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John 18:28-40 · Jesus Before Pilate
Son of a Daddy
John 18:1-19:42
Sermon
by Robert Leslie Holmes
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"They shouted...'Not this man, but Barabbas!' " (v. 40).

Our scripture reading brings us face-to-face with the most dramatic encounter between two people that earth has ever seen: the encounter between Jesus Christ, God's Son, and Pontius Pilate, a Roman procurator cum procurator. The procurator possessed full civil, military, and criminal jurisdiction and was the personal appointee of the emperor and directly responsible to him. So what we have here then is an encounter between God and Rome, between righteousness and iniquity. Right in the midst of this encounter, another personality enters the moment. In all likelihood, this person probably never dreamed that he would have a place in redemptive history and we can be equally certain that he never expected to win a popularity contest against someone else. This man is the epitome of Andy Warhol's fifteen minutes of fame. He steps into the picture like a bolt of lightning out of nowhere and disappears just as quickly into obscurity, never to be heard from again. I have imagined that he may well have lived out the rest of his life and died without ever fully understanding what happened that day. Where he came from and where he went afterward, no one knows. This man's name is Barabbas. '"They shouted in reply, 'Not this man, but Barabbas!' Now Barabbas was a bandit" (v. 40).

Barabbas's Moniker

Barabbas is a name of Aramaic origin. Aramaic is the language that came into being after the captivity of the Israelites when the language of the Syrian captors became entangled with the Hebrew language of old Israel. It could be compared to Spanglish, an intermingling of English and Spanish that has evolved in parts of southern Florida and some of the Mexican border regions of the western states. In the Hebrew language the word ben means "son." So in Genesis 35:18 we read that as Rachel's soul was departing after a hard labor delivery, she named her about-to-be-born son "Ben-oni, which means 'son of my great sorrow.' Jacob, however, chose another name, Benjamin, meaning 'son of my right hand.' "

In Aramaic, the word for son is not "ben" but bar. Perhaps you recall that Simon Peter's real name was Simon Barjonah, or "Simon, son of John." Another example is Bartholomew, meaning "son of Talmei." Now the name is Barabbas. Perhaps your mind is already recognizing what it means. Paul writes, "All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' " (Romans 8:14-15 ESV). Ah, bar means "son" and abba means "father," so Barabbas is the "son of a father."

Actually, many Bible scholars and linguists tell us that Paul's writing at this point is a bit less formal than we usually read. They say that abba is a warm, intimate name that might actually be better translated "daddy." Now we are talking about the son-of-a-daddy, Barabbas. It could mean that here was one who was welcomed warmly into a loving family and they named him as they did, "daddy's boy." It would seem, however, that this daddy's boy had taken a wrong turn for now he is "a notorious prisoner," Matthew's gospel tells us (Matthew 27:16). Then again, there is a kind of generic ring to this name Barabbas, for everyone is the son of a daddy or the daughter of a daddy. If this is true, then perhaps we can say that Barabbas stands in this place at this moment in history for each one of us.

Barabbas's Moment

It is perhaps six o'clock in the morning. The top of the temple is beginning to pick up the first light of a new day and it shines out of the night as a new day was dawning. The valley below the Dead Sea still remains dead in darkness because night passes away more slowly in the valley. The narrow city streets remain dark too. However, if you listen closely you can hear footsteps. People are beginning to move. On one dark street, there is a knock on a door. Someone answers and receives a whispered message, "They have taken the Nazarene. He was condemned last night by the Sanhedrin. Perhaps this will be the day that we will see his mighty power arise to destroy Rome!" With that, first one, then two, three, four, and soon a small trickle, then a stream, and soon a vast flowing river of humanity begins to pour from the Passover packed city of Jerusalem toward the palace where Pontius Pilate metes out his Roman justice.

Inside that palace is one unhappy man. Pilate is none too pleased about being awakened in the middle of the night to deal with what he considers essentially a Jewish problem. Yes, the Jews! Pilate's hatred for the Jews is legendary and is matched only by their hatred for him. Gruffly, Pilate steps out and asks the Jews a question, "What accusation do you bring against this man?" (v. 29). In their best ecclesiastical voices, they answer, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you" (v. 30). Then Pilate responds, "Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law." The Jews reply, "We are not permitted to put anyone to death" (v. 31).

If Pontius Pilate is a master of anything it is the art of political power plays. Matthew helps us with more details again. He reports that an aide comes to see Pilate and whispers a message from Pilate's wife that he should not harm the Nazarene, whom she calls an "innocent man" for she had "suffered a great deal because of a dream about him" (Matthew 27:19).

So Pilate goes back inside and calls for Jesus to be brought to him. He asks Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" They shout in reply, "Not this man, but Barabbas!"
(vv. 33-40)

Pilate has never seen anything like this before. He remembers the reports from only a few days before that many of the very same people now calling for Barabbas were waving palm branches at this Jesus and shouting hosannas. In calling for Barabbas to be offered against Jesus, he is calling for a notorious criminal. No doubt Pilate reasons that these Jewish leaders and those who follow them would choose Jesus over Barabbas, and he would have pulled off another slick political move and his problem would go away. He imagines that he and his cronies would laugh at this later. "Good old Pilate," they would say, "you played them like a Roman fiddle." But it was not to be, for they cried out with one loud voice, choosing a criminal over the Christ. They choose the son of a father over the Son of the Father and the world would never be the same again.

Barabbas Emancipated

When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge's bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, "Here is your King!" They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor." Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. There they crucified him.
(vv. 13-18)

And Barabbas? Barabbas went free and disappeared.

Or did he? Barabbas... Barabbas! Do you hear me, Barabbas? Are you listening to me, Barabbas? I see you Barabbas... because, my friend, you are Barabbas! And, I am Barabbas! We all have a little bit of Barabbas in us, for we are all guilty of some crime against God, some sin that separated us from our maker. While we may not know what life looks like from the wrong side of a prison cell, the fact is that we are, many of us, still prisoners, trapped by whatever it is that keeps us from absolute surrender to Jesus. Like Barabbas, we may hide but we will not get out of this world alive.

Listen to me, son or daughter of a father, my only hope and your only hope, the only hope of any Barabbas is to realize that another, the sinless Son of the Father, has died in the place of the sinful sons and daughters of all this world's fathers. Having realized this, let us not escape. Instead, let us come clean with Jesus and embrace his grace offered to us through calvary's cross.

CSS Publishing Co., Inc., A jiffy for eternity: cycle A sermons for Lent and Easter based on the Gospel texts, by Robert Leslie Holmes