What Happened To Barabbas?

Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested.  And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion.  Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to dojust as he had always done for them.  But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”  For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them.  Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!” So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. Mark 15:6-15 (NKJV)

Barabbas is mentioned in all four gospel accounts of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. What happened to Barabbas after he was released? And why is he considered noteworthy in the telling of the story of redemption?

Barabbas, as the passage indicates, was a criminal who had led a band of rebels against the Roman occupation. During their act of rebellion, he had killed someone. He was jailed for murder and for insurrection against the Roman government. Not much else is mentioned about him in scripture, except that he was the man chosen to be released by Pilate instead of Jesus. Other historical documents provide no proof as to what became of him after his release. We don’t know if he committed more crimes, decided to go straight, or maybe even decided to believe on Jesus. History is silent about it, and in a way that is appropriate. It is appropriate because Barabbas is a prophetic picture of each of us.

Barabbas had committed crimes worthy of death, yet another paid the penalty for his deeds. In the same way, we have all committed sin and were deserving of eternal death, yet Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. The name Barabbas means “son of a father.” As a sinner, he was a child of satan. In contrast, Jesus was the Son of THE Father. We, too, were sons (and daughters) of satan before we accepted Jesus as our Savior. Once we were born again, we became children of THE Father. The future choices of Barabbas are not told to us, but we know he had the same choice that any of us are faced with: what to do with Jesus. If he chose wisely and believed in Jesus, we will see him in heaven, and we can rejoice together about the restoration of our lives. However, if he did not make that wise choice, Barabbas will be just another name not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

It is ironic that the man released that day was trying to overthrow the oppression of the Roman government by force. Many of the people who had followed Jesus at one time or another had hoped that Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom by force and banish the Romans from the land. While it was not a forceful overthrow of the Romans, Jesus did conquer the enemy and establish His kingdom- but it was spiritual in nature; a kingdom without end. Hallelujah!