KJV John 18:40 “Then cried they all again, ‘not this man but Barabbas.’ Now Barabbas was a robber.”
NASB John 18:40 “So they cried out again, saying, “Not this Man, but Barabbas.” Now Barabbas was a robber.“
Each of the four Gospel writers presents Barabbas in a different light. Matthew tells us that he was a notable prisoner. Mark relates that he had committed insurrection and, in that rebellion, had committed murder. Luke depicts him as a murderer. John adds to this biography that he was a robber. In his choice of words, we hear an echo from John 10 concerning thieves and robbers. Judas had been labelled earlier as a thief (John 12:6). It will only await the choice of the leaders who opted for the “stranger,” Caesar, instead of Christ. We will then have a stranger, the thief, and the robber, all of whom the nation chose over Christ, the true Shepherd.
But, likely, something else is also the intention of the Spirit of God in choosing these words. “Robber” tells us of someone who takes — he takes what is not his. In contrast, John’s Gospel presents the Lord Jesus as the “giver.” We hardly get our feet wet in the Gospel before we read that He has given authority to men to become children of God (John 1:12). We move a few chapters into the Gospel, and we find the Lord Jesus promises to give the “water of life” so that a Samaritan woman would never thirst again (John 4:14). Then to the crowd who would come to make Him king, He promises the Bread of Life (John 6) and that He is going to give His flesh for the life of the world. We come to John 10 and hear Him assure His own that He will give them eternal life and then that he would give His life for His sheep. We follow Him to the Upper Room and hear Him tell His Father the glory He had He was giving us (John 17:22). He is the giving Christ throughout John’s account.
Sadly, the nation was robbing itself in their choice of Barabbas, the robber. They robbed themselves of their Messiah. They chose a man who was a robber and robbed themselves. They would, in a few short years, be robbed of their land, temple, and their national identity. Rome would come and destroy all, and they would be scattered. Many, as well, would be robbed of their very lives in the carnage that was to fall upon them.
Judas, the thief, chose thirty pieces of silver and lost everything. The leaders chose Caesar, the stranger, and perished under Rome’s cruel slaughter. The people chose Barabbas, the robber, and robbed themselves. The Good Shepherd gave and provided life eternal for His sheep.
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Look through John and see God as the “giving” God and Christ as the “giving” Shepherd.