Then Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.
This verse presents the most brutal contrast in history: the sinner is released, and the Righteous One is handed over to the cross. Pilate, although he recognized Jesus’ innocence, yielded to the pressure of the crowd and turned legal authority into an instrument of lawlessness. The flogging that preceded the crucifixion became the beginning of Jesus’ physical suffering, yet also a symbolic step—the acceptance of the burden of human sins. At that moment the divine mystery is fulfilled: the innocent bears the sentence of the guilty, so that freedom may be granted to them. Barabbas’ release was a historical event, but also a symbol of salvation in the sense that the sinner is set free through Christ’s sacrifice.