Christ Or Barrabas? – Palm Sunday – Sermon by Father Levine

Fr. Joseph Levine; Holy Family Catholic Church and Missions, Burns, Oregon; April 13, 2025

When a notorious criminal dies having evaded human justice, we should know that such a man must nevertheless go before the judgment seat of Christ, where he will be subject to a most strict examination and receive a just sentence. When Christ returns in glory, the judgment will be proclaimed publicly to the whole universe. The innocent One who handed himself over to the unjust judgment of men, will sit in judgment on all men.

Human justice does not always fail, but it is at best imperfect, because even upright men have difficulty ascertaining the facts and are capable of judging only the exterior act. So, we should not be surprised when human justice fails. There is nothing new under the sun. (Ecc 1:9)

Why should we be surprised when human justice fails in the punishment of a malefactor, when human tribunals condemned the one truly innocent man to a shameful death? Why should we be surprised when human justice fails in the punishment of a malefactor, when the supreme tribunal of the people of God condemned the innocent Lamb of God, the Son of God made man, for blasphemy? Why should we be surprised when human justice fails in the punishment of a malefactor, when one judge, Herod, mocked Jesus, but neither condemned him nor set him free, while another judge, Pilate, proclaimed his innocence, had him scourged and condemned him to death? Why should we be surprised when human justice fails in the punishment of a malefactor, when the crowds called for the release of the violent revolutionary, Barrabas, and the crucifixion of the Prince of Peace?

The choice of the crowd is revealing. We know little about Barrabas, other than what St. Luke tells us: he was engaged in a rebellion in which he committed murder. Nevertheless, we can guess why he might indeed have been a popular figure. The land of Judea was subject to an oppressive foreign rule, while the local authorities, the Jewish high priests, were notoriously corrupt and self-seeking. In such circumstances the charismatic leader type, who knows how to criticize corruption and injustice, readily finds a following. Even though he calls for violent insurrection, people listen because it seems to them that drastic times call for drastic measures. Perhaps Barrabas was just such a popular leader. Contrariwise, those who counsel patience and long-suffering are often called cowards. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that patience is the better part of fortitude. (cf. IIaIIae q.123 a.6)

Barrabas was a prisoner of Pilate because he had tried and failed. To the popular mind, at least he had tried. They certainly had entertained better hopes in regard to Jesus when they welcomed him into Jerusalem, singing “Hosanna”, and proclaiming him as a king. Nevertheless, when he appeared as a prisoner of Pilate, without having even put up a fight, he was, to their mind, exposed as a fraud.

I trust that we know better.

We would do well, though, to reflect on what Jesus has to teach us regarding true justice.

The wisdom of the good thief might give us some light: Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal. … Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

The good thief does not blame others but recognizes that he suffers justly for his crimes. He recognizes that Jesus is innocent and suffers undeservedly. He further recognizes that God is just and will vindicate the innocent man, bestowing upon him a kingdom in the next world. He thus begs for Jesus to have mercy on him and give to him a good that he does not deserve, to share in that eternal kingdom.

And what does Jesus himself tell us about his death on the Cross?

From the moment they came to arrest him in the garden, he does precious little other than freely hand himself over to their power, affirm his identity as the Son of God, and let them mistreat him, abuse him, condemn him, and crucify him, while begging the Father to forgive them.

At the Last Supper, however, which marks the true beginning of his Passion, he says, as he gives the cup to the Apostles, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you. This points to his death, but makes use of the language of worship, the language of a sacrificial offering, indeed, of the highest form of sacrificial offering, the sacrifice that establishes a covenant, that binds man to God in a covenant. The word “religion”, according to one etymology, means “binding back” or “binding again”, as in “binding man back to God”. The death of Christ on the Cross, not because of the malice of those who condemned him, but because of his free self-offering, is the true sacrifice, the true religion, that binds man to God. In the words of St. Paul it pleased God to reconcile all things to himself, whether in heaven or on earth, making peace by the blood of the Cross. (Col 1:20)

Adam, by his sin, separated man from God. By his sacrifice Christ brings the forgiveness of sins and binds man back to God. Adam’s disobedience to God’s command was the supreme injustice, taking from God the honor that was his due; this was the beginning of all human injustice. By his obedience to God, even to death, death on the Cross, Christ, the Son of God, the innocent Lamb, restores to God the honor that is his due, thereby fulfilling perfect justice. Indeed, he can give God due honor because he is God. He can offer God perfect worship, because he is God, worshipping God.

So let us return to that choice between Barrabas and Christ.

Barrabas proposes what is so often the misguided human solution: things are bad, we need to get rid of the evildoers who are ruling us, even if it requires violence; things are bad, so we need to get rid of the bad people, those who perpetrate injustice. This solution is misguided because it sees the problem as being other people, the bad ones, not us; it fails to recognize the truth the good thief recognized about himself – we too are counted among the “bad people”; we too are unjust in the sight of God. The problem does not lie in other people, the problem lies in our own heart; the problem is not, first of all, about the way people mistreat one another; the problem is first of all in man’s relation to God. There can be no human justice, unless there is justice in relation to God, unless God receives his due.

Christ, for his part, willingly submits to human injustice, in order to give God his due. That is the supreme act of justice, which opens the floodgates of God’s mercy, which brings to us forgiveness of sins, restores us to God’s friendship, and makes true justice possible in the human realm. But first, we must take part in Christ’s supreme act of justice, follow the path of the good thief, condemn our own sins, and receive God’s mercy. That is why Jesus tells us, Do this in memory of me.