What is the meaning of Matthew 27:17? So when the crowd had assembled “So when the crowd had assembled” (Matthew 27:17) • Overnight the chief priests and elders had rounded up a gathering of festival-goers (Matthew 27:1; John 18:28). • Passover always drew thousands to Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:16). What should have been a time of remembering deliverance was turning into a scene of rejection. • Mark 15:8 notes that the people “came up and began asking Pilate to do for them what he usually did,” pointing to a well-known custom. • Luke 23:13-14 shows Pilate summoning “the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,” so the entire nation’s leadership and a representative crowd are present. The stage is set for a public decision with eternal consequences. Pilate asked them “Pilate asked them” (Matthew 27:17 b) • Pilate, Rome’s governor, possesses legal authority (John 19:10), yet he wavers between justice and expediency (John 19:12; Acts 3:13). • Earlier he had pronounced Jesus innocent (Luke 23:4) but, under pressure, turns the matter over to the people—an abdication of responsibility that echoes Proverbs 29:25: “The fear of man brings a snare.” • His question reveals a conscience uneasy with condemning a righteous Man (Matthew 27:24). Which one do you want me to release to you: “Which one do you want me to release to you:” (Matthew 27:17) • The Passover pardon was a Roman concession to Jewish custom (John 18:39; Mark 15:6). • Offering a choice underscores personal accountability. Just as Joshua once challenged, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15), Pilate places a life-and-death decision before the crowd. • Romans 6:16 reminds us that every person serves either sin leading to death or obedience leading to righteousness. The crowd’s choice will reveal their master. Barabbas, “Barabbas,” (Matthew 27:17 d) • Barabbas is identified as “a notorious prisoner” (Matthew 27:16), a rebel and murderer (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19; John 18:40). • He embodies violent insurrection—sin lived out. Isaiah 59:7 pictures such men: “Their feet run to evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood.” • Releasing Barabbas would place danger back on the streets, yet the leaders prefer him to the true King. Their values are upside down (Isaiah 5:20). or Jesus who is called Christ? “or Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:17) • Matthew again links Jesus with the Messianic title “Christ,” reminding readers of Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). • Pilate’s wording shows he knows the charge revolves around Jesus’ claim to be Messiah (Luke 23:2-3; John 19:7). • The crowd must choose between the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) and a man of violence. Acts 3:14 later states bluntly, “You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.” • The contrast foreshadows substitution: the guilty man goes free while the innocent Lamb is led to slaughter (Isaiah 53:5-7; 1 Peter 3:18). summary Matthew 27:17 captures a pivotal moment: a gathered crowd, a wavering governor, and a stark choice between a murderous rebel and the sinless Messiah. The people’s decision to free Barabbas and condemn Jesus highlights humanity’s natural bent toward darkness and God’s sovereign plan of redemption. By literally taking Barabbas’s place, Jesus illustrates substitutionary atonement—He dies so the guilty can go free. The passage invites every reader to recognize the gravity of choosing Christ, the only true Liberator. |
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