The Jesus Choice – A Sermon On John 18:1-19:42 For Good Friday

We often come to this day, Good Friday, and talk about what Jesus on the cross did for us. We talk of his death as having accomplished and completed something for us. I think that’s why a little later in the liturgy we will say, “We glory in your cross, O Lord.” 

More and more, however, I struggle with that. I struggle with the idea that the violence of crucifixion somehow brings peace and reconciliation to us. I struggle with the idea that God the Father willed or wanted this for his child because “God so loved the world.”

Some would say I’m being unfaithful to God and the Church. Maybe so. Others would say my faith is growing and changing. Maybe. Maybe it’s both. Or maybe I’m just worn out from seeing the pain of the world. Maybe it’s grief. Maybe it’s Buffalo, Uvalde, Highland Park, Nashville. Maybe it’s the hardness with which we often speak to ourselves and others. Maybe it’s the lines we draw in the sand. Maybe it’s one of a thousand other things that diminish our light and steal our life.

I wonder if you feel like this too. I wonder if you also struggle with glorying in the cross of Jesus when every day humanity, innocence, peace, and justice are being lifted high on the cross.

I don’t know what to make of all this but I’ve begun thinking less about what Jesus on the cross did for us and more about what Jesus on the cross asks of us. What if we were to hear the cross more as a question than a statement? What if we were to see the cross more as a revelation than an accomplishment? What if Good Friday holds before us a choice between Jesus and Barabbas? 

Pilate asks, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”
They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas.” 

That’s the Good Friday choice in all four gospels and it’s not just a choice made on Good Friday only. It’s a choice we make every day. It’s a choice that shapes the world we live in and the one we leave to our children and grandchildren. That choice determines how we see ourselves and one another. It guides how we live and treat ourselves and each other. 

I’m using Jesus and Barabbas here as metaphors or lenses through which to see our lives. Both are aspects of ourselves. They describe our ways of being with and toward others and ourselves. We live and choose in the tension between Jesus and Barabbas.

Jesus is the one who came that we may “have life, and have it abundantly.” He offers a peace the world does not and cannot give. He is the one who said, “Put away your sword,” “Turn the other cheek,” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “Love your enemies,” “Forgive seventy-seven times.” That’s how he lived and how he died. It’s what he embodies today on the cross. 

Barabbas, however, lives by the sword. He is an insurrectionist and a disturber of the peace. He turns things upside down. He commits murder and takes life. 

Jesus lives for others but Barabbas lives for himself. Jesus is a giver, Barabbas is a taker. Jesus stretches out his arms to embrace the world. Barabbas takes up arms to have his way in the world. Jesus has beliefs and values for which he is willing to die. Barabbas has beliefs and values for which he is willing to kill. 

I feel the tension of Jesus and Barabbas in my life. And I suppose you do too. Some days I’m guided by Jesus and other days by Barabbas. I commit to peace and then pick up the sword. I want to forgive when I’ve been hurt or betrayed but I also really just want to settle a score. I say there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to care for and protect my family. I would do anything for those I love. I would lay down my life. The Barabbas in me would also take a life. I oppose violence and then justify and excuse it depending on the circumstances, who the other is, and what he or she has done. 

When have you lived as Jesus and when have you lived as Barabbas? Where do you see them in your life and world today? What’s the Jesus-Barabbas tension with which you are struggling today? What would it be like to choose Jesus? What’s the Jesus choice for you today?

I can’t tell you what that choice is for you. But I know this: In each of our lives there are Jesus choices to be made. In every conflict or disagreement there are Jesus choices to be made. In the issues that challenge and plague our town and country there are Jesus choices to be made. 

The Good Friday cross does not once and for all make that choice for us. It continually holds that choice before us. Jesus’ death on the cross did not extinguish the cruelty of the world. It continues to expose and condemn it. The cross is not a sign of God’s conquering power but a sign that God stands with those conquered by power. The crucifixion did not change the ways of the world. It’s calling for us to change our ways in the world. 

We’ve got to start choosing more Jesus than Barabbas because what we’re doing now isn’t working.

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus never asked us to glory in his cross but he did ask us to take up our cross and follow him? What’s the Jesus choice for you today?

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Image Credit: “Station XII – ‘The Crucifixion – Jesus dies on the cross’” by howard*k is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.