The Way of Power

Matthew 27:26

“Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”

— Matthew 27:26

Barabbas is more than a footnote in the gospels. This little story of twelve verses captures the entire Biblical story in one little moment, and gives us insight about the way of power. Consider the parallels between Barabbas and Jesus, and between Barabbas and us.

Insurrection is Worse Than Murder

Barnabas stood accused of the same crime as Jesus: insurrection. Stirring a movement up against the empire. See Luke 23:19. While we think of Barabbas as a murderer, and indeed he was, Luke’s narrative lists insurrection, not murder, as the primary problem.

Insurrection is actually worse than murder in a key sense: while murder is a solitary act of ultimate power over another, insurrection is exponential. Rather than dominating and subjecting a single life, the aim of the insurrectionist is to unleash a multitude of murder and mayhem in order to gain power over not just a single person, but an entire society.

The Roman authors knew this. In an age in which human life meant little, the empire was far more concerned about political stability than a single human life. While he had murdered, the Roman rulers were much more worried about Barabbas’ charismatic ability to stir the people up against the empire.

The implication is that Barabbas had tried to use personal power and strength to achieve his own will—to overthrow the Romans. No wonder the Jewish people loved him. They looked to messiahs to accomplish their goal of political autonomy, and admired those who acted on their behalf.

The Use of Power

While the people loved Barabbas, Jesus was a disappointment, because Jesus wouldn’t rise up against the Romans to achieve the community’s political aims. They wanted another Canaan, and Jesus refused to make it happen. They liked Barabbas’ style better: fight the Roman power, killing people if you have to, in order to attain autonomy.