John 18:40 Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. One of the most striking works of that true spiritual genius, George Tinworth, represents the release of Barabbas and the condemnation of Christ. Pilate is delineated as the centre of the group; he is standing washing his hands, thus emphasizing the innocence of Jesus, who, at his left, is seen bound and in custody, led away to be scourged and crucified. Barabbas is on Pilate's right; he is stooping down, free and light-hearted, to rejoin the people. Barabbas is styled in an inscription below his figure, "The world's choice." The inscription below Jesus is "The Good Shepherd." The levity of the call for Barabbas and the unerring Divine Judgment, are suggested by a reference to Ecclesiastes 8:12. The general lesson of the composition is one with which historians, moralists, poets have made us familiar — "Truth for ever on the scaffold, Wrong for ever on the throne — Yet that scaffold sways the Future, and behind the dim unknown Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own."Tinworth's genius appears in the extraordinary vividness with which he has conceived and expressed the fact that Barabbas was personally popular. While Jesus comes forward, sorrowful and solitary, followed by supercilious smiles or cold despite, those who have known Barabbas crowd around him to congratulate him; the very soldiers who have been his jailers clasp his hands, as if they were sorry to lose a boon companion. Intensity of moral purpose, elevation of spiritual thought, are hindrances to popularity; the absence of these is distinctly favourable to a superficial geniality, which may blind even to the heinousness of crime. Christ could never have been "the world's choice." (A. Mackennal, D. D.). Parallel Verses KJV: Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.WEB: Then they all shouted again, saying, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a robber. |
    |