Barabbas and Simon the Cyrene: Luke 23v13-26

So Pilate called the chief priests, the rulers and the people.

'You brought this man before me,' he said to them,'on the grounds that he was leading them astray. Look here, then: I examined him in your presence and I found no evidence in him of the charges you're bringing against him. Nor did Herod; he sent him back to me. Look: there is no sign that he's done anything to deserve death. So I'm going to flog him and let him go.'

'Take him away!' they shouted out all together. 'Release Barabbas for us!' (Barabbas had been thrown into prison because of an uprising that had taken place in the city, and for murder.) Pilate spoke to them again, with the intention of letting Jesus go, but they shouted back,'Crucify him! Crucify him!'

'Why?' he said for a third time. 'What's he done wrong? I can't find anything he's done that deserves death, so I'm going to beat him and let him go.'

But they went on shouting out at the tops of their voices, demanding that he be crucified; and eventually their shouts won the day. Pilate gave his verdict that their requests should be granted. He released the man who'd been thrown into prison because of rebellion and murder, and gave Jesus over to their demands.

As they led him away, they grabbed a man from Cyrene called Simon, who was coming in to the city from the outside, and they forced him to carry the cross beam behind Jesus.

The charges have been framed yet Herod didn't kill him, now he's back to Pilate and Pilate finds no fault in Jesus, yet the chief priests and rulers are determined to have Jesus crucified. Then the Gospel brings us to focus on another conflict, Jesus - God's Messiah delivering the message of peace by self-giving Love, the Kingdom of the true and living God... and Barabbas - the leader of another messianic movement with it's message of kingdom by way of violence.

Here we see, as we so often do, the crowds and religio-political leaders prefer to go the way of violence over against the way of Jesus. This, they believe, is the best way to go about things. The irony is that it is this very choice, played out over the next forty years until 70a.d. when Jesus is vindicated as his prophecies of the Temple's destruction come to fruition and those who have kept faith in Jesus the Messiah are vindicated with him. The confirmation of the New Covenant's superiority to the old become firmly fixed, Jesus is in fact God's anointed one, having had all authority in heaven and on earth given him, ascended to and seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning until all enemies are put under his feet.

And it is those at his feet...those who go to the foot of the cross to receive cleansing and healing...to be saved, who then go on to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Then we have this Simon, who is grabbed and forced to bear the cross beam for Jesus as he went on the way to fulfill his vocation.

How can we work in and through the Spirit to lead the Barabbas's of the world to Jesus? How has this part of the narrative played out in your life? Knowing Jesus, how does this effect your response to being called to bear someone else's burdens?