes, but none of them stuck.
And Pilate, who represented Rome at the time, saw that those who brought Jesus to trial were driven by nefarious, and clandestine purposes, therefore, he sought to try his very best to extricate Jesus from a trial which he knew was a farce. Let’s read:
[The Desire of Ages pp 724] Pilate looked at the men who had Jesus in charge, and then his gaze rested searchingly on Jesus. He had had to deal with all kinds of criminals; but never before had a man bearing marks of such goodness and nobility been brought before him.
On His face he saw no sign of guilt, no expression of fear, no boldness or defiance. He saw a man of calm and dignified bearing, whose countenance bore not the marks of a criminal, but the signature of heaven. Christ's appearance made a favorable impression on Pilate. His better nature was roused.
In fact, in response to Jesus’ prayer in Pilate’s behalf, angels of God were hastily dispatched to his wife to warn her husband not to have anything to do with that “Just Man”. She sent a messenger suddenly and hurriedly into the courtroom, who then blurted out the terrible dream she was given by God. Let’s read:
Matthew 27: 19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
[The Desire of Ages pp 732] Even now Pilate was not left to act blindly. A message from God warned him from the deed he was about to commit. In answer to Christ's prayer, the wife of Pilate had been visited by an angel from heaven, and in a dream, she had beheld the Savior and conversed with Him.
She saw Him on trial in the judgment hall. She saw the hands tightly bound as the hands of a criminal. She saw Herod and his soldiers doing their dreadful work. She heard the priests and rulers, filled with envy and malice, madly accusing.
She saw Pilate give Jesus to the scourging, after he had declared, “I find no fault in Him.” She heard the condemnation pronounced by Pilate, and saw him give Christ up to His murderers. She saw the cross uplifted on Calvary.
She saw the earth wrapped in darkness, and heard the mysterious cry, “It is finished.” Still another scene met her gaze. She saw Christ seated upon the great white cloud, while the earth reeled in space, and His murderers fled from the presence of His glory. With a cry of horror, she awoke, and at once wrote to Pilate words of warning.
When the leaders of any nation know what is the right thing to do, and for political reasons, refuse to do so, then their guilt becomes much worse, for sin is committed against great light. Pilate knew what was the right thing to do, because not only the raw evidences dictated the truth in the matter, but God Himself got involved, by warning him directly.
Yet, Pilate weighed political considerations against the promptings of conscience, and as he vacillated, the leaders of the chosen people rightly concluded that if they were to turn up the heat of the furnace several notches Pilate would buckle under pressure. And so said so done, for they invoked the name of Caesar, to push Pilate over the edge. Let’s read:
John 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, if you let this man go you are not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaks against Caesar.
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
The conscience of a nation is its judiciary, therefore, when it came down to crunch time, we find that the judiciary under Caiaphas, and the spiritual leaders of God’s chosen people, as well as those under their jurisdiction choosing Barabbas, a known felon over Christ.
Several times Pilate put the matter before them and over and over again they deliberately and knowingly chose a convicted felon over Christ. Thus, when this became the case, it demonstrated in real time that righteousness, on the national level had gone out of the window and this triggered the downward spiral that cemented the choices then made.
What is notable about this action taken by both the judiciary and the people is that not long after doing so, their probation was finally, and permanently closed, for in three and a half years, the designation of being God’s chosen people was removed, and as a nation, they became disconnected from God, even though individuals can still be saved if requirements are met.
This close of their probation was actually part of the prophecy in Daniel, by which the prophet predicted that the sun would set for the chosen people, since Messiah was to be cut off by unnatural means in the middle of the last prophetic week of probationary time. And so said so done. Let’s read:
Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The gospel continued to be preached to them for the next three and a half years, but after that, God pulled the plug, and allowed the natural results of their choices to settle in. That is why we find Paul turning to the Gentiles, as the last prophetic week of their probation came to a close. Let’s read:
Acts 13: 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spoke against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Matthew 21: 42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
At this juncture, it is imperative that we read two particular passages of scripture, because the demise of God’s chosen people anciently has a warning for us in our day, especially since the Bible predicts that a system of government that is antichrist in nature is going to rear its head in our day. And because of this we would find ourselves having to choose between Christ or “Barabbas” just as the people of God were brought to that point in their experience. Let’s read:
Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
Persons of conscience are not to turn a blind eye to what is transpiring upon the earth, and this applies particularly, first and foremost to America, where it is stated that man-worship will be institutionalized first, and then its tentacles will ultimately be spread abroad globally.
The judiciary, as well as the people are to preserve their consciences, as best they can, by not putting darkness for light, bitter for sweet, or darkness for light. This is what Pilate, Caiaphas, and the multitude of people did anciently, when they had perverted judgment in the choice of Barabbas, a known felon.
“Barabbas” in our day represents everything that we know to be wrong. Thus, by deliberately choosing a known wrong, persons would be choosing Barabbas over Christ, just as the people in Christ’s day knew it was a criminal they were choosing over Christ.
Willful blindness does not render persons or nations void of responsibility for the choices made. In every thing that we do, in every choice that is made, clear lines of truth, righteousness, and judgment should bear sway, without bias or favoritism.
We all are now on the cusp of the most momentous scenes that are to transpire upon the earth at a time when the world, and America in particular is volatile on all levels.
Therefore, in every choice that folks have to make, whether it be on the job, at home, in business, or in spiritual things let none be found choosing Barabbas over Christ, for if we do, individually, and nationally, our own probation may close not long after.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which should awaken us to the urgency of the moment. It is not the will of God that we remain ignorant of the prophecies that are being fulfilled in our day, for the things that are happening currently, portend those climactic scenes that are just on the horizon. Let’s read:
Isaiah 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
13 In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15 Yea, truth fails; and he that departs from evil makes himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
God Bless!