John 18:39
But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
Pilate appealed to the custom of releasing to the people one prisoner of their choice at the Passover, the great national festival. That custom of setting at liberty one prisoner condemned to death was a pagan invention with not one particle of justice in it. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent and had found no fault in Him, even recognizing while Jesus was bound and under accusation that His power was the power of God and not that of a common man.
Jesus stood in Pilate's judgment hall because religious leaders and rulers brought Him there for envy, and a lawless mob with those leaders, driven by Satan's hatred, sought to take His life and demanded that He be crucified. With his soul in terrible conflict and fearing a riot, Pilate tried to save an innocent man without directly opposing the priests and rulers by using the custom as a subterfuge. Pilate therefore offered the crowd a choice between Jesus, whom he called the King of the Jews and Jesus of Nazareth, and the notable Barabbas placed side by side with Him, hoping the contrast between innocence and guilt would move them to demand Jesus' release.
Barabbas stood in most striking contrast to Christ as a notorious robber, thief, and murderer, who pretended to be Christ and claimed religious power and a right to establish a different order of things and set the world right, doing great wickedness and wonderful things through satanic agencies and claiming under satanic delusion that whatever he could obtain by theft and robbery and murder was his own. Instead the priests and people chose Barabbas and demanded that Jesus be crucified, showing the fickleness of a crowd that had once hailed Him as king and then reviled Him. Jesus submitted to this unjust treatment, though no sin had been proved against Him, as humanity's substitute and surety, and the choice to release a thief and murderer instead of Him reveals the world's moral blindness and rejection of Christ.
Barabbas placed beside Jesus represents Satan, so the people's choice of Barabbas before the Son of God exalted Satan, and the same choice is repeated whenever people reject Christ, with each person demonstrating whom they choose. The choice illustrates how deception leads people to reject Christ, for near the end of time Satan's influence will move people to choose against Christ and cry for His crucifixion. The crowd's turning against Jesus showed His disciples that the world's favor could not be trusted, and He prepared them for this trial so that His rejection would not take them by surprise.