Jesus or Barabbas?
As you read this, Pam and I are returning from a trip to Israel where we have made a Lenten pilgrimage to the places where this week’s events took place. Perhaps you too have made such a physical journey, but whether you have visited the Holy Land or not, we can all make the spiritual journey to the foot of the Cross and decide for ourselves whom we will follow, Jesus or Barabbas.
We all know the story of Barabbas, how his release from jail sealed the death warrant for Jesus. Matthew called Barabbas a “notorious prisoner,” John called him “a robber,” Mark, one “who committed murder.’” Luke describes Barabbas as “a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.” Barabbas, in other words, is something more than your average thug. He seems to have been a political figure — perhaps a member of the Zealot Party, a group of revolutionaries who were dedicated to undermining and overthrowing Roman rule. In our day, we might call him a terrorist.
To think of Barabbas as a political terrorist is to rethink his significance to the Christian Gospel. According to some manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew, Barabbas’ full name was Jesus Barabbas. Pilate asks the people — us — “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called Messiah?” The coincidence of names holds even greater irony when we remember that Barabbas means “son of the father.” Jesus Barabbas fully considered is the Anti-Christ, the popular political hero who gives the people what they want — the kind of Christ that Jesus refused to become, and yet Jesus Barabbas is the one we all too often prefer.
The Good News is that it is Jesus’ preference, not ours, that ultimately counts. Again this week, Jesus Christ goes to the Cross and Jesus Barabbas goes free. Once again, as Jesus turns to the thief on the cross and says, “Today, you shall be with me in Paradise,” He sees not only the face of the thief, but also the face of Barabbas as well. So, in this Holiest of weeks, Barabbas can be seen as a reminder of the extravagance of God’s forgiveness and love. For here is the miracle: every day we choose, broken sinners that we are, Jesus Barabbas, but Jesus the Christ, the Prince of Peace, chooses us. It is Jesus, not Pilate, who releases Barabbas. And it is Jesus who releases us.
