Give Us Barabbas

(Part Three of the Give Us Barabbas series)

The response of the people was, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising. (John 18:40)

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(Read this series from the beginning at Part 1 and Part 2.)

The day after the election this year, I wrote a poet reflection with this story as a backdrop:

In this story, the popular vote cried out:

Not Jesus. 

Not the sermon on the mount.

Not enemy love.

Not nonviolence.

Not economic justice for the poor. 

Not inclusivity and care for the marginalized.  

Not compassion and safety for the vulnerable.

No. 

“Give us Barabbas!” 

Give us the convicted criminal. 

Give us the insurrectionist.

Give us the indicted rapist.

Give us the twice impeached.

Give us the racist, white supremacist.

Give us the authoritarian strong man. 

Give us the misogynist grabber.

Give us the remover of protections for women’s bodily autonomy.

Give us the totalitarian dictator.

Give us the fascist. 

Give us the autocratic nationalist. 

Give us the anti-immigrant, xenophobe.

Give us the scapegoater.

Give us the plutocrat.

Give us the corporativist. 

Give us the earth-destroying, extractive industrialist.

Give us the bankrupt business man. 

Give us the compulsive liar. 

Give us delusion. 

Give us fairy tale identity.  

Give us deeper injustice as long as I come first.

Give us cheaper eggs and cheaper gas.

Give. Us. Barabbas.

In our context today, these words indict the kind of Christianity that leads adherents to work arm-in-arm to elect another Barabbas. Barabbas promised those in his society storybook liberation from whatever they felt was wrong in their society and the empire. He also claimed to be a savior of the people. 

But in the Jesus story, the people chose the wrong savior. 

So much is here in this story for us to painfully unpack and explore. So many lessons for our present movement, and I’m not rushing to positivity and hope. My work to shape our world into a safe, compassionate, just world for everyone just got a lot harder, and I’m choosing not to rush to put a positive spin on present events. Reasons to be hopeful probably do exist, but I agree with others that looking for them right now in the immediate wake of recent events may not be the healthiest choice.

Chaplain Quinn Elleen Gormley recently posted on social media, “Lament and despair are human emotions. They are necessary, and they must be metabolized, which can only be done by feeling them. Ritual, humor, screaming, crying, moving your body, these are all healthy ways to feel the emotions. Let yourself have a few bad days, it will make the hope more secure when it comes. Hope has to be allowed to blossom, it won’t stick if it’s forced.”

Today I’m choosing to sit somewhere between hope and hopelessness: simply in honesty. 

For right now we need to let the reality confront us that the majority of our society including far too many, many Christians and others of faith, either actively or passively just chose Barabbas. 

Justice and love demands we still roll up our sleeves and continue the work.  I still believe in a multicultural democracy, 

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