THANKFUL

Somehow, I was transported back in time to a Wednesday morning about 2000 years ago. I found myself standing in a crowd before Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea. The crowd was shouting “Give us Barabbas.”

Pilate, spotted me in the crowd, beckoned me toward him and said, “I see that you are a stranger here.”

After I nodded in the affirmative, he said, “Today you will speak for the entire Roman world. Standing over there are two men. One will be crucified the other will be freed. You get to choose. The one called Jesus, I find no fault in, but the High Priest of these people (motioning to the crowd) says that He is guilty of blasphemy and should die. The other, Barabbas, is a convicted murder and thief.” You choose!”

I looked at the men. Jesus, all bloody and bruised, His eyes showing forgiveness and sorrow. Barabbas, once confident that he would be released at the request of the crowd, now showed fear as he realized that his fate was in the word of a stranger.

I turned towards Pilate and said, “You are correct that Jesus is innocent, but I say, “Release Barabbas!”

In this Thanksgiving season, while I am grateful for many things, I find that I am most grateful for those that said, “Give us Barabbas!”

Jesus (while on the cross) said, “Father forgive them they know not what they do.”

He was not just talking about the Roman soldiers who crucified him. ‘Them’ was all inclusive. The soldiers, the crowd, everyone. None knew or understood what was done.

If they had known, it would have been with great sorrow and anguish that they would have said, “GIVE US BARABBAS”.

Glenn Sheffield 12/01/24