But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas” – a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.
Luke 23:18-19
I like to wonder about biblical people whose full stories are largely a mystery to us. What do you think happened to Barabbas, the criminal who was released instead of Jesus? Did he go back to his old ways, or did he – burdened with survivor guilt – change in some important way?
The question about Barabbas’s fate is vitally important, for Jesus’ crucifixion – the price He paid for us – demands human change. We cannot turn away from such a gift: its very extravagance of love requires that we give Him our all. Not an eighth part, not a half, not three-quarters – but all.
In the 1962 movie “Barabbas,” which is of course fictional, the criminal as played by Anthony Quinn is a rough, crude, quarrelsome man, ready with his fists, his curses, and his knife. And yet this rough-hewn man begins to change slowly as he realizes that the One who died for him was no ordinary man. Barabbas begins to realize that he bears a heavy burden because his life was spared by Jesus.
Like humanity itself, Barabbas is a mixture of good and evil. Jesus died for people just like Barabbas. Jesus did not single out those He was dying for – He died for everyone: you, me, and all other members of the human family. Like many people, the Barabbas of the film never quite understands what God wants from him, and remains flawed to the end. Nonetheless, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the Christian community. At the end of the film he goes to the Christians, gives himself up to God, and dies on a cross alongside those Christians whose very faith he has been wrestling with throughout the movie.
Life is not a movie, and we can’t really know what happened to Barabbas. But we have probably all known people whose lives were transformed when they turned to Jesus Christ as their savior. His death on the cross was not a one-time event, but a timeless gift for humanity for all eternity. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are happening now. His gift of salvation is being offered now.
At one point, Barabbas as played by Anthony Quinn says of Jesus, “He took my death.” He got that right: Jesus took our death upon His slender shoulders and died in our place to give us life everlasting.
God bless you!
Peggy
