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“But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them” (Mark 15:9, 15).
Sometimes people ask the question, “Why is there so much trouble, crime, and war in this world?” Here in our verses today we see at least part of the answer. Barabbas had committed a number of different crimes. The Bible says that he had made insurrection; today we could call him a terrorist. He had also committed murder and had robbed people. More than this, he was guilty of sedition. That means that he had stirred up trouble, perhaps by starting protests and riots. But the people asked for this kind of a man to be released, while they asked for the Lord Jesus to be crucified. Pilate knew the Lord Jesus was innocent, but wanted to please the people, so he let Barabbas go free, and commanded to crucify the Lord Jesus.
God has not forgotten all this, and has allowed this world to see the results of the choice it made on that day. We are seeing around us all the things that Barabbas did. But it will not always be that way, for God will judge this world someday. How wonderful it is to know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, and to know that we will not come under God’s judgment for our sins!
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