And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him I will therefore chastise him, and release him. (For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.) And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) Luke 23:13-19

Again as Pilate and Herod found no wrongdoing of Jesus, the religious leaders kept pushing for Rome to execute The Lord. There was a loophole found, the Romans had a custom of releasing a prisoner at the feast. The religious leaders used this clause as a way to have Jesus take the place of a convict murder named Barrabas. Now notice Pilate originally said I will chastise and release him. This was not getting off easy either, this meant the Roman soldiers would brutally beat Jesus almost to death, but not crucify him

However Israel wanted to exercise the clause in this mockery of a trial and have Barabbas released and Jesus crucified. Think about this, Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God is going to take the place of a horrible sinner and die on the cross for his sins. Jesus took your place also, even though we were still sinners God demonstrated his love towards us and Christ died for our sins (Romans 5:8) You are Barrabas! We are all Barrabas!

Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will. Luke 23:20-25

Pilate knowing that Jesus is innocent , tried one last time to release him, however the crowd kept shouting “Crucify Him”, “Crucify Him”, and notice it says “He delivered Jesus to their will” The will of man was to kill the Son of God, but the will of God was to save all humanity through his Son! As the Apostle Paul said “Christ became the curse for us, so we can be released from the curse of The Law” (Galatians 3:13)

Jesus took your place, literally and symbolically, We are all sinners and deserve to die on that cross, however because of Gods love for us, He took our place!  He who knew no sin became our sin so we can become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)