Pilate released for them BARABBAS

[tonychanyt]

Jesus spoke to the crowds in Jn 8:

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

The Son sets people free from their evil father.

37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

Jesus distinguished between Father-God and father-devil.

Who was their father?

39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”

The Jews insisted that their father was Abraham and Father-God.

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil,

Jesus was being blunt and clear.

and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin?

Jesus declared his innocence with a question.

If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Their father was not God.

Some months later, Mt 27:

26 He [Pilate] released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

The name "Barabbas" (בַּר אַבָּא) was Aramaic; bar = son, abba = father. "Barabbas" meant son of the father. This was ironic. Jesus was the Son of the Father. They set free the wrong son of the father. Barabbas was a rebel and a murderer. Spiritually, Barabbas was a son of the father-devil. They set a criminal free and condemned the innocent. It was an inversion of justice.

This behavior was consistent with their behavior months earlier. They chose the wrong son of the father because their father wasn't God the Father. They were not of God.