It was late in the day, and Pilate had questioned Jesus as much as he could. He had tried several approaches to rid himself of the responsibility of the outcome facing the Jewish teacher standing before him. Outside, throngs of people could be heard arguing with each other and sharing their views about whether Jesus should be found guilty. The smell of sweat, animals, and the humid air was inescapable as it blew through Pilate’s window in his chambers. More than that, Pilate could smell the rage from the crowd below, matched only by the smell of his own fear. As he made his way to the balcony, his guards called for order to the crowd below so that Pilate could address them. Because it was Passover, the leader utilized his option to pardon one prisoner to the Jewish people, thinking this would resolve his conflict with the man in question. Pilate offered to free either Jesus of Nazareth or Barabbas, a local legend who had led a failed coup attempt against the Roman government. The crowd who previously were silenced by his guards now broke out with screams and shouts in a chorus demanding, “Give us Barabbas! Give us Barabbas! Pilate turned from the window with a sinking feeling and a bad taste in his mouth. But he had been a politician long enough to recognize sometimes you had to give the people what they wanted.
The account of Jesus’ trial with pilot is recorded in all 4 gospels is one of the saddest events in all of history. While Jesus the Son of the Most High God, who had left the Glory of Heaven, stood silent in Pilate’s chambers. The crowd expressed their demand for what they wanted. They wanted what suited them at that moment. They pursued what they thought was in their political best interest. Their current culture had helped reset their moral compass to the point that they now demanded freedom of a murderer and wanted the Teacher who had spoken of love and a coming kingdom executed. Jesus’s authority made them uncomfortable, and after all, he was a poor carpenter’s son. What could he offer that a strong, secure but dictatorial government couldn’t provide.? After all, Barrabbas had at least rebelled against the taxation and committed crimes in the name of revolt to take a stand with the Romans,
We look back through history, and we have the benefit of scripture to give us a more fully dimensional perspective of all those who played a role in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. While the local crowd of Jews identified Barabbas as a local hero, it is paramount to remember that Jesus told us in scripture that “no one took His life from Him but that He laid it down freely.” (John 10:14) Rather than coming to give us what we wanted, Jesus came to earth to provide us with what we needed. We needed a Savior. A hero that would champion evil, death, and the grave and come out of the tomb offering eternal, unconditional righteousness and unending life in Heaven without sorrow or pain. Our hero, Christ, came not to revolt against temporal governments that would rise and fall. He came to redeem us from our own captivity brought on by the revolt of sinful nature that even in the garden attempted to satisfy the want to be equal with God. It was an impossible task, but bringing promised adoption as sons and daughters made available through the shed blood and pierced flesh of Heaven’s perfect sacrifice, Jesus.
Our culture longs for a hero. Movies and video games fill our minds and hearts with hopes for rescue, for those who can bring justice and right wrongs. Applause breaks out when the evil villain is vanquished. People breathe easier when talking heads, and news moguls assure us that help is on the way. A new stimulus package or laws that will liberate our minds and allow us to choose who we can be. While the money will come to an end all the while, we will miss the potential of who we could be if we would look to our Creator and realize the image we are made in. We look to science and think the vaccine is heroic and will bring us abundant life. It’s far more attractive to cuddle up to suited scientists and chat over cappuccinos about what source we think is most valid than cast our minds on the bloody image of a suffering Savior. Whose head was crowned with thorns and whose side was pierced with a sword for our personal sins and preferences that exclude God and His design for man. We applaud heros that sit and face our political foes in air-conditioned courtrooms. At the same time, we neglect Christ, who faced the judgment of a Holy God —endured separation from Him, looked death in the face, and actually made a change in our destiny.
It’s easy to condemn the crowd who cried for Barabbas. I find it ironic that Barrabas’s name reveals nothing about his origin. It was customary on that day for your name to reveal who your father was. For instance, Simon was Simon Barjonah, meaning son of John, or James and John, the sons of Zebedee. But Barabbas is translated as ” son of Abba” or” son of daddy.” Many scholars think he was a fatherless criminal.
On the other hand, through Christ, we have been made joint-heirs with Him and have been adopted by God our Father. The Son of Man was exchanged for the son of unknown origin. I am reminded until we come to Christ through faith, we are spiritual orphans. Despite the fact that I am a follower of Christ, I, at times, find myself still crying out like the crowd who called for Barrabas, calling out to God to give me what I want. I love the words of the song “How Deep the Father’s Love For Us,” but the line that calls me to is,
“Behold the Man upon the cross, my sin upon His shoulders, Ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers.”
It stings me to the core with the truth that without grace, I am a voice in the crowd indifferent and removed from my sinful part in the death of Jesus my Lord. It is only when I come to rest in His grace that I am reminded grace alone is sufficient and that it will provide what I need and extinguish the selfish desire to follow the worlds thinking and demands. The grace of Christ redeems me.
As I reflect on the goodness of the sacred Friday where Jesus offered Himself to the will of God to secure my salvation, I am reminded a wounded Savior is less and less viewed by the culture as a hero. Christ and His call to humble ourselves and submit to a Holy God are often viewed as an intrusion to intellectual pursuits and trouble a mindset that as a people, we are ever-evolving into a higher state of existence. The world’s hunger for peace and inclusion, justice, and change has been routed to by-pass Christ and His mediation between the people of the world and its Creator. Despite His suffering, death, and resurrection, many still cry for what is wanted, not what is needed.
I close with the words from this song, Jesus, Let them be on my heart and in my mouth. Lord let this be my cry among the crowd,
‘In the morning when I rise,
In the morning when I rise, In the morning when I rise,
Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus, Give me Jesus, Give me Jesus.
you can have all this world,
Just give me Jesus.”
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