The crowd asked for Barabbas because the chief priests put them up to it (Mark 15:11).

Mark 15:11  But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

Barabbas means “son of abba” or “son of the father”. It is ironical that the “son of the father” was released while the One who could be called “the Son of the Father” was condemned in his place. In fact, Jesus was going to die on the very cross designed for Barabbas.

“taken part in a rebellion” (NIV) is translated as “robber” in KJV. The Greek word is “lestes” which means a thief, robber, or plunderer. This word is the same one used in (John 10:1, 8) for those who are set in opposition to the Good Shepherd. At this critical moment in history, God’s sheep chose a robber instead of the Good Shepherd.

John 10:1  “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.

John 10:8  All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.

Luke tells us that Barabbas was also a murderer and an insurrectionist (Luke 23:19, 25). He was possibly the leader of the band to whom the other 2 thieves belonged. Due to his involvement in a resistance movement against the Romans, Barabbas was probably a hero to many of the people. There is again irony in the fact that the chief priests persuaded the people to ask for and get the release of a man who was guilty of the very crime that they were accusing Jesus, though innocent, of doing. Plummer quotes from Ecce Homo, “Pilate executed Him on the ground that His kingdom was of this world; the Jews procured His execution precisely because it was not.”

Luke 23:19  (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

Luke 23:25  He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The crowd had a choice and they chose Barabbas over Jesus. But isn’t that the way the world chooses today? Barabbas was the opposite of Jesus. He represented the world and Jesus the Kingdom of God. Barabbas was a robber, a murderer, and a leader of a rebellion which in other words meant that he came to steal, kill, and destroy while Jesus came only to bring abundant and full life (John 10:10). Barabbas was the physical and Jesus the spiritual, and the lost of this world even today are screaming out “Give us Barabbas!” instead of “Give us Jesus!” Even sadder is the fact that we sometimes join them in choosing the world and thus rejecting Jesus when we put physical things first and His Kingdom last. Let your cry this week be “Give me Jesus!” and make His Kingdom the priority in your life.

John 10:10  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.