At the feast, Pilate offers to release ( apoluo ) a prisoner to the people. Earlier in Matthew, the verb is used with some frequency to describe the release of a wife, a divorce (Matthew 1:19; 5:31-34; 19:3, 7-8). In other passages, it means “send away,” as when the disciples wish to send away the crowds to get food for themselves (e.g., 14:15).
Though the word has a broader meaning, it seems plausible that the marital connotation is faintly present in the trial before Pilate. The whole trial is a kind of anti-covenantal ritual. The Jews refuse to acknowledge the king of the Jews; the Jews choose a brigand rather than their Christ; the Jews call down blood on them (as in Exodus 24) but it’s the blood of curse rather than the blood of the covenant.
As Sinai was the marriage of Yahweh with Israel, so in Pilate’s court, before the Roman governor, they initiate divorce proceedings. The “released” one is Barabbas, but the one truly sent away is Jesus, Israel’s faithful Husband.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
