I am Barabbas – Mark 15:1-15
Introduction
So Jesus has faced his accusers, been found guilty of blasphemy, but because the Romans are in charge they have a law which states only they can pass the death sentence and carry it out. You see, when Jesus told the disciples he would be handed over to the Jewish leaders and be killed, you can see how they thought it would not happen. There was a law against it!
But where there is a will there is a way. The religious leaders can’t kill Jesus, but they know the man who can. However, they also know that the Romans won’t kill Jesus just because he broke their religious rules by claiming to be God. They have to try and show that Jesus is a threat to Rome and an opponent of Caesar. So Jesus faces the charge of proclaiming himself “King of the Jews” in direct opposition to the rule of Rome. The irony of course is that as Son of God and descendent of David, Jesus is actually King of the Jews, but neither the religious leaders nor Pilate, the Roman Governor, really believed it. He is astonished with Jesus. With Jesus’ coolness in this situation. With the way Jesus refuses to lower himself to the level of his accusers and give them an excuse to prove their point. So often, especially in a prison, we can be accused and we turn on our accusers and lower ourselves to their level, giving them just the proof they need to prove their point.
Now that Jesus won’t turn on his accusers Pilate has no excuse for siding with them. And yet he has a problem. He knows that the religious leaders have gathered a crowd within the crowd. A group that they control. If that crowd kicks off he has a big problem. Jerusalem is full of maybe 750,000 people during the Feast of Passover. Ten, maybe fifteen times its normal population. His job is to keep the peace. He has already had trouble once and Caesar’s eyes are watching him. A man called Barabbas and his gang have already caused him issues. For his own sake he can’t afford any more trouble. He comes upon an idea. Let the people think it’s their idea to release Jesus. There is a custom that every Passover a prisoner whom the crowd chooses is released. Surely the crowd will choose the harmless preacher over a murderer, so he chooses the worst prisoner in his prison to go up against Jesus. “Choose”, Pilate says, “Jesus or Barabbas”. Pilate has underestimated the control the religious leaders have over the crowd. His plan backfires and the shout goes up. “Barabbas!” they shout. He has no choice but to release him or face a riot and be answerable to his boss. Jesus’ fate is sealed and all because yet another leader fails him.
At this time of year, whenever I read this, I often wonder the same things:
• Who was Barabbas and what was he like?
• How did Barabbas come to be in that prison?
• What did Barabbas do next?
Who was Barabbas and what was he like?
His name is interesting. It comes from two Aramaic words, the language Jesus spoke. Bar, which means son and abba which means dear father or daddy. Just like me and you then Barabbas was the son of a father. He began as a baby, and his name suggests he was a favourite, he was special to his father. Maybe the apple of his father’s eye. As a toddler he would have wanted to own everything, would fall over, bang his head, have a strop, and all the things toddlers do. As he grew older he would have learned his scriptures off by heart from his mother like every Jewish boy. He may not have been very good at it so he would have been expected to follow his father into whatever way of life he had. Like any boy, Barabbas had dreams of what he wanted to do. Have a nice wife and family, land of his own perhaps, a decent life. Like you and me he had dreams and aspirations. Up to now just a normal boy whose parents wanted the best for him.
Then maybe something went wrong. How he turned out suggests a lot of pain in his life. Maybe his father died? Maybe he left? Maybe something traumatic entered his life. He certainly had a hatred for the Romans by now, so maybe the authorities were involved in causing him pain in some way. Life as a Jew was never easy under the Romans. Their taxes were heavy, they prevented Jews from worshipping properly and the soldiers often bullied and used the local population. Maybe Barabbas or members of his family were victims of this. Maybe Barabbas was led into the wrong company or felt it was down to him to even things up. Maybe he didn’t care anymore. He saw the rich and powerful around him taking what they wanted and thought “why should I act any differently?” Maybe the life of someone in his family was destroyed and his family broken up and he wanted to even the score? Maybe he just didn’t care anymore? Or just maybe, one day he found himself in the wrong place, with the wrong people at the wrong time and he was dragged into something forever which engulfed his whole life?
How did Barabbas come to find himself in that prison?
The Gospels tell us three things about Barabbas and the crimes he committed. John 18:40 uses a word about Barabbas’ crimes which can be translated as thief or robber. So we can see that Jesus died instead of a thief and a robber. But Mark goes further than that and labels Barabbas an insurrectionist. He was in prison with those who had committed rebellion and murder against the Roman authorities. It’s quite possible Barabbas did all three things or that he committed robbery and was part of a group who had committed murder and rebellion. Conspiracy and Joint Enterprise existed even then! The other two who were crucified next to Jesus may have been part of the same gang. Whatever happened it was pretty serious and meant that Barabbas faced death on a cross. He would have been sitting in that prison cell, nothing like your cell, contemplating death. Maybe he was pleased he was going to become a martyr for his cause. Even so, I reckon he sat there in the stinking mess looking back on his life, wishing that the things he had dreamed as a youngster were his reality now and not this. Then, he gets dragged up from his mess into the bright sunlight and in front of a massive crowd. What was going through his mind then? His time was at hand. This was it. The end! But hang on, this doesn’t look like his execution. He notices Pilate there. He would never get personally involved in an execution. He would stay out of the way. Then he sees another prisoner out of the corner of his eye. He had not seen this man in the dungeon. He was bound and tied like him. Maybe he even recognised Jesus as the preacher and miracle worker? Then Pilate makes his offer to the crowd. Imagine the tension going through Barabbas’ mind now. He was being given a chance of freedom. Inside he is begging the crowd to choose him but deep down he knows he has never been given the good end of a deal in his life. Why should he get lucky now? He knows that compared to Jesus he is the one who deserves to die and nothing will change that.
Then something miraculous happens. The crowd begin to shout for him. Surely he isn’t hearing it right. Yes, he is! They are shouting for him and to crucify Jesus. Jesus, a man known for doing nothing but good, is going to take his place and he, a thief, robber and insurrectionist is going to go free. The miracle happens. His chains are removed. At first he doesn’t move. He still can’t believe he is going to live and the other man will die in his place. The soldiers push him away and Barabbas disappears into the crowd.
What did Barabbas do next?
I have always wondered this. There are two possible reactions aren’t there? He went back to his old ways. He had a close shave and next time he would make sure he was more careful. They would not catch him next time. He didn’t want to suffer the fate of his two friends who were crucified alongside Jesus. For this Barabbas nothing changed.
But there is another alternative. In 1950 a novel was written and in 1961 a film was made about what might have come of Barabbas after Jesus took his place on the cross. Imagine what Barabbas witnessed. He probably went back to his friends, yes, but he would have gone through the sky going black on that day and the earthquake that marked Jesus’ death. He would have been a witness to the rumours that Jesus came back to life and maybe even visited the tomb himself and then dismissed it as an illusion. He would have been around Jerusalem when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and maybe he was one who accused them of being drunk. Maybe some of the people Barabbas knew were among the 3,000 people who came to Christ that day. The film has it that Barabbas got into more trouble and he ends up as a gladiator. Again, his life is on the line. But in Rome he meets Christians and eventually as he runs through his life story he sees the truth about Jesus and how Jesus died for him. He becomes a Christian himself and is one of thousands of Christians put to death by the Romans with Peter in Rome. God had kept him alive so he could come to him and through the death of Jesus he received the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.
Now you have the teaching it’s time for me to preach. So far I have just been warming up, now I am feeling hot!
You are Barabbas!
Barabbas means what? (Son of Daddy). Jesus taught you to call God “My Father”, “Abba”. So who are you? (Go around the room asking each person their name. The answer is Barabbas). You are Barabbas!
• Barabbas, you are the apple of your Daddy God’s eye. You are special to him. And your Father God wanted you to follow in his footsteps.
• Barabbas, you grew up and like any normal boy you had dreams and aspirations.
• Then something happened. Pain. Resentment. Injustice. What was it that changed your life Barabbas? What was it?
• Barabbas you became a thief and a robber. No? Have you ever lusted? Lust is stealing. Have you ever wanted or taken what belongs to someone else? That’s stealing.
• Then Barabbas you became an insurrectionist. “Did I? I hear you saying. Even if you haven’t physically murdered wanting revenge is murder Jesus said. Hating your fellow human being is murder, it just hasn’t come out of you yet. But the potential is in there.
• You became an insurrectionist. “Did I?” I hear you saying again. Yes, you are created by God Barabbas, and God is your King. The very moment you rebel against him by breaking his rules you became an insurrectionist, condemned to death.
• Barabbas, you are in a prison cell, a man condemned to die.
• But here is the good news. You, Barabbas, are taken from that cell and Jesus made sure he took your place. You are set free. But whether you take the gift of freedom or put yourself back in a prison cell is up to your response Barabbas.
• Remember the story of Barabbas from here on in. You have two choices. Back to the old ways or back to Jesus. What is it to be for you Barabbas?
