Tag Archives: Barabbas

MARK’S GOSPEL…THE TALE OF YWO SONS – 40

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Mark‬ ‭15‬:‭6‬-‭12‬, ‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”

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A twist in the tale! Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent of the charges brought against Him. Mark even diagnosed the motive of the religious leaders for the abominable travesty of justice…

“fthonos”, meaning “envy”. 

Envy is more than jealousy. Envy includes the desire to do away with the person whose goods or attributes are desirable. It has in it the thought of corruption, to defile or destroy. 

So, Pilate was at war with himself. Should he risk antagonising the Jewish leaders by releasing Jesus, or does he violate his conscience by condemning an innocent man? Then a lightbulb moment! He’d throw the choice back on them! A strange custom came to mind…to release a condemned criminal of the people’s choice at Pentecost. 

Jesus or Barabbas? For Pilate, the choice was obvious. Barabbas was a murderer. Would they really want a murderer on the loose among them again?

Let’s examine the credentials of these two men. They were both “sons of the father” as Jesus claimed and Barabbas’ name meant. 

Was Jesus “Son of the Father”? Apparently “yes”, since He was on trial for this claim. He, according to the witness of Scripture, is…

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word…”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬a NIV‬‬

What of Barabbas? His name, Bar-Abbas” means “son of the father”. Was he the son of his father? We know nothing about his father except that he inherited the nature of his “father” – Adam. In Adam’s nature was the lawlessness and wickedness of rebellion against God, confirmed by Barabbas’ evil deeds and inherited by all mankind. Barabbas, the murderer, was a true son of his father!

So, for Pilate, this was the way out of his dilemma. He no longer had responsibility for Jesus’ death if the people chose Barabbas. 

Despite the terrible evil of the people’s choice, and despite Pilate’s guilt no matter how much he tried to shrug it off, the tale of two sons is a strange twist in this story but the heart of the gospel…the Son of God died in the place of “the son of the father”. 

Did Barabbas stand at a distance, watching the lifeblood of his substitute dripping on the ground? Did he see the head of Jesus hanging lifeless on His chest? Did he think, at that moment? …”He died for me!”

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SON OF THE FATHER

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SON OF THE FATHER

“With this, he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against Him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of Passover. Do you want me to release “the king of the Jews”? They shouted back, ‘No, not Him! Give us Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.” John 18:38b-40.

John’s description of Pilate’s verdict is very sketchy at this point. The chief priests had not specified their charge against Jesus. Their demand was, ‘Sentence Jesus to death; He’s guilty!’ Pilate responded, ‘Guilty of what?’ They replied, ‘He’s guilty because we say so!’ What kind of reply was that?

It was up to Pilate, it seems, to determine why the religious rulers insisted that He was guilty. The only thing Rome was interested in was insurrection. Was Jesus a rabble-rouser, trying to drum up enough support to get rid of the Romans? Annas had grilled Him about His following and His teaching in the hopes that He would let slip any plan He had of an uprising. He failed to get Him to incriminate Himself, so he sent Him to Caiaphas.

John recorded nothing of the religious trial before the Sanhedrin except the verdict, “Guilty as charged!” But not guilty of treason; guilty of blasphemy, according to the other gospels. A verdict of guilty of blasphemy would not cut it with Pilate. That was not his fight. So. they kept mum about the charge and hoped that Jesus would give Pilate the evidence he needed to condemn Him to death.

Pilate must have had some clue to Jesus’ claim, or else he followed that route because it was the one thing that Roman authority would squash, and quickly. Despite Pilate’s verdict, “Not guilty,” after questioning Jesus, the Jewish leaders still demanded His death. Pilate had one last loophole – the Jewish custom of releasing a prisoner on death row at Passover. Surely, if he chose the worst awaiting-execution convict, they would let Jesus go?

Pilate was in for a shock. So deep was their suspicion and hatred of Jesus that they would choose a convicted murderer and insurrectionist and allow him to roam the streets again, rather than a benevolent and upright rabbi who challenged their understanding of the Scriptures and exposed their greedy and selfish hearts.

Who was this Barabbas anyway? In a Jewish name, “bar” indicated the connection of the son with his father, just as does “son” in an English name, e.g., Johnson or Morrison, or “Mac” or “Mc” in a Scottish name, e.g., McGregor. Bartimaeus, the blind man, was the son of Timaeus; Barabbas was the son of his father. What sort of a name was that! Does his name, ironically, stand for all the sons of their fathers in whose place Jesus was crucified.

Did Barabbas’ mother give him a nondescript name like “son of his father’ because he did not have a father? Was she a single mother who tried to shield her son’s illegitimacy? Is that why he resorted to violence and murder — because he was an angry, fatherless boy? Just a thought!

According to Luke, Jesus was accused of being an insurrectionist. “Then the whole assembly rose and led Him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse Him saying, ‘We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.’…Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, ‘I find no basis for a charge against this man.’ But they insisted, ‘He stirs up the people all over Judea by His teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.'” Luke 23:2; 4-5 NIV.

Pilate was really in a dilemma; Barabbas was a convicted insurrectionist and they wanted him released. Jesus was not guilty of revolutionary activity, but they wanted Him crucified! What was he to do to satisfy justice, the Jews and his conscience?

Watch this space!

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – THE SEED DETERMINES THE HARVEST

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THE SEED DETERMINES THE HARVEST

6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13 “Crucify him!” they shouted.
14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
ut they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. Mark 15:6-15

Did the Roman readers of Mark’s Gospel catch the underlying atmosphere of this story? Did they get the ludicrousness of these events? Jesus was quite obviously innocent of wrongdoing, though not innocent of the charges, and not worthy of death. Barabbas was equally obviously guilty of serious crimes and worthy of execution, yet in this scene playing out before the readers, God’s plan to rescue a guilty human race was unfolding, the innocent paying the price so that the guilty might go free.

How did Barabbas feel as he watched them leading Jesus away, knowing that it should have been him going to the cross? Did his conscience bite and his heart cry out against the injustice of it all? Did he ever feel gratitude for his freedom at someone else’s expense? Did he think about Jesus and wonder why He did it? We never hear of him again – he was only a blip on the radar screen but, like Judas, he stained history.

Once the die had been cast, Mark discreetly pulls the curtain down on Jesus’ suffering. No details are given about the whipping He received, only a few words to record that it happened. For Pilate, it might have been the end of the story, another criminal condemned and executed, but was it? According to Matthew, his wife warned him to stay out of it because she was having nightmares about Jesus, but it was too late. He had no choice but to be embroiled in the story.

Pilate wore two hats that day – Pilate, the Roman governor and Pilate, the man, and in both of these roles he had to make a choice that would affect his own destiny as well as that of the entire human race. This is one of those mysteries that only God can unravel. Even though he was part of the unfolding drama of redemption, he was still held accountable for his actions. He had to experience the principle of the harvest in his own life. “Don’t be deceived. God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows that will he also reap.” The seed determines the harvest.

Son Of The Father

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SON OF THE FATHER

Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. ‘Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?’ asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

‘What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked them. ‘Crucify Him!’ they shouted. Why? What crime has He committed?’ asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify Him!’ Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified. (Mark 15: 6-15)

King of the Jews? Pilate had obviously not bought that one. From his point of view, Jesus was no more a threat to Rome than his pet puppy.

But the chief priests and religious leaders were adamant. Jesus must die! If Pilate did not find Him guilty, there was another way to get Him sentenced to death. The exchange! This was their trump card. They were play Barabbas against Jesus and Pilate could not wriggle out of that one.

According to the custom that the Roman governor release a prisoner during the Passover Festival, they demanded the release of one, Barabbas, an insurrectionist and a murderer. Can you credit their hypocrisy? They accused Jesus of treason when He was clearly not guilty. On top of it, He was a man who healed the sick and gave life to the dead. Instead they demanded the release of a man who had taken life and who was among those who rebelled against Rome. How devious could they be?

But Pilate was not stupid. He knew the reason why they had condemned Jesus. He was too good for their liking. They preferred the company of those who were like them, wicked to the core but covered with a veneer of religious “righteousness” which Jesus had seen through and exposed, time and again to their discomfort. The quicker they got rid of Him, the better, and they would not hesitate to stoop to murder, just like the one they chose for release.

Who was this Barabbas anyway? This is the only time his name appears in history, and what a record! Bar-abbas. His parents gave him the name “son of the father”. Was that prophetic? Was he destined to become just like his father?  Was he the offspring of a criminal like he had turned out to be? He certainly was the offspring of Adam, father of the human race, flawed from birth. All he had to do was to live up to his nature and he would be a replica of his father.

Who was his father? Jesus put his finger on the core problem during a debate with the religious leaders. They were adamant that they were the children of Abraham. “How can that be?” Jesus demanded, “when you are plotting to murder me? Your real father is the devil because that’s who you resemble.”

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8: 44)

Yes, according to the Scriptures, Barabbas was a true son of his father, the devil, and that’s the one they chose for release. How true is the proverb, “Birds of a feather flock together.” These men had shown themselves up for who they were.

But what about Jesus? This was their accusation – that He had claimed to be “the Son of the Father”. His nature and actions, like Barabbas, were evidence of the identity of His Father. Just as Barabbas mirrored his father, the devil, so Jesus was the image of His Father, God.

And they chose Barabbas because they were of the same family.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Watch this space. My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), companion volume to Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master, will soon be on the bookshelves.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

 

Son Of The Father

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SON OF THE FATHER 

“With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against Him. But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of Passover. Do you want me to release “the king of the Jews”? They shouted back, ‘No, not Him! Give us Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.” John 18:38b-40 NIV.

John’s description of Pilate’s verdict is very sketchy at this point. The chief priests had not specified their charge against Jesus. Their demand was, ‘Sentence Jesus to death; He’s guilty!’ Pilate responded, ‘Guilty of what?’ They replied, ‘He’s guilty because we say so!’ What kind of reply was that?

It was up to Pilate, it seems, to determine why the religious rulers insisted that He was guilty. The only thing Rome was interested in was insurrection. Was Jesus a rabble-rouser, trying to drum up enough support to get rid of the Romans? Annas had drilled Him about His following and His teaching in the hopes that He would let slip any plan He had of an uprising. He failed to get Him to incriminate Himself, so he sent Him to Caiaphas.

John recorded nothing of the religious trial before the Sanhedrin except the verdict, “Guilty as charged!” But not guilty of treason; guilty of blasphemy, according to the other gospels. A verdict of guilty of blasphemy would not cut it with Pilate. That was not his fight. So they kept mum about the charge and hoped that Jesus would give Pilate the evidence he needed to condemn Him to death.

Pilate must have had some clue to Jesus’ claim, or else he followed that route because it was the one thing that Roman authority would squash and quickly. In spite of his verdict, “Not guilty,” after questioning Jesus, the Jewish leaders still demanded His death. Pilate had one last loophole – the Jewish custom of releasing a prisoner on death row at Passover. Surely, if he chose the worst awaiting-execution convict, they would let Jesus go?

Pilate was in for a shock. So deep was their suspicion and hatred of Jesus that they would choose a convicted murderer and insurrectionist and allow him to roam the streets again, rather than a benevolent and upright rabbi who challenged their understanding of the Scriptures and exposed their greedy and selfish hearts.

Who was this Barabbas anyway? In a Jewish name, “bar” indicated the connection of the son with his father, just as does “son” in an English name, e.g., Johnson or Morrison, or “Mac” or “Mc” in a Scottish name, e.g., McGregor. Bartimaeus, the blind man, was the son of Timaeus; Barabbas was the son of his father. What sort of a name was that! Does his name, ironically, stand for all the sons of their fathers in whose place Jesus was crucified.

Did Barabbas’ mother give him a nondescript name like “son of his father’ because he did not have a father? Was she a single mother who tried to shield her son’s illegitimacy? Is that why he resorted to violence and murder — because he was an angry, fatherless boy? Just a thought!

According to Luke, Jesus was accused of being an insurrectionist. “Then the whole assembly rose and led Him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse Him saying, ‘We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.’…Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, ‘I find no basis for a charge against this man.’ But they insisted, ‘He stirs up the people all over Judea by His teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.'” Luke 23:2; 4-5 NIV.

Pilate was really in a dilemma; Barabbas was a convicted insurrectionist and they wanted him released. Jesus was not guilty of revolutionary activity, but they wanted Him crucified! What was he to do to satisfy justice, the Jews and his conscience?