Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” And Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Barabbas, a man who was a violent protester and had been condemned to die, is now set free. In his place Yeshu must suffer punishment for him, the righteous for the unrighteous.

There is a sutra which long before foretold that the Messiah must suffer like this, taking the punishment of ‘the many’, by dying in their place:-   “And the LORD has caused to meet on him the sinfulness of us all … by his knowledge that righteous One, my Servant, will provide righteousness for the many; you see, he shall shoulder their iniquities.”

And so it was that full and perfect liberation ( thar-pa ) from samsara ( ‘khor-ba ) was made available for all mankind.