Give Us Barabbas!

This is an unexpected writing. My intention was to focus on writing about another attribute of God. Change of plans. There is something else on my heart.

We celebrate the Resurrection this coming Sunday. Tonight I went to church for our Easter production. I'm not participating as part of the cast this year. Instead, I went to the prayer room to intercede. We usually have the TV monitor on so we can see what is happening on stage, but tonight we didn't. The prayer room is behind the stage so we can hear most everything that is going on.

At the point in which Jesus is before Pilate, we can hear the people shouting, "Crucify Him, crucify Him." I listened and thought how absurd it was for the people to shout that. I remember that this part of Jesus "trial" was where the people were given a choice.

John explains it like this :

³⁸ “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. ³⁹ But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

 ⁴⁰ They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. John 18:38-40 NIV 2011

Barabbas was a rebel. He was thrown in prison for being part of an insurrection and murder. Murder! And the people said, "Give us Barabbas." In Matthew's account of the story, he mentions that Barabbas was well known, notorious even. So the people knew who Barabbas was—no doubt.

These may have been the people who were praising Jesus less than a week before when He entered the city. They had probably heard Him preach. They may have been people who sat down and ate the meal that He miraculously provided for more than 5000. Maybe they had friends or family whom Jesus had healed. They may have been the healed.  And they said, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!"

So as I listened to the actors as they cried out “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” just as the religious people had done a few verses later. I thought how could they say that after all they knew about Jesus. Then I remembered that the people chose Barabbas and I wondered how many times have I chosen Barabbas over Jesus.

How many times have chosen rebellion over peace, fear over faith, my way over His way, the common over the holy . . . the world over God?

Father, please forgive me for choosing what I knew was wrong. I pray that You will make it obvious to me when I am about to say by my actions, "Give me Barabbas instead of Jesus."