Son of the Father

No, not Jesus
Not you or me or any other Christian.
Barabbas.

Did anyone else know that the translation for Barabbas is "son of the Father"? Tonight as our speaker was taking us through the timeline for the passion week he said this and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean, how many times have I read the passage and been mad again at the crowd for picking the "wrong one" to release? Everything in me screams "INJUSTICE" and I find myself loathing Barabbas. He deserved his punnishment...he should have died...but he got away. The nerve of some people!!

...add the above translation though and things started to fall into place. I realized for the first time that Barabbas isn't just another person in the story of the crucifiction week. He was the first one to experience complete, and yes unjust, forgiveness because of Christ's sacrifice. It wasn't fair and it certainly wasn't deserved...but it was given. Since Barabbas' release thousands, maybe millions have found the same forgivness in the same sacrifice...and they haven't deserved it any more. Suddenly, it's me I'm loathing.

Easter week is an amazing one. We are preparing a drama that was originally written as a radio play to present in chapel on Wednesday. The chapel will be very different than anything we've ever done because we're trying to make it like a good Friday service...focusing on the sacrifice and leaving the ressurection for Sunday. The solemnity of this play, even in rehersals every morning, strikes me as something that I gloss over too easily during this week every year. As my classmates learn their lines, I hear a gradual shift in their voices that tells me I'm not the only one who's heart is being impacted. I hear the roughness in the centurion becoming more pronounced, then suddenly softening once the sacrifice is made. I hear the voice of John comforting others while looking on, his heart so full of grief that he pronounces it "dead." I hear the voice of Mary, wondering how she can bear to watch her son suffer. And as my own voice adds to the jeers of the crowd and the hypocritical cynicism of the pharisees I am humbled beyond measure.

There is no explanation for this love but the amazing grace of God for all of the Sons of the Father. May he grant you the fullness of his joy as you anticipate his ressurection.