John Calvin Commentary Matthew 27:26

"Then released he unto them Barabbas; but Jesus he scourged and delivered to be crucified." — Matthew 27:26 (ASV)

Then he released to them Barabbas. Our three Evangelists do not mention what is related by John (John 15:13), that Pilate ascended the judgment seat to pronounce sentence from it. They only state that the clamor of the people and the confused tumult prevailed on him shamefully to deliver Christ up to death. But it is important to observe both of these things: that compliance was forced from him contrary to his will, and yet that he exercised the office of a judge in condemning Him whom he pronounced to be innocent. For if the Son of God had not been free from all sin, we would have had no right to expect satisfaction from His death. On the other hand, if He had not become our surety to endure the punishment which we had deserved, we would now be involved in the condemnation of our sins. Therefore, God determined that His Son should be condemned in a solemn manner, so that He might acquit us for His sake.

But even the severity of the punishment serves to confirm our faith, just as much as it impresses our minds with dread of God’s wrath and humbles us through a realization of our wretchedness.

For if we wish to profit rightly from meditating on Christ’s death, we ought to begin by cultivating a deep abhorrence of our sins, in proportion to the severity of the punishment He endured. This will cause us not only to feel displeasure and shame for ourselves, but also to be pierced by deep grief, and therefore to seek the remedy with appropriate eagerness, while at the same time experiencing inner turmoil and trembling. For we must have hearts harder than stones if we are not cut to the quick by the Son of God’s wounds, and if we do not hate and detest our sins, to atone for which the Son of God endured so many torments.

But while this is a display of God’s terrifying vengeance, it also, on the other hand, offers us the most abundant grounds for confidence. For we have no reason to fear that our sins, from which the Son of God acquits us by so precious a ransom, will ever again be brought into judgment before God. For not only did He endure an ordinary kind of death to obtain life for us, but along with the cross, He also took our curse upon Himself, so that no uncleanness might remain in us any longer.