Our Weekly Thought – March 30 - April 5, 2020

Reading through St. Matthew’s Passion narrative (Matthew 26:14-27:66) reminds us of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. One term of endearment that Jesus used for God was the Hebrew word “Abba,” a child’s term for one’s parent, much like our Dada. And the Hebrew word for son of is Bar. So it was ironic that when Pilate gave the people a choice between freeing “bar Abba,” the son of an intimately close God or a notorious terrorist, Barabbas, they chose the latter. Even though their names were so close in spelling, their personalities and life-purposes were worlds apart. The people chose the person of violence over the prince of peace. Still, God loves us and is for us.