Warning! This column contains speculation. The speculation is about two mysteries, both from the last days of the life of Jesus. The mysteries appear to remain unanswered to this day. The first mystery is why was it necessary for Judas to personally identify Jesus? You'll recall that Judas, the treasurer of the twelve disciples, took a money payment (30 pieces of silver) from the religious rulers to positively identify Jesus for them. He did so by giving Jesus a kiss. Further, you'll recall that today this act is looked upon as being so terrible that virtually no one names their child Judas. The name Judas has such a low reputation that the little hole in a jail cell door is called "the Judas hole."
The mystery of Judas deepens when we recall that surely the representatives of the chief priests, scribes and elders knew what Jesus looked like. Even Jesus seems to question their need of positive identification as he states, "I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not. . ." Maybe it is the phrase that follows where we find a clue, ". . . but the scriptures must be fulfilled. Mark 14:49. Here, it is thought that Jesus may be referring to Psalm 22 or Isaiah 53:7---but He doesn't say. However, if we accept the betrayal of Jesus by Judas as being one of fulfilling prophecy, what remains is the mystery of why a betrayer was necessary in the first place? Is there some symbolism here that we don't understand? Is there more here than meets the eye? Maybe so. What if (and now we're into speculation) this had something to do with Revelation 12:7-9. This is the account of Michael (the name means "who is like God) and his angels casting Satan out of heaven into the earth. A great betrayal of a trust?
Furthermore, in the closing days of Jesus' life, there is the mysterious appearance of a man called Barabbas. In Mark 15:7 we read, "And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection." As the story unfolds, Pilate, the local Roman governor, brings Jesus before the people, and according to the custom of the day, offers to release either Jesus or Barabbas as an act of goodwill. Alfred Edersheim in his book, The Life and times of Jesus the Messiah, Volume II, p.577 states, "A strange name and figure, Bar-Abbas. That could not have been his real name. It means Son of the Father. Was he a political Anti-Christ? And why, if there had been some conjunction between them, should Pilate have proposed the alternative of Jesus or Bar-Abbas, and not rather that of one of the two malefactors who were actually crucified with Jesus?"
To further complicate matters, some of the ancient manuscripts of the Bible refer to Barabbas---as Jesus Barabbas. Two examples of this use is in The American Bible Society's Contemporary English Version and in the New English Bible. Now, returning to speculation, what did it really mean when Pilate asked, "Who will ye that I release unto you? Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?" Matthew 27:17. It seems to me, and I can only guess, that the symbolism here is that the people are being asked as to who will be their king---the son of Satan or the Son of God.
Jesus' sacrifice on calvary is the event that split history in two. We now refer to time as before or after Jesus (B.C. and A.D). Even the Jews refer to time as before the common era or the common era (B.C.E. and C.E.). What the Easter season does is bring us back to the foot of the cross and reminds each of us that we too must make a choice as to who would be our king. About that there need be no speculation.

Blessings in your study of God's Word!

Marvin Hunt

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Blessings!
Marvin Hunt

Http://www.biblehistory.com

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