Matthew 27:17 · World English Bible
Matthew 27:17 Meaning When Therefore They Were Gathered Together
When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?”
What does Matthew 27:17 mean?
Every moment offers a mind the same choice this crowd is asked to make: which one will you set free, and which will you condemn. The two figures standing side by side are the two teachers always present, and the decision to release one is the decision to keep the other bound.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Matthew 27:17 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
Every moment offers a mind the same choice this crowd is asked to make: which one will you set free, and which will you condemn. The two figures standing side by side are the two teachers always present, and the decision to release one is the decision to keep the other bound. Fear will always reach for what confirms attack and turn away from what would only bless.
A mind gathered to choose between them is really choosing what it wants to be true of itself. To release the innocent is to accept innocence; to release the guilty is to keep the belief in guilt. The choice was never about the men but about which teacher the mind will follow.
Barabbas: the guilty self the ego prefers to save, the identity built on attack that a fearful mind sets free. Jesus called Christ: the innocent Self the fearful mind hands over to be condemned, the love it turns away from.
Christian Psychology lensGo deeper in the app
Christian Psychology lens
Live Matthew 27:17 today
- Before you open your phone this morning, pick which voice you are going to listen to today, the one that keeps score or the one that lets things go. Say it to yourself plainly.
- With one person who annoys you, choose the kinder reading of what they did. You will not know if it is accurate, and choosing it still changes the day.
- When a group starts tearing someone apart, in a chat or over lunch, decline to add to it. Say something true and small in the other direction, or say nothing.
Which version of yourself are you setting free today?
The same truth in other traditions
Buddhism · Dhammapada
Mind comes first. What you choose to dwell on today is what you will be made of tomorrow.
Hinduism · Katha Upanishad
The pleasant and the good both come to a person and ask to be taken. The wise look them over and choose the good.
Stoicism · Epictetus
Some things are up to us and some are not, and freedom is knowing which is which. What is up to us is the choice itself.
Free · No account needed
Read all of Matthew 27 through 17 lenses
Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.
Get Lensightful on the App Store