15/03/2026
🔥 BARRABAS — THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE
Barabbas was not an ordinary man.
✅ The Bible describes him with very strong words.
He was not simply a thief.
He was a violent rebel, involved in an insurrection against the Roman order.
📖 “And there was one called Barabbas, bound with those who had rebelled with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.”
— Mark 15:7
In other words:
• he was a rebel against authority
• he was violent
• he had killed someone
👉 Barabbas represented the worst of society.
He was exactly the kind of man who should have ended up on a cross.
And let us not forget something important:
At that time, crucifixion was reserved for dangerous criminals, rebels, and murderers.
Barabbas was already in the line of the condemned.
His fate was sealed.
The cross was ready.
But then one of the most powerful scenes of the Gospel took place.
The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, had the custom of releasing one prisoner during the Passover.
And he placed two names before the people:
👉Jesus
or
👉Barabbas.
📖 “But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.”
— Mark 15:11
And then the crowd cried out:
— Release Barabbas!
— Crucify Jesus!
📖 Mark 15:14–15
In a matter of minutes something happened that summarizes the entire Gospel.
👉The guilty man was released.
👉The innocent man was condemned.
Barabbas walked away toward freedom…
while Jesus walked toward the cross.
The cross that Jesus carried
was the cross that belonged to Barabbas.
But here is the deepest part of the story.
The name Barabbas has a very interesting meaning.
In Aramaic:
👉Bar = son
👉Abba = father
Barabbas means:
“son of the father.”
And that makes the scene even more striking.
A guilty “son of the father” was released…
while the true Son of the Heavenly Father was condemned.
That exchange is the essence of the Gospel.
Jesus took the place of the guilty.
Not only Barabbas’.
Ours.
Because spiritually we were all like Barabbas:
• guilty
• rebels against God
• condemned because of sin
But Christ took our place.
📖 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.”
— Isaiah 53:5
On the cross the great exchange took place:
🔥 The guilty goes free…
and the innocent pays the sentence.
👉Barabbas represents all humanity.
👉And Jesus represents the love of God that chose to carry the guilt that did not belong to Him.
The deepest question in this story is:
What must Barabbas have thought when he realized that Jesus died in his place?
Because in reality,
the cross where Jesus died
was prepared for men like Barabbas…
and for us.
✍️ Ap. Luis Fernando Giraldo G.
