Which Yeshua?

This week’s reading from the Besorah (Good News) is Mark 15:1-15 which contains the story of Yeshua and Barabbas. Some scholars think that Barabbas was most likely not just a murder but a zealot who had killed for political reasons. He was fighting to rid Israel of Roman control. Also, Barabbas was not his real name. Barabbas is Aramaic for “Son of my father”. When arresting authorities would ask a Jew what his name was he would give this answer as a way of concealing his true identity and also as a form of rebellion. Ancient Christian tradition has it that Barabbas’ real name was Yeshua (Jesus). This was a common name of that day.

So in this scene, we have two Yeshua’s presented to the crowd. On the one hand is the political Yeshua, the earthly Yeshua, who stands for rebellion and independence from Rome. The other Yeshua is the spiritual Yeshua, who calls for letting what belongs to Cesar be given to Cesar and what belongs to God be given to God. The first Yeshua was what the people wanted. They wanted a messiah who would free them from the worldly dominion of Rome. They did not want the Messiah whose “kingdom was not of this world”. And so, when presented with a choice, they selected the worldly political “messiah”, and sent the true Messiah to His death.

This passage is also problematic for relations between Jews and Christians over the last 2000 years. In another version of the story the Jewish crowd asks to have Yeshua’s blood on its hands. This has been used by the church over the centuries to claim that Israel is accursed by God for rejecting the Messiah and has led to a long history of abuse and destruction.

We have to recall that this is one crowd, a mob really. A mob that was most likely picked and spurred on by a small band of priests and pharisees who were lackeys to Rome. Certainly we do not have all of Israel rejecting the Messiah in this scene, as evidence in many other passages of many people coming to faith in Yeshua, including scribes and Pharisees! A proper understanding of the dynamics of this passage will help heal the rift that has been made between the church and the nation that the church has been grafted into.