The story is told of an artist who had in his mind the conception of a great picture. He stretched his vast canvas, and prepared the paint. He painted with great sweeps of his brush as he put in the background. Day after day, he would walk back and forth, putting a daub of gray here, a daub of blue there, and some black there. One day, he came down from the scaffolding to look at what he had done. He kept moving back, back, back. A visitor had come in unnoticed. As the artist moved backward, he bumped right into the stranger.

Said the artist, "I didn't know you were here. When did you come in? What do you think of the picture? It is going to be the masterpiece ofmy life. Isn't it magnificant!"

The other said, "I don't see anything there but great daubs of paint!"

"Oh," said the artist, "I forgot." You see onlywhat is there, while I see the picture as it is going to be."

The blessed Lord Jesus sees us as we are going to be when we awaken with His likeness. Then we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is! 

–  Dr. Harry A. Ironside

Infamous - But Well Known

Barabbas would probably been unknown to history, if not for a remarkable set of circumstances. He was, indeed, a revolutionary. Barabbas was probably one of the sicarii (dagger-men). The sicarii assassinated Roman officials in the hope of driving them out of Palestine. There hope waas to obtain freedom for the Jewish nation.

Sometimes, if political conditions were right, men like Barabbas managed to gain a small following and create serious trouble. There were some sicarii who gained a small amount of short-lived fame. In 6 A.D. Judas the Galilean led a tax revolt. But the Romans quickly executed him and scattered his followers. The authorities had arrested Barabbas and others on charges of insurrection and murder (Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19). The Roman plan was to squelch any possiblity of a revolt. Those who were arrested could expect crucifixion.

Crucifixion was a grisly form of execution that the Romans generally reserved for political criminals. The public spectacle of nailing rebels to an upraised cross was a potent deterrent to political opposition. Providence declared that Barabbas was not to die in that manner. The arrest of Jesus, the political maneuverings of Caiaphas the high priest and of Herod and Pilate, and the custom of releasing a prisoner during the feast of the Passover combined to open a way for Barabbas to go free.

What finally secured his liberty were the cries of the mob to have him released. Pilate found it hard to believe that they actually preferred Barabbas, and when they kept demanding that Jesus be crucified, Pilate asked, "Shall I crucify your king?." At that point the chief priests claimed, "We have no king but Caesar!" and the governor released Barabbas.

The name Barabbas means "Son of Abbas." Not much is know of this revolutionary. He might have been from Galilee. Galilee was known as a seedbed for resistors against Rome. His occupation is unknown, but he may have worked as a member of the Zealots. The Zealots were ardent nationalists who wanted to throw off Roman occupation of Palestine. Barabbas is best know today for being released instead of Jesus by Pilate. What a peculiar irony that a revolutionary against Rome should be released by the cry, "We have no king but Caesar!¨

Sources: | The Dictionary of Bible and Religion, William Gentz | The Bible Almanac, White | Thomas Nelson, Inc., Word in Life study Bible |
| Easter a Pictorial Pilgrimage - Pierre Benoit |

Easter Quotations

The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

       — John 5: 28- 29

— Henry Hart Milman: Hymns for Church Service, Second Sunday in Advent, st. 3

A. E. Housman

Easter must be relived.

Where is the zeal that followed Easter’s birth?
The faith that doomed the soulless gods of earth?
No shadow, lifeless spirit of repose
Prevailed that cloudless morn when Christ arose.
The Easter atmosphere cannot revive
A torpid faith that thinks itself alive.

George W. Wiseman, Expositor