Sometimes illumination comes to us from a single word. This recently happened to me when I was reading the Gospel of Luke and encountered this verse from the Passion narrative, about Pilate, Barabbas, and Jesus: “And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.” (KJV 23:25) It’s the deadly precision of “will” that makes the sentence disturbing. The post Close Reading the Gospel of Luke—wit...
