"My husband, I ask you not to allow any harm to come to that good man; for this day I have been very unhappy on account of a dream about him."
This message made Pilate all the more desirous not to yield to the Jews and put Jesus to death. He thought of a new plan to save the life of Jesus; and with this in mind he said to the chief priests and the leaders:
The soldiers took Jesus into the guard room, tied him to a pillar, and beat him with heavy whips.
"You brought before me this man charged with the crime of trying to lead the people to rise up against the government, and I have looked into his case, and have found the charges false. He has not done the things that you accuse him of; and there is nothing wicked in his acts, so far as I can see. Nor has Herod found any fault with him, for he has sent him back. He has done nothing that demands death. But he deserves some punishment for causing all this excitement and stir. I will order him to be well beaten, and then set free."
But with one voice, they all cried out, "Away with this fellow! To the cross with him! Don't release him: release to us Barabbas!"
It was a custom that at the Feast of the Passover, as a sign of the gladness of the time, to set free some prisoner, whatever man in prison the people should call for. There was at that time in the prison a man named Barabbas, who had led a party of Jews against the Roman rulers, and in the fight had killed a man. He had been condemned to die, but the people did not think any the less of him because he had fought against the Romans, whom they also hated, and whom they would gladly drive out of the land if they were not afraid of their power. The crowd began calling out to Pilate to do as had been done every year, and set free some prisoner.
"Are you willing," asked Pilate "that I should free this man Jesus, the King of the Jews?"
But the chief priests and the Jewish rulers went around among the crowd, and persuaded them to ask, not for Jesus, but for Barabbas. And the people shouted out, as if they were all one man:
"We will not have this man; we will have Barabbas!"