There was one named Barabbas, who was in prison with rebels who had committed murder during the rebellion. The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them as was his custom. So Pilate answered them, “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews for you? ” They crucified two criminals with Him, one on His right and one on His left. So the Scripture was fulfilled that says: And He was counted among outlaws. Mark 15:7‭-‬9‭, ‬27‭-‬28 HCSB

I never knew that Barabbas was in jail with other people for his rebellion and murder. I always thought He was in there alone. Not that the jail was empty but that he was the only one charged with the rebellion and murder. The commentary in my bible linked that maybe the two criminals that were crucified with Jesus were his cohorts in the crime. 

In one of the "lost" gospels, it is reported that while Jesus' family was on the way to Egypt they ran into two young thieves.  Jesus predicted that they would be the two thieves on the cross with Him in 30 years. During the 30 years, Barabbas may have joined their group and became the leader. The one on His right would recognize Jesus as being "King of the Jews" and would join Jesus in paradise today. 

So what about Barabbas why would Pilate want to release him? He would have been famous for the rebellion and murder and the Jews would not want him to be free. So the crowd would have to choose between Jesus the "king of the Jews", or Barabbas the "king of the rebellion". 

But the Pharisees wanted to make sure that Barabbas would be released and Jesus was put in his place.

But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release Barabbas to them instead.

Mark 15:11 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/mrk.15.11.HCSB

Barabbas is the fulfillment of Moses' law in the atonement sacrifice.

He (Aaron) is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 

Next, he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for Azazel, he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot for Azazel is to be presented alive before the Lord to make purification with it by sending it into the wilderness for Azazel.

Leviticus 16:5‭, ‬7‭-‬10 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/lev.16.5-10.HCSB

Before we go much farther, what in the world is Azazel? 

For a more detailed summary visit: https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2203-azazel

But for those who don't want to dig deeper. Azazel was first translated from the greek versions as sent off or escape-goat. But with the addition of more of the Hebrew translations, we have Azazel. "Azazel is represented in the Book of Enoch as the leader of the rebellious giants in the time preceding the flood; he taught men the art of warfare, of making swords, knives, shields, and coats of mail, and women the art of deception by ornamenting the body, dyeing the hair, and painting the face and the eyebrows" (copied from jewishencyclopedia.com). So he was a really bad devil. But why would God send him a goat every year? I think it was more a ceremony to let the people see their sins off and to start the rest of the year with a clean slate. 

In the wilderness of the time of Exodus through Deuteronomy, the goat would have been marched out of camp and far enough away to never be seen again. But by the time of the Kings, the goat would have to be marched out of the nation and was too far for one man to accomplish so they began to push the goat off a steep cliff that would amount to the goat's death. In the teachings of Rabbi, there was a scarlet thread tied to the goat's horn and it would be white by the time the goat hit the bottom, but over the years the thread on this year's goat would stay scarlet representing the lack of remorse over their sin. 

So why did I bring up the goat in the middle of talking about Barabbas? He was the scapegoat or the goat for Azazel. More than likely He would have been done away with quietly in the same manner as this year's goat. For nobody would want a rebellious murder in their town. 

Do you think he thought about the escape-goat when he was sent free from the jail in Pilate's custody? I am guessing he was Jewish and saw the escape-goat on several occasions. But then he would have known what was next for the escape-goat.

Visit these two sites for a wonderful look into our response to the freeing of Barabbas.

http://ccfc.org.au/weekly-word/he-died-for-me-the-story-of-barabbas/

https://www.jimandjanean.com/home/2019/7/16/what-happened-to-barabbas