But
the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should release Barabbas to them instead. Pilate again asked them, “What then should I do to him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
Mark 15:11-12
Mark 15 [5.] But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate marveled.
Mark 15 [6.] Now at the feast he used to release to them one prisoner, whom they asked of him. There was one called Barabbas, bound with his fellow insurgents, men who in the insurrection had committed murder. The multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do as he always did for them. Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should release Barabbas to them instead. Pilate again asked them, “What then should I do to him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
Mark 15 [13.] They cried out again, “Crucify him!”
Meaning:
Pilate has offered to release “the King of the Jews”, knowing that the chief priests had handed Jesus over out of envy (Mark 15:6-10). His plan fails. The priests work on the crowd, the crowd asks for Barabbas, and Pilate is left asking what he should do with Jesus.
- “But the chief priests stirred up the multitude”
The leaders who had once feared the crowd now use it. Earlier, “They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude” (Mark 12:12). Now, early in the morning and inside the governor’s court, they are able to shape the crowd’s voice. Many in this crowd had likely come to ask for the usual release, and some may have favoured Barabbas as a hero of resistance against Rome. The priests fanned that feeling.
Only days before, crowds had welcomed Jesus into the city crying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mark 11:9). We cannot be sure how many of the same people were present, but the contrast shows how quickly public opinion can turn when leaders stir it up.
- “that he should release Barabbas to them instead”
The word “instead” sums up the exchange. Barabbas, a man guilty of insurrection and murder, would go free in place of Jesus. Peter later said to the people, “But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you” (Acts 3:14). Choosing Barabbas meant choosing the way of violence and rejecting the King who brings peace.
- “What then should I do to him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
Pilate’s question is weak and revealing. As the judge, he had the authority and the duty to release an innocent man. Instead he asks the crowd to decide for him. His words “whom you call the King of the Jews” shift responsibility onto them, as if to say the title is their claim, not his. Matthew records the same question: “What then shall I do to Jesus, who is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:22). In John’s account the chief priests finally declare, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15).
The Significance of Mark 15:11-12
- The power of manipulation
The chief priests show how leaders can stir up people to do what they would never do on their own. Crowds can be led to shout for injustice. Believers are called to test what they hear and not simply follow the loudest voices. Scripture warns about those who turn justice upside down: “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh” (Proverbs 17:15).
- Responsibility cannot be passed on
Pilate tried to hand his decision to the crowd, but he remained responsible. We too can be tempted to let others decide for us when the right choice is costly. God holds each person accountable for what they do with what they know.
- What will you do with Jesus?
Pilate’s question is one every person must answer. Jesus cannot be ignored or left undecided. He is either received as King and Savior or rejected. Those who receive him find that he took their sin “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Cross-References:
Matthew 27:22: "What then shall I do to Jesus, who is called Christ?" Matthew’s record of Pilate’s question.
John 19:15: "We have no king but Caesar!" The chief priests rejected their King.
Acts 3:14: "But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you," The choice of Barabbas recalled.
Proverbs 17:15: "He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh." God’s view of perverted justice.
Conclusion: The chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask for Barabbas instead of Jesus, and Pilate, rather than acting justly, asked the crowd what to do with the one they called the King of the Jews. The passage shows how leaders can manipulate a crowd, how a judge can evade his responsibility, and how a guilty man went free in place of the innocent. It leaves each reader facing Pilate’s question about what to do with Jesus.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible