It’s better to be a pardoned rebel than a condemned peacemaker.
This is the life story of Barabbas: A violent revolutionary who was spared the wrath of Rome because he was granted the freedom deserved by a peaceful rabbi. The obviously guilty was made to trade places with the obviously innocent.
Which is why, I think, that this is one of the details that all of the gospel writers include: The story of Barabbas is a microcosm of the good news.
Because I am Barabbas. Because you are Barabbas. Because everyone you know, everyone you hate, everyone you admire, is Barabbas. And Jesus—always being Jesus—trades his unblemished reputation for peace for our well-known guilt of rebellion.
