THE CONVERSION OF BARABBAS
‘There is nothing in the New Testament that tells us anything about Barabbas after he is released. Traditional early Christian sources also don’t mention anything about his fate. Later legends would tell either of his conversion or of his death shortly thereafter in a failed rebellion.’
Remember, Pilate is the governor of the region. He could release Jesus if he wanted to. But in order to keep a riot from occurring, he offers to release Jesus according to a Jewish custom that someone imprisoned could be forgiven and set free during Passover. The priests in their stubbornness still demanded Jesus' death.
They cried out, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!"
Whatever you've heard about Barabbas doesn't easily compare to the truth. Barabbas was the worst of the worst.
The Passion of the Christ is already a classic movie and well-known to all Catholics.
But did you know the impressive *conversion testimony* of Barabbas actor Pedro Sarubbi? That’s right, he experienced something amazing during the film’s production, which led him closer to Christ and the Church.
Upon its 2005 release, The Passion of the Christ actor Pietro Sarubbi recounted his mystical experience.
“I felt an electric current”
“As Barabbas, Gibson told me to avoid looking at Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus, until the very scene in which we were to appear together. ‘Barabbas is like a ferocious dog,’ he told me, ‘but at one moment he becomes a puppy: when he meets the Son of God and is saved.
“‘I want your look to be that of somebody seeing Jesus for the first time’.
“I did as he said, and when our eyes met, I felt a sort of surge. It was like I was really seeing Jesus. I had never experienced such a thing in all my years of acting,” the Italian actor said.
At that moment, Sarubbi said he finally found the peace he longed for.
“It was a big impact,” he told Zenit. “I felt as if there was an electric current between us. I saw Jesus himself.”
“When looking at me, his eyes had no hate or resentment–only mercy and love,” he acknowledged in his book, From Barabbas to Jesus: Converted by a Look.
“It was not only a professional, but above all, a human experience,” Sarubbi added. “I am not embarrassed to say that during the filming, I had a conversion. All of the actors who took part changed a little bit after this experience, but I have learned much more from the film than from any conference.”
The actor also explained his long road to conversion.
“I have done extensive anthropological research, as a man and as an actor. I was instructed in the martial arts…I lived in a Tibetan monastery for six months with a vow of silence. I practiced meditation in India. I lived in the Amazon. I have reached the final goal of this search in Jesus.”
So when you watch THE PASSION-remember to look at Barabbas stare at the Christ. This is when this man realized his search for the truth was over.
So much happened during this film more than any other depiction of Jesus movies.