Tony Campolo - Which Jesus?: Choosing Between Love and Power

WHICH JESUS?

OTHER BOOKS BY TONY CAMPOLO

Carpe Diem

Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God

Its Friday, but Sundays Comin

Let Me Tell You a Story

20 Hot Potatoes Christians Are Afraid to Touch

You Can Make a Difference

WHICH JESUS?

TONY CAMPOLO

2002 Tony Campolo.

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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations used in this book are from the King James Version.

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ISBN 978-1-4185-3238-3 (TP)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Campolo, Anthony.
Which Jesus? / by Tony Campolo.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8499-4403-1
1. LoveReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Title.
BV4639 .C26 2003
241'.4dc21

2002154123

Printed in the United States of America

12 13 14 15 16 PHX 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In memory of my nephew Raymond P. Scull,
who so much wanted to follow Jesus Barjoseph
in ministry to the poor and oppressed

CONTENTS

A special thanks to Valerie Hoffman, who typed the manuscript for this book. Also a round of applause to Jennifer Stair for the fine editing job that made it ready for publication. Much gratitude to Laura Kendall, who orchestrated getting this book into print. Most of all, thanks to my wife, Peggy, who spent endless hours improving my writing and helping me find the best way to say what I wanted to say.

INTRODUCTION
GETTING
INTO THE STORY

T his is the story of two men named Jesus, each of whom claimed to be the Messiah. They were contemporaries, and their lives were so interwoven that it has been said that the destiny of each was wrapped up in the destiny of the other.

The Jesus who was born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, and who was crucified, risen, and is alive today, is the true Messiah. He is the one ordained to be the Savior of the world. He is the Jesus who came to save the world through sacrificial love.

The other Jesus of our storyJesus Barabbasalso claimed to be a messiah, but his way of saving the people of Judah was by means of armed revolution. The kingdom Jesus Barabbas sought to establish was not to be created by love, but rather through the exercise of militaristic power. This Jesus offered the ancient Jews a vision of deliverance that promised freedom from the Roman authorities who dominated them. But his way of achieving that end would be through the sword.

I first heard about the possibility that Barabbas might have had Jesus as a first name during my seminary days. My professor of New Testament said that he thought it strange that when Pilate asked the crowd to choose which man they wanted to be set free during the Jews annual Passover celebration, he did not use Barabbass first name, which would have been the expected thing to do. Since Barabbas means son of Abbas, it would have been confusing to refer to him only by his surname, especially if his father had more than one son. Might it be, suggested my professor, that Barabbass first name was also Jesus, and Pilate was trying to differentiate between two men who bore the same first name?

I began to consider how ironic it would be if my professor were right. Over the years, I have tried to track down concrete evidence that Barabbass first name really was Jesus. I have come upon a number of hints and suggestions, but I have not yet found the convincing evidence that historians require. I cant prove that the given name of the man we call Barabbas was Jesus, but I have come to believe that it was. And that belief has given rise to this little book.

By the way, the name Barabbas translates as son of God. That fact, in and of itself, doubles the irony of this story.

Let us look at the differences between these two messiahs as their stories unfold. I have woven their stories together using biblical facts, historical records, and yes, some imagination. But through it all, one question emerges: Which Jesus will you choose to be your Savior and to call the Lord of your life?

ONE
THE TWO MESSIAHS

G ods Son, Jesus, had a last name while growing up in Nazareth, insofar as people had last names back then. He went by the name of His surrogate father, Joseph. In Hebrew, His last name was Barjoseph, which means son of Joseph. But our Savior wasnt the only child in ancient Israel to be given the name Jesus. It was a common name in those days. Jesus is another form of the name Joshua, which means deliverer or savior.

There was another boy named Jesus who was born to a father named Abbas, and so he was called Jesus Barabbas. He, too, lived in the small town of Nazareth, a hotbed for radicals. Young men growing up there were taught to hate the Roman conquerors who dominated their land and defiled all that was sacred in Israel. Like other young boys in Nazareth, Jesus Barabbas loved to hear the stories of Judas Maccabaeus, who defied Israels oppressors and led a revolution that freed the Jews from tyranny. He dreamed of one day leading another revolution to free Israel from its oppressors.

With role models like Judas Maccabaeus, it is no wonder that Nazareth had the reputation of breeding terrorists. People in Jerusalem, where the Roman conquerors had achieved some degree of accommodation, would often say, Can any good come out of Nazareth?

TERRORISTSTHEN AND NOW

Today similarities could be noted between Jesus Barabbas and Osama bin Laden. Each, in his own time, challenged the one superpower that dominated his world, a government that he viewed as oppressing his people. And each man was deemed a hero by that radical element in society whose answer to oppression is violence.

Like Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorists, Jesus Barabbas and his followers, known as Zealots, lived in mountain caves. The Zealots would sneak into town, mingle undetected with the mobs of people in the marketplace, use long knives to do their murderous work, and then disappear back into the surrounding mountains. Their targets were Jews who cooperated with the Roman authorities, gained wealth and power by collecting taxes on behalf of their overlords, and compromised their religious traditions in complying with Roman expectations.

In retaliation for the Zealots acts of terrorism, the Roman captains would send troops into those mountainous regions where these murderers hid to try to flush them out. But the hills and mountains were friends to the terrorists. They knew the terrain, and they knew how to use the caves as vantage points from which to attack and kill any who would dare to follow them there.

Two thousand years later, terrorists in Afghanistan would use similar tactics. Like the followers of Jesus Barabbas, some contemporary religious fanatics delude themselves into thinking that they are the fists of God, banging out justice against a foreign power that they blame for all that is wrong in their land. Both in ancient Israel and in Afghanistan, those killed in the struggle against the powerful, evil foreigners were revered as martyrs.