LUKE 23:25

 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will. - Luke 23:25

I think Luke gets it too!  He had already mentioned in Luke 23:19 that Barrabas was in prison for insurrection and murder.  But, six verses later he decides he has to add that again.  Maybe the reason that this whole thing makes no sense is because Luke is writing it in such a way as the reader would very easily come to that conclusion.

Let's not forget Luke's role in this whole thing.  Depending on your theological beliefs, Luke is a human with thoughts, ideas and a purpose he is trying to accomplish.  (By the way, no one's theological beliefs would deny that Luke is human, but some may say that God just gave him the words - I am not one of those people.). Luke writes this the way I would - so that everyone would know Jesus was completely innocent here.  He makes that point loud and clear.

I also like what he does at the end of the verse.  He uses "to their will."  Nice touch!  Good play on the "thy will be done."  What's more surprising - the people who were "trying" to do what God wanted actually were or that these people's will, to kill Jesus, was exactly what the Father's will was too?

All of this to say, let's give the Bible writers some credit, just like we give the authors of our favorite books credit for the way they write, and let's realize that they wrote the way they did for a reason (depending on your theological view).