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Region: England, Wales and Northern Ireland

RE:QUEST

A space for resources to help RE teachers and their students explore the Christian faith
“A huge resource to treasure.”
Lat Blaylock, Editor, RE Today

We are delighted to share with you our library of resources. You can use the filter feature below to find topics most relevant to your curriculum.

Atonement: Barabbas' Story

What can we learn about atonement from the story of the Barabbas?

At the time that Jesus was arrested, there was also another man being held. This man was Barabbas, a terrorist who had murdered a number of people in the uprising against the Romans.

It was a custom during the Passover for the governor to release one prisoner. The governor of the region at the time was a man called Pilate. He could not find anything to justify sentencing Jesus to death, he offered the people the opportunity to set him free.

However, the crowd who were gathered there shouted for Barabbas to be set free rather than Jesus. Although Pilate did not seem to agree with this, he was helpless to do anything about it. The crowd had spoken.

This film takes a creative view of the man that was set free whilst Jesus was sentenced to death. How would Barabbas have felt? Did Jesus' death have any further impact on his life?

It also explores the idea of Barabbas' release as a symbol of the Christian teaching of atonement.

Find out more about atonement here.