According to early Greek texts of Matthew, Barabbas was named Jesus.
At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. (Mat 27:16 NRSV)
In an early NT apocrypha, Barabbas is interpreted as ‘son of the Master’. Abba, of course is the Aramaic word for Father. It is important to note that Matthew records this scene and it is a stark one. There is Jesus Barabbas – God Saves the Son of the Father – and there is Jesus Christ – God Saves the Anointed.
If I were to preach again, I would preach on the choices we make in following Christ. Which Jesus do we seek to follow? The political Jesus or the teacher? The violent rebel or the quiet prophet? The self-proclaimed Son of the Father/Master or the one who waits to have everyone else point out who they think he is?
Do we follow the strong Jesus who had to be bound in chains to stop his terror or the one who gave up, chastised his friends when they didn’t, and accepted his coming death?
What Jesus do we seek to follow?
Better, which one would we choose? The one that everyone likes and wants for the moment, of the other one? The one which everyone hates, the one which let everyone down by not fighting Rome, casting out Gentiles, and not abiding by the religious dogma of the day…
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Joel Landon Watts is a Masters of Theological Studies student with a focus in Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific ideals of the past century. Currently, he is a TA for Old Testament at United Theological Seminary under Dr. Vivian Johnson, Associate Professor of Old Testament. His first book, Rhetorical Strategies of the Evangelist: Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark, is expected to be published by Wipf and Stock early next year. He is currently co-editing a book on moving from Fear to Faith (Energion, 2013).
