Pilate had found Jesus innocent, and he looked for a way to set Him free without ruling flatly against His accusers. The passover custom gave him one. Writing on the same scene in Matthew, Barnes says Pilate "attempted in this manner to rescue him from the hands of the priests, and expected that the people would prefer him to an odious and infamous robber and murderer." Gill notes that Pilate "proposes it to them, and leaves it to their option."

By calling Jesus "the King of the Jews," Pilate kept the charge in front of them. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary sums up his approach: "Pilate was willing to please all sides; and was governed more by worldly wisdom than by the rules of justice."

The answer came with one voice: "Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber" (John 18:40). Pilate's plan failed. Instead of releasing Jesus, "Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him" (John 19:1). Mark adds that "the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them" (Mark 15:11).

The custom was not a command of Scripture. Gill calls it "Not a law, either of God or man's, but a custom," which he says the Roman governors had introduced "to ingratiate themselves into the affections of the people." Barnes, writing on Matthew 27:15, is less certain: from what the custom arose, or by whom it was introduced, "is not known." He adds, "It was probably adopted to secure popularity among the Jews, and to render the government of the Romans less odious."

John calls Barabbas simply "a robber" (John 18:40). The other Gospels add that he was held with insurrectionists and "had committed murder in the insurrection" (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19).

The choice set before the people was stark: an innocent man the governor could not fault, or a robber and murderer. They chose the robber. Peter later preached it back to the people of Jerusalem: "ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you" (Acts 3:14).

Yet God was not outmaneuvered. The early church prayed that Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel had gathered against Jesus "to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done" (Acts 4:27-28). Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary sees a lesson for every reader in the people's choice: "Sin is a robber, yet is foolishly chosen by many rather than Christ, who would truly enrich us."