Pilate repeated his proposal of release, but it was all but lost in
the roar of hatred. Note the contrast between 'Pilate spoke' (v. 20)
and 'they shouted.' It suggests his feeble effort swept away by the
rush of ferocity. And they have gathered boldness from his
hesitation, and are now prescribing the mode of Christ's punishment.
Now first the terrible word 'Crucify' is heard. Both Matthew and
Mark tell us that the priests and rulers had 'stirred up' the people
to choose Barabbas, but apparently the mob, once roused, needed no
further stimulant.
Crowds are always cruel, and they are as fickle as cruel. The very
throats now hoarse with fiercely roaring 'Crucify Him' had been
strained by shouting 'Hosanna' less than a week since. The branches
strewed in His path had not had time to wither. 'The voice of the
people is the voice of God,'--sometimes. But sometimes it sounds
very like the voice of the enemy of God, and one would have more
confidence in it if it did not so often and so quickly speak, not
only 'in divers,' but in diverse, 'manners.' To make it the arbiter
of men's merit, still more to trim one's course so as to catch the
breeze of the popular breath, is folly, or worse. Men admire what
they resemble, or try to resemble, and Barabbas has more of his sort
than has Jesus.