Real Election Results
6 Now at the feast, he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. 7 And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. 8 And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. 9 And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. (Mark 15:6-15)
Yesterday was Election Day! The votes are still being counted in many states. How did your candidates fare?
Elections in a free country are about deciding who people will trust to take the oath of office, which includes the following pledge,
“to faithfully execute the office of [insert elected office] of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God.”
No matter where we turned, many were quick to tell us that this was the most critical election in America’s history and that the future of our democracy depended on the outcome of this historic vote. The economics of the 2022midterm elections is proof positive that this perception has made its way into action. Forbes Magazine estimates that 16.7 billion dollars will be spent on Senate, House, and Governor races alone.
Fear and hunger for power are strong motivators for action. Those who are in power want to stay there, and those who are not want to get there. In the case of elections, securing power and chasing hope come to rest squarely on the shoulders of two names in two different political parties. As the narrative goes, everything rides on our vote.
The scene before the court of Pilate was a case study in political gamesmanship. Pilate realized that he was in a no-win situation relating to his public support. As the Triumphant Entry made clear - Jesus had a lot of followers. His situation is complicated by the Pharisees, who control a large amount of public opinion among the Jews. They clearly want Jesus dead. Then there are the crowds of Jesus’s followers. What will they do? No one rises to the power of Pilate without being adept at navigating no-win situations.
Pilate’s solution was to make the Jews an offer that turned the tables and put them in a no-win situation. So, Pilate asks them to choose between two insurrectionists: one who has not committed murder and one who has.
Mark describes Barrabus as one of the “rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection.” The insurrection he is likely referring to is recorded in Acts 5 when Gamaliel, a high-ranking Pharisee, addresses those wishing to kill Peter and his followers,
“Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.”
In other words, Barabbas had likely tried to overthrow the local government by force and had killed someone in the process. He was a revolutionary and had no problem using the sword to bring about the change he believed was necessary.
We learn from Matthew that throughout this scene, the Pharisees were whipping votes in the crowd to ensure that Pilate’s attempt to extricate himself from the crucifixion of Jesus was unsuccessful. The Pharisees had determined that their ability to maintain power hinged on having a murderous insurrectionist released instead of the one who had called them to repent and to love justice and do mercy.
In every election, it is easy to convince ourselves that if we can only get our preferred candidate elected, then we will certainly have a “more perfect union” and “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”
While that may come with one candidate over the other, Christians are called to remember that we look not to elections to resolve our most profound needs or to fulfill our strongest hopes. Christians should feel encouraged to participate in every election but must always remember that “choosing Jesus” rarely seems like the best decision in the short term. There will always be the lure to believe our vote matters more than it does. We must resist that belief.
The only election that truly matters today is our election in by Christ and in Christ. His choosing of us, not our choice of Him.
Here is the Christ I am talking about.
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Col 1:13–20.
Christ does not respond to polling data and is not swayed by PACs. He is not concerned about testing language through trial balloons or spinning hot-takes to influence public opinion. He is also not distracted by accumulating power since all power already resides in Him. He is concerned with only two things - serving His Father and serving us.
Regardless of how the election turned out for us in America, Christ is still doing what he promised - not just to the people of the first century, or Christians of the United States, but to everyone and for everyone.
He is doing what he states clearly in John’s vision in The Book of Revelation,
“Behold, I am making all things new!”