NOT THE SON GOD SENT
(When Men Choose the Wrong Father)
There are moments in Scripture where the text doesn’t whisper...
it roars.
For me this is one of them.
This is a BOOM moment, and if a man has ears, his spirit should shake.
Most Christians glide past Barabbas like he’s a footnote.
But his name… his name is a theological earthquake.
Let’s connect the dots...
Hebrew first,
Scripture next,
then the punch to the gut.
1. ABBA — THE NAME OF INTIMACY
אַבָּא (abba) = Father
But not just “father.”
It’s the intimate form
“my dad,”
“my father,”
“papa.”
Paul uses it twice to describe the Spirit crying out inside a redeemed man:
Romans 8:15
“You received the Spirit of adoption… by whom we cry, Abba, Father.”
Galatians 4:6
“God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father.”
This is the language of belonging.
The language of sonship.
Remember that.
2. BAR — THE MARK OF A SON
Hebrew: בַּר (bar) = son
It’s all over Scripture:
Bar-Timaeus — son of Timaeus (Mark 10:46)
Simon Bar-Jonah — son of Jonah (Matthew 16:17)
Bar-Jesus — son of Joshua/Jesus (Acts 13:6)
Where ben is formal Hebrew, bar is the Aramaic spoken in Jesus’ day.
So now we’ve got:
Abba = Father
Bar = Son
Simple.
Until you put them together.
3. BARABBAS — THE POWDER KEG
His name is literally:
Bar-Abba
Son of the Father
Let that settle in.
The man the crowds demanded to be released over Jesus carried the name:
“Son of the Father.”
And it gets worse.
Some early manuscripts
(including the Caesarean tradition) record his full name as:
Jesus Barabbas
Matthew 27:16–17(variant reading)
Meaning Pilate literally asked:
“Which Jesus do you want me to release?”
Jesus Barabbas — the false son of the father❓️
Jesus called Messiah — the true Son of the Father❓️
Two Jesuses.
Two sons of two fathers.
Two paths.
Two kingdoms.
Humanity made its choice & chose the flesh, the self, the man made option...
4. WHO WAS BARABBAS REALLY?
Scripture gives us his nature clearly:
“a notorious prisoner”
Matthew 27:16
“a murderer”
Mark 15:7
“an insurrectionist”
Luke 23:19
Barabbas was the kind of “messiah” men want when they’re ruled by rage, nationalism, self-rule, and rebellion.
A revolutionary.
A violent man.
A taker, not a giver.
A sword-man, not a lamb.
He’s the son of the father of rebellion — the same spirit Jesus names in John 8:44:
“YOU are of your father, the devil…
a murderer from the beginning.”
The crowd chose a murderer…
over the Giver of Life.
Why?
Because Barabbas looked like them.
He fought their way.
He fed their flesh.
That’s the trap.
That’s the twist.
That’s the warning.
5. JESUS — THE TRUE SON OF THE TRUE FATHER
Everything Barabbas pretended to be, Jesus actually is.
●Barabbas: a false son
○Jesus: “This is My beloved Son…”
Matthew 3:17
●Barabbas: a murderer
○Jesus: “I am the life.”
John 14:6
●Barabbas: a taker
○Jesus: “I lay down My life…”
John 10:18
●Barabbas: an earthly revolutionary
○Jesus: “My kingdom is not of this world.”
John 18:36
●Barabbas: crowd desired
○Jesus: God sent.
We picked the wrong son because we were listening to the wrong father.
6. THE THEOLOGICAL NUKE: SWAPPED PLACES
Here’s the Gospel in one scene:
The guilty son walks free.
The true Son takes his place.
Barabbas literally walks off the crossbeam meant for him.
Jesus is nailed to it.
This is not metaphor — it’s substitution/salvation at street level.
Barabbas is every man.
Barabbas is me.
Barabbas is you.
Barabbas is the human condition before redemption.
And Jesus says:
“I’ll take his cross.
I’ll take his guilt.
Let the counterfeit son walk… I’m here for the real sons.”
THIS is why the fire hits your bones when you read this passage.
It’s the Gospel compressed into a single act:
The Son of God dies so the sons of rebellion can become sons of Abba.
7. THE PUNCHLINE
Every man follows a
“son of the father.”
The only question is which father he’s listening to.
The father of lies?
John 8:44
Or Abba, the Father of lights? James 1:17
Barabbas is the man we drift into.
Jesus is the man we must choose daily.
Barabbas fights for his kingdom.
Jesus fights for The Kingdom.
Barabbas carries a sword.
Jesus carries a cross.
Barabbas kills
Jesus lays His life down.
Barabbas is who the culture cheers.
Jesus is who the Father sends.
Today choose, tomorrow choose, daily choose to SHOW UP & follow Jesus!
Badger out...
🦡
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