The Crowd Rejects Jesus^(A)

¹⁵ At every Passover festival the governor would free one prisoner whom the crowd wanted. ¹⁶ At that time there was a well-known prisoner by the name of Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the people gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which man do you want me to free for you? Do you want me to free Barabbas or Yeshua, who is called Christ?” ¹⁸ Pilate knew that they had handed Yeshua over to him because they were jealous.

¹⁹ While Pilate was judging the case, his wife sent him a message. It said, “Leave that innocent man alone. I’ve been very upset today because of a dream I had about him.”

²⁰ But the chief priests and leaders persuaded the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas and the execution of Yeshua.

²¹ The governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to free for you?”

They said, “Barabbas.”

²² Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with Yeshua, who is called Christ?”

“He should be crucified!” they all said.

²³ Pilate asked, “Why? What has he done wrong?”

But they began to shout loudly, “He should be crucified!”

²⁴ Pilate saw that he was not getting anywhere. Instead, a riot was breaking out. So Pilate took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. He said, “I won’t be guilty of killing this man. Do what you want!”

²⁵ All the people answered, “The responsibility for killing him will rest on us and our children.”

²⁶ Then Pilate freed Barabbas for the people. But he had Yeshua whipped and handed over to be crucified.

The Crowd Rejects Jesus^(A)

⁶ At every Passover festival, Pilate would free one prisoner whom the people asked for. ⁷ There was a man named Barabbas in prison. He was with some rebels who had committed murder during a riot. ⁸ The crowd asked Pilate to do for them what he always did. ⁹ Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews for you?” ¹⁰ Pilate knew that the chief priests had handed Yeshua over to him because they were jealous.

¹¹ The chief priests stirred up the crowd so that Pilate would free Barabbas for them instead.

¹² So Pilate again asked them, “Then what should I do with the king of the Jews?”

¹³ “Crucify him!” they shouted back.

¹⁴ Pilate said to them, “Why? What has he done wrong?”

But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to satisfy the people, so he freed Barabbas for them. But he had Yeshua whipped and handed over to be crucified.

³⁹ You have a custom that I should free one person for you at Passover. Would you like me to free the king of the Jews for you?”

⁴⁰ The Jews shouted again, “Don’t free this man! Free Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a political revolutionary.)