Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
Barabbas = son of Abba, son of the father - We know from Mark 15:7 and John 18:40 that Barabbas was a thief and a murderer who had been involved in a rebellion of some sort. A few manuscripts give him the name "Jesus Barabbas." It’s possible he had portrayed himself as the messiah.
envy - Pilate knew the priests were jealous of Jesus because of His popularity with the people, so he appealed to the people to have Him released. But the priests convinced the people to call for His crucifixion.
"Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" - "Pilate, hoping he could release Jesus, miscalculated the intensity of the Jewish leaders' campaign to have Jesus crucified." (Ryrie)
Although Pilate was, in a sense, a victim of circumstances because he knew his career would probably be over if he acted on his, and his wife’s, conviction he was also a coward who, in the end, not only gave Jesus over to die, but had him scourged (perhaps in a last-ditch effort to appease the crowd with a lesser punishment for Jesus than death).
And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" - (See Acts 3:12-26 —And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
washed his hands before the crowd - "A Jewish custom, which when used legitimately (though not so in Pilate's case) was a symbol of absolution of an innocent man from implication in a wrongful death." (Ryrie)
this man's blood - "Pilate found no political or military threat to Rome in Christ, and this was his only concern." (Ryrie)
all the people - "I.e., all those present, which was only a fractional part of the nation. Some of the leaders opposed the Crucifixion (Luke 23:51). See also Luke 23:34; Acts 5:28; 1 Cor 2:8." (Ryrie)
scourged - "Better, flogged by means of a leather whip that had pieces of bone or metal imbedded in its thongs. It was used by the Romans only on murderers and traitors." (Ryrie)
envy - Pilate knew the priests were jealous of Jesus because of His popularity with the people, so he appealed to the people to have Him released. But the priests convinced the people to call for His crucifixion.
"Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" - "Pilate, hoping he could release Jesus, miscalculated the intensity of the Jewish leaders' campaign to have Jesus crucified." (Ryrie)
Although Pilate was, in a sense, a victim of circumstances because he knew his career would probably be over if he acted on his, and his wife’s, conviction he was also a coward who, in the end, not only gave Jesus over to die, but had him scourged (perhaps in a last-ditch effort to appease the crowd with a lesser punishment for Jesus than death).
And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" - (See Acts 3:12-26 —And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
washed his hands before the crowd - "A Jewish custom, which when used legitimately (though not so in Pilate's case) was a symbol of absolution of an innocent man from implication in a wrongful death." (Ryrie)
this man's blood - "Pilate found no political or military threat to Rome in Christ, and this was his only concern." (Ryrie)
all the people - "I.e., all those present, which was only a fractional part of the nation. Some of the leaders opposed the Crucifixion (Luke 23:51). See also Luke 23:34; Acts 5:28; 1 Cor 2:8." (Ryrie)
scourged - "Better, flogged by means of a leather whip that had pieces of bone or metal imbedded in its thongs. It was used by the Romans only on murderers and traitors." (Ryrie)
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