A Close Scrape Of Death (/) Poem by Jordan Legaspi

A close scrape of death

Behind the dark room; behind the walls
between politics and religion,
their power confronts its secrets and lies
-the reality of different faces of crime.

Barabbas was inside of this room,
isolated him from what we call righteous people:
-he was a bandit, punishable by law;
-he was a revolutionary figure, enemy of the state;
-he was a villain, dangerous to the people.

While Jesus of Nazareth was outside of this room,
yet alienated from what we call civilized people:
-he was a blasphemous man, crime answerable only to death,
-he was a revolutionary figure, not only to the state,
but to the whole structure of civilization,
-he was a criminal, who betrayed the Jewish fundamentals,
by claiming to be a messiah, and the king.

Behold the two personalities,
the son of Man and the son of Abraham.

It might have been so depressing, so terrifying-
Crucify him! Hang him on the cross!
It might be at the same time confusing-
Relies him! We want him to be free!
Barabbas has to face and receive the sentence of his captors
Jesus had to witness the justice of human judgment
It was like a count down of which is which:
-for the prosecutor that couldn't find a clue,
-for the accuser that were determined to give the sentence,
-for the accused whose silence was a puzzle,
-for the audience watching but not seeing the whole picture.

Barabbas was the victim of Jesus' trial
to be placed in the scene of Jesus' passion drama.

But the spectator were not ready to cry
they were there to witness a comical tragedy
-the amusement of a bloody fall.

Relies Barabbas! We want him to be free!
Crucify Jesus! Crucify him!
To Barabbas it doesn't matter
why Jesus was putting so much trouble to himself,
for him his free and life be his another concern;
To Jesus it doesn't matter what was it for Barabbas that he was replaced by him,
for him his death is the example of what he taught them.