Pilate, the Roman Governor, had a poor reputation among the people in Israel. His violence against the people was savage and unpredictable: they did not trust him. So, more in the interests of politics than justice, Pilate offered a 'prisoner swap' once a year to appease the people who thought someone was being treated unfairly. It was a way for Pilate to win popularity
 
At the time Jesus was put on trial, a notorious criminal, robber, and bandit called Jesus Barabbas was due to be crucified. Pilate thought that nobody would want Barabbas to be saved and so Jesus of Nazareth could be released by a popular vote. After all, Pilate knew that He had done nothing wrong and that the Chief Priests were proud men who were envious of Christ’s authority. The accusations against Him were false: Pilate knew the real motive was that Jesus got in the way of their religious and social ambitions.
 
The two accused men shared the name Jesus (which means Saviour). They were also the 'son of the father'. The name Barabbas comes from 'bar' meaning 'son of' and 'abba' meaning ‘father’. Jesus Christ was the Son of Father God. Barabbas was offered up to die a substitute death in the place of Jesus Christ … but as the story goes on we will see that the Messiah was the substitute sin-offering for everybody (1 Peter 2:24).
 
The Passover story, which was being celebrated at the time, was all about one lamb whose life was taken instead of the life of the oldest child in the Israelite homes in Egypt 1,500 years previously (Exodus 12:12-13). Then, John the Baptist spoke about Jesus, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). There is no substitute for Jesus. He is the only sin-bearer; the scapegoat (Leviticus 16:5-10) who takes our sins far away. Jesus chose to be our substitute (Isaiah 53:6). So don't take Jesus for granted; don't ignore Him and don't adopt petty saviours who can never rescue you from the punishment of the power of sin. It is time to take Jesus seriously again. Seriously thank Him, love Him, worship Him and serve Him. Choose Him as your sin-substitute (www.crosscheck.org.uk); and never substitute anybody in place of Him.