Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them, and after flogging Jesus he handed him over to be crucified.
Mark 15:6-15 NRSV
Ecce homo! Behold the man! Pilate said to the crowd gathered at the gates of the Praetorium from which he governed in Jerusalem. But this crowd was not interested in making things easy for Pilate as he was trying to extricate himself from having to condemn Jesus. The priests, the pharisees, and anyone else that was threatened by the life of Jesus found themselves in a common cause: they wanted Jesus dead. In their hatred they were whipping up the crowd chanting: “Barabbas, Barabbas!”
It is easy for us to say unkind things about this crowd and feel some sort of moral superiority to them…but are we really? The crowd was fickle…we are fickle. The crowd was being manipulated…we let ourselves be manipulated. The crowd was not interested in Jesus…we too can lose our interest in Jesus. The crowd wanted Barabbas.
Barabbas and Jesus both had a certain popularity with the people and as a result they both could claim to represent the aspirations and desires of those that followed them. They both claimed to be a “son of the father.” But Barabbas was a man of violence. In fact, the only thing Barabbas had in common with the priests and pharisees was their shared hatred of the Romans.
Then there was Jesus. Alone, quiet, enduring abuse by his captors while having been totally abandoned by his disciples. No one to stand up for him. Yet Jesus is resolutely committed to finish the task that lay ahead. He had a mission and, despite his circumstances, he would not let anyone deter him from his task.
Are we willing to embrace this Jesus?
More importantly, are we willing to become like this Jesus?
Or will we allow the same hatred that ruled the heart of Barabbas, and the hearts of the priests and pharisees that night, to live within us.
There comes a time in the life of every human when we must choose the road we will follow. It is as if, to paraphrase the poet, there are two roads that diverge out of our fickle heart and we must choose and choose we must.
Will we follow the way of Jesus, or will we follow the way of Barabbas?
Will we let the way of hatred and violence rule our lives, or will we embrace the way of peace, community, and brotherhood?
Josh Anguiano loves his ever growing family and doing life with his La Sierra community.