Barabbas

This week in Sunday School we will continue our exploration of Power & Passion in the passion narratives. We will focus on Barabbas.

Last week you all named people who have power – the President of the United States, the pope, your parents, your teachers, etc. You also named some of the characteristics common to many kinds of leaders. Making allowances for a variety of contexts, what are some of the ways in which you think people might respond to domination? I’m not talking about the kind of power your teacher exerts by giving you homework, or your parents display by grounding you. I’m thinking more of the context in which the Gentiles were oppressed by the dominant Roman culture. What are some possible ways that they might have responded?

Barabbas and Jesus’ names mean the same thing. “Bar” means “son” and “abba” means father. Thus, Barabbas = son of the father. Jesus also means “son of the father.” So Jesus and Barabbas are called the same thing. How are they different? Who are they?

Why does it matter that Barabbas was chosen by the people instead of Jesus? Who does Barabbas represent for us today?