Barabbas, a life of rebellion, a life of violence, a life of fighting the system, using violence to overcome violence. My life choices are justified because I am not as bad as the one I am fighting. You can become so consumed by a just cause, that you become eat you hate or the cause become where you think you find purpose, meaning, life and identity. If you got Pilate, Caiaphas and Barabbas in a room they would say I am not those others, yet they all trying getting identity and purpose, all trying to deal the ups and downs of life by bringing all that they can. They all are motivated by fear, self-sufficiency, intimidation and control to get purpose, meaning and peace. Yet Jesus never used any of these. And here is powerful moment in the story Jesus literally takes Barabbas' cross, he choose to take his place and Barabbas goes free, Jesus does not. Barabbas is unbound, Jesus remains bound, one Jesus dies so the other Jesus goes free. And why would we every want to put our hope in Jesus and not anyone or anything else? Oh because he can give us what we all really want. Jesus promises rest for the deepest part of us, but He requires us to take on His yoke. He offers to exchange the yoke we are already wearing for His yoke. If we won’t accept His offer, we will remain yoked to sin, lost dreams, broken relationships, dead religion, or lies. The lie that we are independent is just that, a lie. We always serve somebody or something. The choice for us isn’t whether to live unyoked or yoked but to choose the right yoke to wear. As R. T. France noted, “We should remember that the ‘rest’ Jesus offers is not relaxation of the demands of right… It is not the removal of any yoke but a new and ‘kind’ yoke which makes the burden ‘light’. A ‘yoke’ implies obedience, indeed often slavery! What makes the difference is what sort of master one is serving. So the beneficial effect of Jesus’ yoke derives from the character of the one who offers it.” Jesus promises purpose, meaning and peace in an ongoing permanent way.