seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Mark 15:1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate.
“You have said so,” Jesus replied.
3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13 “Crucify him!” they shouted.
14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
So.... Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who committed murder in the uprising. I binged it... and this is what the Merrian Webster Dictionary on-line has to say.insurrectionist
as in rebel
a person who rises up against authority a would-be insurrectionist with a plan to bomb the capitol
So, here lately the noun "insurrectionist" has been in the news. The Criminal Court just found the head of the Oath Keepers to be an "insurrectionist". They are going to sentence him soon. He could get up to 20 years in prison. He didn't personally murder anyone, apparently.
So, we have a modern-day example [according to the Court] of a Barrabas. In the story in the Bible, Pilate thought no one would let Barrabas loose. He figured that was his way out of putting the "Healer" on the Cross. Jesus didn't do anything to threaten Pilate. Barrabas was a problem for the Roman Government and Jesus was not.
But the priests, teachers of the law, and the elders spiked the crowd with men who despised Rome. That's why they let Barrabas loose.... he was popular with the others who hated the occupier. Rome was occupying Jerusalem. Can you imagine that happening today? The church called in the rabblerousers.
Jesus was going to the cross. They could get back to setting up the vendors in the Temple Courtyard. They could get back to life as normal. "Messiah... yeah right".
But... that's what Jesus wanted all along. He had to be arrested, and beaten, and hung on a cross until He was dead. That way everyone would know He could leave the tomb empty... completing His Mission. He wasn't there to murder anyone. He was there to do away with death.
Word for the day.... "Insurrectionist".
