All four Gospels share a version of the story of a tradition that had arisen during the Festival of Passover when the Roman governor, Pilate, would release a prisoner of the crowd’s choosing.
Barabbas was an insurrectionist and a murderer, according to the three Synoptic Gospels, and John’s Gospel labels him as a bandit. In the Gospels, the masses of people had a choice this particular year between Barabbas, a known violent criminal, or Jesus.
Jesus was the one who had been proclaiming the kingdom of God with a message of love for God and neighbor that uplifted, healed and invited back into community those who had been marginalized while calling to repentance economic, political and religious authorities who accumulated power and wealth off systemic poverty and injustices.
David Weatherspoon
The masses, many who just the week before were cheering Jesus of Nazareth, chose the insurrectionist and murderer over Jesus, the proclaimer of the kingdom of God.
Currently, we are experiencing a dystopian reality playing out in the United States. Over the past several years, we have witnessed masses of people who claim to follow Jesus give their allegiance to one who has progressively grown bolder and increasingly dangerous in his striving for more power and wealth. From a campaign that began in 2015 based on countless lies and vulgar insults, Donald Trump has been the antithesis of Jesus. He has been on a mission to overthrow constitutional norms in this country that have served to ensure equal justice, opportunity, freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and to protect marginalized populations.
Trump’s lust for power and his unwillingness to peacefully relinquish and transfer power resulted in an insurrection of his own making on January 6, 2021. Clearly Trump has a great deal in common with Barabbas. And the masses, many who claim to follow Jesus, once again chose him to lead the country.
Each day the news cycle grows more troubling with breaches of human rights, constitutional norms, judicial processes and basic decency. One such example came with the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who was detained and deported to an El Salvador prison last month due to a “clerical error,” according to Erez Reuveni, a Justice Department immigration lawyer who was fired this week by the Trump administration for what amounts to being too transparent about the deportation.
Transparency is not a feature of the current administration.
“Garcia is a test case by the administration to see just how far they can continue to push their power.”
Deporting anyone to Guantanamo, El Salvador or anywhere else in the world without due process of law is a major violation of the justice system most Americans claim to hold dear. It is, in fact, unconstitutional.
Utilizing the Alien Enemies Act as a convenient loophole to deport anyone deemed a troublemaker is a major violation of the spirit of that wartime law. To be clear, Garcia was not deported under the Alien Enemies Act — as have been students in possession of green cards who were removed because they utilized their speech in ways the administration did not approve.
Instead, Garcia is a test case by the administration to see just how far they can continue to push their power and control over all the branches of government.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Trump administration needs to “facilitate” the return of Garcia. In response, the Trump administration has said it is out of their jurisdiction now that Garcia is in El Salvador. Trump doubled down on his desire to thwart the court’s decision and hosted President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador at the White House this week. When asked by a reporter about releasing Garcia, Bukele said he was not going to release him and called the prisoner a “terrorist” even though there is no evidence to support such a claim and there has been no formal charge or trial.
This bold affront to the judicial process has located our nation in a constitutional crisis. When the rulings of the Supreme Court are ignored and blatantly dismissed by the person in power, we have stepped into the world of authoritarianism.
“Our Barabbas is currently the president of the United States.”
Reminiscent of Jesus, Garcia has been wrongly imprisoned due to no fault of his own.
In this Holy Week, we are once again confronted with the very real and present question: Who do we want to follow? Do we want Jesus or Barabbas to lead us?
For too long, the masses have chosen Barabbas time and again. Our Barabbas is currently the president of the United States. It is way past time to repent of this grievous choice many in the masses have made.
We cannot claim we follow the way of Jesus and continue to pledge our allegiance to Barabbas. We must say no to the Trump administration. We must demand Garcia’s return. We must demand that all people receive due process of law before ever being deported.
We cannot lie to ourselves that everything is going to be OK if we continue to acquiesce to such terrible injustices. Soon, others this administration wishes to deport will be abducted and sent to prisons abroad simply because they do not wish to be challenged. There will be no more free speech and no more equal justice for all if we permit the current administration to continue down this egregious path.
The Trump administration holds in contempt anyone and anything that seeks to upend its power and control. Jesus was one who continually sought the kingdom of God. Jesus directly challenged authoritarians and their corrupt power and control. Jesus worked to build a kingdom where people were treated equally socially and economically, the marginalized were welcomed, justice prevailed, and the love of neighbor and love of God went hand in hand. That which does not elicit the love of God cannot be the way of Jesus.
The Trump administration surely would join the masses when they were asked what to do about Jesus, and they responded, “Crucify him!”
For those who wish to follow Jesus, it is time we lived and acted in ways that stop crucifying Jesus and begin transforming this country and world into a more neighborly and loving community committed to freedom and justice for all.
Let’s choose Jesus this time. We have had more than enough of Barabbas.
David Weatherspoon serves as a pediatric chaplain in Memphis. He previously served 10 years as college chaplain at Franklin College in Franklin, Ind. David and Diana Hadley are co-authors of the book The Peace Class: A Study of Effective Cheek-turning, Neighbor-loving and Sword-to-plowshare Conversion. David is married to Sarah Weatherspoon, a pediatric neurologist, and they have two girls, Norah and Vivian. The Weatherspoon family actively participates as members of First Baptist Memphis on the corner of Poplar and Parkway.