The Fall of Christ, Chapter 4: Condemned

Listen. Do you hear the whispers of the Law?

From the very beginning, it has whispered, and it has shouted. It has always been very clear: Follow the Law, and you will live. Just do this thing. Just love God with all you are, holding nothing back for yourself. Just love every person around you, no matter how much they’ve hurt you, no matter how much they don’t deserve your love. Always put them first and yourself last. Just do that… and you will live.

Listen. Do you hear what the Law says to you?

You who have not loved God with all you are? You who have not loved those around you, putting yourself after them? Listen. The Law condemns. The Law says to you: You have failed, and so you will not enjoy the reward. Instead, you will receive wages. You will get what you have worked for. You will receive death. The Law is not your friend. It condemns. And you know that the Law is not lying.

But listen… there is another whispering on the wind, in the Word, whispered from mouth to ear across centuries. Another is coming who will carry our transgressions. Another is coming who will be wounded for our sins. Another is coming… and the Law will work on him instead of on us.

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The Fall of Christ.
Chapter 4: Condemned.

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Barabbas deserved his condemnation. He had blood on his hands. He was tired of being a member of a subjected race. The Jews were supposed to rule, but a foreign nation, the Romans, had come in, had taken charge. They weren’t slaves, no, but they bristled. They weren’t allowed to be in charge of themselves. And so Barabbas had joined the insurrection. He had shouted for freedom! Oh, those glorious days!

And then… there had been that explosion of violence. And he had killed. Blood on his hands. Yes. Barabbas knew his guilt. And then he was arrested. Tried. And he was sentenced, as anyone who stood up against Rome. He was sentenced to be crucified.

And so Barabbas waited… waited for the death he had earned. He was imprisoned, and the guards beat him daily until it was time to crucify him. And he knew he’d earned it. He wasn’t just a failure. He was a murderer. Let the end come. Let him get what he deserved.

Until that day when shouting came from outside. He strained his ears. Was it another insurrection? Another rebellion against Rome? Would they win? A guard sauntered past. “What’s happening?” Barabbas spoke with bone-dry lips.

The guard spat a response, “People want us to crucify some king of theirs. Never seen anything like it.”

“Who?”

“Some fool named Jesus.”

And soon after that, another guard came and took the chains from his arms. “Come on!” And Barabbas was hauled up, out of the prison, and out into the daylight. The early morning light hurt his eyes. He squinted. And there he saw the governor, Pilate, in his royal Roman toga. And beside Pilate, kneeling in a puddle of his own blood, a bruised man looked at him. A broken man named Jesus.

The guards forced Barabbas to kneel on the other side of the governor. And as they turned him to face outward, he saw the streets packed with people, ready to riot. There stood the chief priests – easy to mark out with their special robes and hats.

And Pilate spoke to the crowd. “I have a tradition. At your Passover, I release a criminal to you. I give you a choice: Jesus, the King of the Jews, or Barabbas, who murdered some of your own people in the uprising?”

And as Pilate spoke, a stab of guilt clawed through Barabbas. Yes. He was guilty. Yes. He should get what was coming to him. He deserved that crucifixion. He was rightly condemned. If his people had found a new king, if this Jesus was a new leader, he knew what they’d pick. And they’d be right.

But the crowd roared: “Release Barabbas!”

What?

Freedom?

But he didn’t deserve that!

“And what would you have me do with this Jesus, this King of the Jews?” And there’s something in Pilate’s voice. Barabbas had never heard it from the governor before. …he wanted Jesus to go free. Jesus was innocent. Whatever the charges were, this Jesus didn’t do it.

The crowd roared again: “Crucify him!”

And Pilate bowed his head and shook it. “Very well.” And he motions to the guards.

And Barabbas, the guilty man, is set free. And Jesus, the innocent man, is taken away. Dragged back into the courtyard. And there, what Barabbas should have gotten… goes to Jesus instead.

And Barabbas knows the cruelty of the guards first-hand…

They waste no time and no pity.

This Jesus claims to be the King of the Jews? Well, kings need crowns. And the best material around… thorny branches. Long, long thorns. Give him a whole cap. Ah, don’t set it so nicely! A crown like that should fit snugly on his head! Press it down! Harder!

Strip off his clothing. There he is. Naked. Chain his hands up above his head. Give me the whip. No, get the good one. The one with five lashes on it, each one ending in bone and metal and glass. Ah, yes. Let’s bleed this King of the Jews. He’s been condemned. Let him know how bad it is to be condemned.

He screams real good, doesn’t he?

Ah, enough of the whipping. Look at that back! Flesh hanging from it! But a king needs more than a crown.. how about a royal robe? Grab that one there. The one that’s red-purple. Yes. Excellent. And hand me that reed. No, not that flimsy thing. There we go. Like a switch. Yeah. “Hail, King of the Jews!”

Here. I’ve hit him plenty over the head. Your turn. Your turn. Look at all the soldiers who want a turn at this Jesus!

Time to take him out to crucify him. Rip that royal robe off. Oh, darn, all the blood dried to it? Now all the wounds broke open again? Darn.

And then… Barabbas watched as the soldiers that had guarded him – the ones who knew he was guilty – they took this innocent man out. They led him away to crucify him.

Christ falls.

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Listen.

The Law whispers. You should be condemned. But now another is condemned in your place. And the Law hurls all its anger at Jesus instead. He is judged guilty, and you are set free. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. You will not be condemned. Not any more. You are set free.

And now… we watch, as Christ falls.