So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

- Matthew 27:17,21 -

Pilate and the chief priests had no clue what was transpiring.  But Matthew is giving us the the privilege to understand a glimpse of it by revealing it in this passage.  Jesus Barabbas means "the Lord saves the son of a father".  Who is the father of humanity?  Biblically, that would be Adam.

Jesus ostensibly took Barabbas' place.  What was the occasion of this substitution?  It was Pilate's custom to release a prisoner on the feast of Passover leading into the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  I submit that it was a diplomatic gesture to the Israelites in commemoration of the time when God set the prisoners free from their captivity in Egypt.

But there's a deeper understanding. Barabbas was guilty of murder and insurrection (Mark 15:7).  He was captive, but he was also guilty - even guilty of murder.  Jesus, the Son of the Father had become the One who would set the son of the father [Adam] free!  

In the oblivious actions of others, Jesus was quietly declaring His impending intent to set the captives free (Isaiah 61:1).  Matthew highlighted it for us so the reader would understand that He was setting the guilty prisoner free by taking on Himself the punishment that was due us.  And what is at the center of the implementing this plan?  It was blood.  The innocent blood of the Passover Lamb would soon set the guilty captive free, and that Blood was about to be upon "all the people" and on their children.

Jesus is a Four-Dimensional Chess Master, who orchestrates events and sets people in place at just the right time to carry out and reveal His loving and just intentions.  

We must not ever underestimate His wondrous sovereignty!