KALEIDOSCOPE OF THE CROSS
Palm Sunday: Barabbas or Jesus?
4.13.25

Palm Sunday and the journey to the cross always confronts our assumptions and challenges our unmet expectations.

When we worship a version of Jesus that doesn’t exist, unmet expectations can turn our adoration into rejection.

Matthew 27:17 , 20-21
So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered.

Barabbas represents the violent, force-driven pursuit of power and control.

Jesus represents the countercultural way of the kingdom of God, characterized by the cross and sacrificial love.

Every single time we try to bring about God’s kingdom through force, or political power, or control, we reveal that we don’t fully understand the cross.