Title: THE SON OF THE FATHER—BARABBAS
Focus: Jesus, the Son of the Father, has taken our place, the place of Barabbas, so that we may live.
Function: To deepen our gratitude for Jesus, as he paid the price for our sins.
The word “insurrectionists” raises all kinds of emotions today. For example, American and Allied soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq consider them as dangerous enemies. Insurrectionists, for example, will do anything to overthrow established order.
They will use Improvised Explosive Devices to kill and destroy. Car bombings and homicide bombers are part of their tactics. Creating chaos and instability, along with instilling fear in the lives of people—at any cost, without any moral consideration—these make up the strategy of die-hard insurrectionists. Barabbas is an insurrectionist. So are you and I. And so is Jesus.
THE PASSAGE
On this Good Friday, the Scriptures lead us into the courtyard of Pontius Pilate, governor in Jerusalem by the grace of Caesar, the emperor of Rome. And in that courtyard we find the Lord Jesus, the Son of the Father standing before Pilate. He is charged with sedition; he is an insurrectionist, according to the Sanhedrin, the religious court of the Jews.
The Jewish religious leaders wish to get rid of Jesus. They believe that Jesus deserves the death penalty. But the Jewish Sanhedrin cannot deliver the death penalty without the approval of the Romans, under whose occupation they live. So, the Jewish leaders concoct a number of charges against Jesus: (Luke 23:2)
a. Jesus subverts our nation, they said.
b. Jesus opposes payment of taxes to Caesar
c. Jesus claims to be Christ, that is, King.
The first charge is religious in nature; the Jewish leaders believe that Jesus is a blasphemer, leading the people of Israel astray by suggesting or claiming that he is God. The other two charges can easily be manipulated in such a way that Pilate will see Jesus as an enemy of Rome. That should take care of the business, so the Jewish leaders thought. Clearly, Jesus must be viewed as an insurrectionist. Pontius Pilate, what are you going to do about this charge?
Pilate does not “buy” the charges against Jesus. He realizes that the Jewish leaders are motivated by envy and hatred for Jesus. Pilate does not want to get involved with the religious squabbles and politicking of the Jews.
First, Pilate tried to hand Jesus back to the Sanhedrin: (John 18:29) “Take him to yourselves and judge him by your own law.” They replied: “We have no right to execute anyone.” So the ball is back in Pilate’s court.
Then Pilate finds out that Jesus is from the region of Galilee. Since King Herod is governor of that region, Pilate decided to send Jesus to King Herod. But the best that King Herod could do was mock and crown Jesus with a crown of thorns. But King Herod did not think that Jesus was deserving of the death penalty. So, back to Pilate.
Pilate questions Jesus. He is convinced that Jesus is not a threat to Rome. Certainly, the charge that Jesus is an insurrectionist, and therefore a political enemy, does not hold. Really, Jesus is innocent.
Matthew stresses Jesus’ innocence time and time again. In chapter 27:4 Matthew records Judas’ remorseful response to the Jewish leaders saying, “I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood.” Then, in vs. 19 Claudia Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate, sends a message to her husband saying, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
In verse 23 Pilate indicates his own conviction that Jesus is innocent by asking the mob that yelled for Jesus’ crucifixion, “Why? What crime has he committed?” And in vs. 24 we find Pilate washing his hands, which in this case is a sign that he does not think that Jesus is guilty of any crime, and that therefore Pilate is not willing to assume any responsibility for the crucifixion death of an innocent man.
Clearly, this Jesus—this Son of our heavenly Father—is innocent. He is not an insurrectionist worthy of death.
And that’s when Pilate comes up with his trump card: let’s get a real insurrectionist out here. Someone like Barabbas. Barabbas appears to be a member of the radical right wing party called the Zealots. The Zealots are totally opposed to the presence of Roman soldiers and Roman law in Israel. They are eager to overthrow the Roman government.
We do not know much about Barabbas. His name means “son of the father.” We do not know why he got this name. “Abbas” or father may well refer to a title. Just as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church or in the Greek Orthodox Church is called “father,” so a rabbi or religious
teacher in Jesus’ days would also, at times, be called “Abba” or father. “Barabbas” means “son of the father.”
From Scriptures, we learn that Barabbas is “a notorious prisoner” (Mt.27:16). Luke says that Barabbas was thrown into prison “for a certain insurrection made in the city, and for murder” (Lk.23:19). And Mark tells us that Barabbas “was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising” (Mk. 15:7). In other words, Barabbas is a bad “dude.” Guilty as charged and, in the eyes of Pontius Pilate, Barabbas is worthy of the death penalty.
At the beginning of my message, I said that Barabbas is an insurrectionist. And so are you and I. I made that claim because, in a very real sense, Barabbas, reflects us. Like Barabbas, we too stand condemned. We too are worthy of death.
Does not Scripture say that we all live under a cloud of death? Is it not true that the Bible says that all have sinned? And that the wages of sin is death? By virtue of our human nature and Adam’s sin, and by virtue of our own sinful acts and inclinations, we are like Barabbas—insurrectionists, rebels worthy of God’s wrath on our sins.
I see Barabbas; I see myself. That’s why I thank God for Jesus, for what happens next is unbelievable good news for Barabbas and for anyone of us who recognizes any kinship, any connection and affinity with Barabbas: Jesus, the son of our heavenly Father (Jesus, the innocent one) takes the place of Barabbas—our place.
Pilate decides to make use of a custom, whereby the people may choose to set free a prisoner of their own choice. It appears that Pilate has used this custom before. And it’s a custom that he based on the Jewish religious festival called the Passover. Pilate has learned that the Passover Feast in Israel points to the freedom of the Israelites. It points to a time when Egypt held the Israelites captive as slaves. The Passover Feast, then, is all about freedom from slavery and bondage. So, as a gesture of good will, Pilate had this Passover custom of setting a prisoner free. And the people may choose.
Who shall it be: Jesus, the One who is innocent? Or Barabbas, the murderer and rebel against Rome? Jesus or…us?
The people cry out: “Crucify Jesus! Set Barabbas free!” And that’s how this dark Friday in Jerusalem 2000 years ago has become Good Friday for us today. For Jesus, the Son of our heavenly Father, took Barabbas’ (our) place.
This is the mystery that is taking place right before our eyes today: Jesus, the innocent one, is our substitute. God the Father made Jesus an insurrectionist. As Scripture says: (II Cor. 5:21) “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
In other words, we may live because Jesus paid the price for our sins. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” We may live eternally, because the Son of our heavenly Father took our place.
Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and always shall be, world without end. Amen.