John Calvin Commentary 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?" — John 18:39 (ASV)

But you have a custom. Pilate was continually pondering how he might save Christ’s life. But with the people so fiercely enraged, he attempted to find a middle path to calm their fury. He reasoned that it would be enough if Christ, dismissed as a malefactor, were marked with perpetual ignominy. He therefore selected Barabbas above all others, so that, by comparison with that man, the hatred they felt toward Christ might be lessened; for Barabbas was universally and strongly detested on account of his atrocious crimes. Indeed, is there anything more detestable than a robber? But Luke (Luke 23:19) relates that, in addition to this, he was guilty of other crimes.

That the Jews preferred him to Christ did not happen without a unique intervention of God’s providence; for it would have been highly unfitting for the Son of God to be rescued from death by such a dishonorable exchange. Yet by His death, He was thrown into the deepest ignominy, so that, as a consequence of the release of Barabbas, He was crucified between two robbers. For He had taken upon Himself the sins of all, which could not be expiated in any other way. And the glory of His resurrection, which speedily followed, made His death itself a splendid triumph.

This custom, by which the Roman governor delivered up to the Jews, every year, at the Passover, some criminal, involved a base and heinous crime. It was done, no doubt, to honor the sacredness of the day, but was, in reality, nothing other than a shameful profanation of it; for Scripture declares that:

He who acquitteth the guilty is abomination in the sight of God (Proverbs 17:15).

And therefore, God is far from taking delight in that improper kind of forgiveness. Let us learn from this example that nothing is more ridiculous than to attempt to serve God by our own inventions. For as soon as people begin to follow their own imaginations, there will be no end to it until, by falling into some of the most absurd foolishness, they openly insult God. The rule for the worship of God, therefore, ought to be taken from nothing other than His own appointment.