Jesus and Barabbas

[fieldsparrow]

So here I am, a soon-to-be Catholic, reading the Pope’s first volume of “Jesus of Nazareth.” In the second chapter he brings up something that has never, ever crossed my mind, which is Barabbas as a sort of alternate Messiah figure. I won’t try to give an explanation because I would just mangle it, but I really am interested in learning more about this aspect of the Gospels. The Pope mentions a work by Vittorio Messori, Pati sotto Ponzio Pilato?, which I would greatly like to read but which doesn’t seem to be available in English. I may at some point try to struggle through it with a dictionary and my other Romance language skills, but I’m wondering, can anyone point me to other (solidly Catholic) writings that might discuss this?

I’m having one of those moments right now.

 

[jbarbaretta]

So here I am, a soon-to-be Catholic, reading the Pope’s first volume of “Jesus of Nazareth.” In the second chapter he brings up something that has never, ever crossed my mind, which is Barabbas as a sort of alternate Messiah figure. I won’t try to give an explanation because I would just mangle it, but I really am interested in learning more about this aspect of the Gospels. The Pope mentions a work by Vittorio Messori, Pati sotto Ponzio Pilato?, which I would greatly like to read but which doesn’t seem to be available in English. I may at some point try to struggle through it with a dictionary and my other Romance language skills, but I’m wondering, can anyone point me to other (solidly Catholic) writings that might discuss this?

I’m having one of those moments right now.

I wish I knew of some good writings. One of the things I found out a couple years ago that made me see the whole scene with Barabbas with new eyes was when someone explained to me that the name Barabbas or bar abbas literally means “son of the father” and the crowd at Pilate’s court picked a false son of the father over the true Son of the Father. This was more obvious in some earlier texts which listed Barabbas’ name as “Jesus bar Abbas”, which in a sense would be an appropriate name for Jesus as well since he is Jesus, Son of the Father.

I’ve heard as well of this as fulfilling typology in the scape goat ritual of Yom Kippur but I have some problems with that view, which I have not really resolved in my own mind.

 

[Crumpy]

You are correct. Yeah, until you stumble across the words “bar” and “abba” in scripture, you might not understand the irony of that name. The irony of the name is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s what draws us in, to look at it further.

Actually, Benedict discusses Barabbas further, in the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth.

Pope Benedict is a theologian, and so he is looking for the levels of meaning of scripture. What does the incident with Barabbas tell us?

I put my copy away today, so it is not at hand. But, one thing I recall is that when Pilate offers the crowd the choice between Barabbas and Jesus, this is the moment when Jesus is condemned, because at that moment, one of those two is surely condemned, while the other will be free.

Notice how Pilate makes a purely political decision, to appease the crowd. Benedict digresses into a short but intensive analysis of how Pilate, as much of a politician as he was, had to ask the question, What is the Truth? It was not, to him, the clearest mental picture and understanding of reality as it is. He wasn’t concerned with it at all, but only with the balance of power and maximizing his gain from a big decision he had to make that day.

 

[Crumpy]

Yes, Benedict refers to the mention of Barabbas in Vol 1, and in Vol 2 he again says that Barabbas is a kind of messianic figure.

Jesus and Barabbas are “criminals” of the same type, have both disturbed the peace. But, B. is the violent type, and Jesus is the non-violent type. Pilate would rather have spared the peaceful one, but the crowd, knowing the two men, clamor for the violent “messiah.”

Benedict says this choice is something that was to be repeated many times in history.

 

[gfbu]

We were just discussing this in our RCIA. I had miss heard Barabbas’s name and was pondering if there was an association with the Latin for barbarian. I was wondering if the crowed had exercised it’s freewill and essentially chose the opposite of Jesus. This is even more interesting. An opposite (violent) and False. I have more to ponder now. I will have to make the time to read The Holy Father’s book.

As this is my first post I should say hello and thank you to all here for sharing your thoughts and knowledge.