Jesus the irenic, innocent, indestructible one.

At Jesus’ trial before Pilate, the crowd call for Jesus’ crucifixion and Barabbas’ release.

Barabbas represents violent rebellion, in contrast to Jesus’ refusal to defend himself. Whether we like to admit it, there is something in all of us that can find brutal aggression more compelling than the way of Jesus. When this happens it’s like we’re in the crowd crying for Barabbas to be set free.

But Jesus is more than just an example of non-violence. He is also Barabbas’ substitute. And He is ours too. He does what no human before or since could do. His inncoent death is like a lightening rod for all our human corruption and guilt. In His body He absorbs Barabbas’s sin, our sin, and all the sin of the world. And, in death, he kills off all evil, setting us, like Barabbas, free. His revolution is not a human one, it is eternal.

Unlike any other revolution, it cannot be held back. It is indestructible. As such, it is the only revolution worthy of our lives. When we commit ourselves to it, we commit to the only way the world will ever be fundamentally redeemed.

By Ed Flint