At that time there was a man in jail called Bar-abbas (Barabbas). He was one of the men that were always fighting against the Romans to try and make them leave the Jewish country. He had killed a man in one of those fights, and that is why he was in jail. Every year at Passover time, Pilate let one Jewish prisoner go free. But he let the Jewish people pick that prisoner. And so just before the Passover ceremony began, a big crowd of people went to see Pilate and they said, “This is the time for you to let one of our people go free.”