Not This Man, but Bababbas

    In the situation of Barabbas as an object of mercy in preference to Jesus, Providence afforded the Jews an opportunity of manifesting the utmost depravity of heart. Barabbas was a murderer, and -was guilty of insurrection. Yet this man they chose to deliver from justice, not from concern for him, but from hatred to the Son of God. What a singular coincidence, then, was it that brought Barabbas and Jesus into competition, as candidates for the benefit of this Jewish privilege! What a stain on human nature, that Barabbas was the favorite of the electors! Christian reader, need you think it strange, then, that the enemies of your Lord should treat you in the same manner? Under no forms of government, monarchical, aristocratic, or popular, will the man of God, of a decided fearless character, be a favourite. There is no greater mistake than to think, that Christianity would be better treated under a pure democracy than under a pure despotism. Neither monarch nor mob will love the people of Christ, but as they are individually themselves the partakers of the knowledge of God. Better to stand before a single despot, than to encounter the bigotry of the multitude. Paul stood before Caesar, and was delivered out of the mouth of the lion; Pilate desired to save Jesus, but the multitude condemned him. Do we not every day see the same thing, as far as circumstances allow it to be manifested? God's people are far from being perfect, but with all their imperfections, they are better to be trusted in places of trust than the most apparently virtuous of their enemies. But are they, either as to the prerogative of the powerful, or to the privilege of the bulk of the people, the objects of selection in choosing to places of honour or emolument? Barabbas would have a better chance than Nicodemus or Nathaniel.