As Easter nears, I think about two men 乌鸦传媒� one who died, and one who didn乌鸦传媒檛. Jesus died; Barabbas didn乌鸦传媒檛. Or maybe it乌鸦传媒檚 the other way around, in the long term.

If 1st century Israel had telephone books, Jesus could not have been listed. He didn乌鸦传媒檛 qualify for a last name. Although he is commonly called Jesus Christ, Christ was not his family name. In fact, it乌鸦传媒檚 not a name at all. It乌鸦传媒檚 a title, an honorific, like 乌鸦传媒淩everend乌鸦传媒� or 乌鸦传媒淧resident.乌鸦传媒� Christ 乌鸦传媒� Christos in Greek 乌鸦传媒� is the term used for the Messiah, the anointed one, the chosen one.

In his culture, sons were identified by their father乌鸦传媒檚 name. The prefix 乌鸦传媒淏ar乌鸦传媒� meant 乌鸦传媒渟on of,乌鸦传媒� just like 乌鸦传媒淢ac乌鸦传媒� or 乌鸦传媒淢c乌鸦传媒� for the Scots, and 乌鸦传媒淥乌鸦传媒� for the Irish.

The earliest biblical texts describe Jesus only as the son of Mary 乌鸦传媒� making him a no-count illegitimate. Later versions legitimize him by providing a human father 乌鸦传媒� Joseph, son of Jacob, a descendant of the legendary King David. But Jesus is never, never, described as Jesus Bar-Joseph.

And Jesus himself never refers to Joseph as his father.

He reserves the term 乌鸦传媒淔ather乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒� in Aramaic, 乌鸦传媒渁bba,乌鸦传媒� better translated by our familiar 乌鸦传媒淒addy乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒� for his relationship with God. John乌鸦传媒檚 gospel regularly pairs Jesus with a divine father. Jesus spends almost two chapters of that gospel exploring the intimacy of his relationship with his Father, meaning God.

By a cruel irony, when governor Pontius Pilate offers to free Jesus as a goodwill gesture for the Jewish Passover, an angry crowd demands that he release, instead, a thief and murderer named 乌鸦传媒淏arabbas.乌鸦传媒� Barabbas 乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒渢he son of the father乌鸦传媒�.

And so the man who said 乌鸦传媒淭he Father and I are one乌鸦传媒� was executed on a trumped-up charge of claiming to be King of the Jews, while the man named 乌鸦传媒淪on of the Father乌鸦传媒� was set free. The coincidence is so keen, it almost demands further exploration.

Did the freed Barabbas go to Golgotha, to the hill of many skulls, to watch his stand-in die?

What did it do to him, to know that he was alive only because an innocent person took his place? Was he haunted by guilt? Did it change his life? Or did he grab his unexpected freedom with both hands and scamper out of Jerusalem, away from the unholy liaison between Temple and Rome, to resume his career of crime?

At least one writer has felt inspired to look at life through the eyes of the man who didn乌鸦传媒檛 get executed. Par Lagerkvist wrote a 1950 novel called Barabbas.

A commentary describes the novel as founded on thesis and antithesis 乌鸦传媒� similarities and contrasts. Jesus dies first; Barabbas dies later. Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem; Barabbas, in Rome. Jesus talks to God; Barabbas, to darkness. Barabbas is, in many ways, a modern person. He says he wants to believe, but can乌鸦传媒檛 accept the exalted beliefs of early Christians about Resurrection and the Second Coming. What he really believes in is the 乌鸦传媒渙paque and remorseless void that surrounds his life.乌鸦传媒�

He is a fatalist. Where others find meaning, Barabbas finds only meaninglessness.

Perhaps the novel乌鸦传媒檚 central antithesis is that because Barabbas has never known love, he can never understand someone who embodied love.

Author Jim Taylor lives in Lake Country: rewrite@shaw.ca