Even Youths

Day 6: Matthew 27:20-26 The crowd’s fateful choice April 3, 2010

What starts as a prejudiced trial becomes a lynch mob. It is striking that a crowd which whipped itself into a frenzy welcoming the Messiah into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday only five days later calls for his execution. But first-century Palestine was a volatile context – much like contemporary Iraq – a time of pervasive political and social unrest. It was the proverbial tinder box, needing only a match to start a conflagration. Several would-be messiahs provided such matches over the seventy years leading up to the final Roman destruction of Jerusalem.

In fact, that is likely why the crowd chose Barabbas over Jesus. Barabbas was what Jesus only seemed to be; he delivered what Jesus only promised. Barabbas was no petty thief; Romans did not crucify thieves. The Greek word lāstās could also mean ‘insurrectionist, guerilla, rebel’, which was an offense which Rome punished with crucifixion. The crowd chose the sort of savior they wanted: someone who would lead them in war against their occupiers. Jesus offered a different sort of salvation: someone who would lead them in war against their own sinful nature. The Jewish nation chose war, both at the cross and in AD70. And they suffered the consequences. Paul holds out the hope, though, of a wide-scale turning to faith some day (Rom 11:25-32). We can pray toward that day.