Barabbas or Jesus? We hear this question posed by Pilot to the Jews during Jesus’ Passion. The real question is, who would you choose? Think you know your answer? I am not so sure.

The decision may seem simple, but unfortunately the devil does not present us with such clear choices. You see, the devil does not regard us as ignorant, so he is not going to try to convince us to directly reject Jesus. Instead, he tries to suggest to us that we go for the more “reasonable” decision, the decision that seems to make more sense to us. The Jews at the time of the Passion of Jesus were no exception. So why did Barabbas appear to be the more reasonable choice?

[Pilot] again went out to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in him. ³⁹ But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” ⁴⁰ They cried out again, “Not this one but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

John 18:38-40¹

Who is Barabbas?

Some biblical translations introduce Barabbas as “Jesus Barabbas.”² Scholars disagree on whether or not Barabbas’ first name really was Jesus, but the point, as Pope Benedict VI tells us, is that we recognize Barabbas as a sort of alter ego of Jesus.³

In the passage above, John introduces Barabbas to us as a “revolutionary.” Have you ever pondered why John and the other Gospel writers mention this? The terms “revolutionary” and “robber” in those times were basically synonyms for the term “resistance fighter.” Barabbas was resisting the Roman Government and fighting against Roman occupation. Not only was he a resistance fighter, but we are told he is a “notorious prisoner”⁴ who had recently taken part in a insurrection.⁵ It is likely that Barabbas was one of the leaders of the revolution therefore viewed by many of the Jews at that time as a sort of messiah figure who would free them from the oppression of the Romans.

This becomes even clearer when we discover the Aramaic meaning of Barabbas’ name. “Bar,” in Aramaic, means “son of.”⁶ The second part of Barabbas’ name is “abba,” or in Aramaic, “father.” Jesus and Paul both use “Abba” to refer to God the Father.⁷ Barabbas’ name literally means “son of the father.” If his first name really was Jesus, then his whole name would be “Jesus, son of the father.”

The Decision

So the Jews of the 1st century had a very difficult choice to make. From the points above we can see that for them the choice was not simply Barabbas or Jesus Christ. The choice presented was actually that of two different messiahs with two different messianic beliefs. It is a choice “between a Messiah who leads an armed struggle, promises freedom and a kingdom of one’s own, and this mysterious Jesus who proclaims that losing oneself is the way to life.”⁸ Should we wonder why the crowds made the choice they did? Who would you have put your trust in? Would you have decided differently?

Our Choice

So, what does this mean for us today? We don’t have to choose between two different messiahs today, right? Pope Benedict asks us though, “If we had to choose today, would Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, the Son of the Father, have a chance?”⁹

You see, we do have that choice to make today. No, not literally for Barabbas, but for our own “messiahs.” Do we know Jesus and have a relationship with him, or do we choose our own “Barabbas?” We have a tendency to turn to our “immediate saviors,” things that seem to take away our “oppression” of this life instead of Christ. We find ourselves constantly turning to immediate gratification in the things of this world like sports, food, social media, movies, etc. These things are not necessarily bad, but if we choose them over Christ we are choosing “Barabbas.” I love sports as much as the next guy, but it would be wrong to miss church just to catch a game.

This Good Friday, may we all make the right choice. May we rid ourselves of our need for instance gratification and pleasure in order to choose our real Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! May God bless you during this most blessed of weeks!

Pax Christi <><

1. Taken from the New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2. ex: Matthew 27:16 (New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition has it in text, other translations have it in footnotes)
3. Benedict, Pope. Jesus of Nazareth. Doubleday, 2007.
4. Matthew 27:16
5. Mark 15:7
6. For example, consider the passage in Matthew 16 where Jesus changes Peter’s name from Simon to Peter. Here Peter responds to Jesus’ question about who he was by calling him the “Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responds to Peter calling him “Simon Bar-Jona” or Simon, son of Jona.
7. See: Mark 14:36, Romans 8:15, and Galatians 4:6
8. Benedict, Pope. Jesus of Nazareth. Doubleday, 2007.
9. Benedict, Pope. Jesus of Nazareth. Doubleday, 2007.