"Calvary Characters": Barabbas

This is my first effort for my "Calvary Characters" project.  These are fictionalized first-person stories of people who surrounded Jesus during the time of His crucifixion and resurrected, based on Scripture and history.  This first one was based on a monologue I did for Easter a couple of years ago.  Let me know what you think.

CALVARY CHARACTERS - BARABBAS

            In a cave in the Negev of Judah, a hooded figure slips through the shadows to join a band of robbers by the fire.  As light from the flickering fire illuminates his face, gasps echo in the cavern.  The newcomer removes his hood and speaks…

            “Don’t look so surprised!  Yes!  It is me!  Barabbas!”

            Seeing their one-time “general” was like seeing a ghost.  How did he escape Roman prison?  Barabbas shouts above the murmurs.

            “No… no… I did not escape.  Ha!  Those stupid Roman dogs let me go.”

            Shouts of praise rise up among the men.  A few shouts of “Hallelujah!” rise up among the Zealots among them.

            “God spared me, you say?”

            Barabbas spits on the ground in disgust.  His stare sears each man’s eyes around the fire as his commanding voice booms in the cave’s chambers.

            “I have no more use for God than I do for Rome.  Where was God when that Roman soldier raped my mother?  Where was God when her husband threw us both out, because he knew who my real father was?  Where was God when everyone spit in our faces, treating us like trash?  Where was God when…

            “I know I recruited some of you saying God would help us, but I knew that was a lie.  I knew that was not true.  I knew.  I knew there would be no Messiah!  I decided long ago that I must be my own Messiah!  Don’t speak to me of God!

            “I hated Rome more than any of you.  Every day, it boiled in my blood as I trained, as we planned, and as we prepared and waited.  I was willing to do what was necessary.  Only I knew the cost of victory!  We even robbed our own people, foolish cowards who better served their people by their death than their life.  We took what we needed from anyone, so that when the day came, we could get our revenge.  Fools look for the help of God, but I took my fate into my own hands.

            “But on the day of the insurrection—after I had done my part, with blood on my hands—these cowards abandoned me.  My own people could not see what must be done.  ‘Murderer’ they called me, and I was thrown into a Roman prison, waiting for my cross.

            “But I did not forget in prison.  Every day, my stomach churned.  Every day, my gut was filled with hate for those who betrayed me…

            “We live in caves, but you don’t know what it’s like spending your days and nights in the dark, waiting to die.  Every day I would clench my teeth and shake my fist and curse God and Rome and all who betrayed me, and every day I would tremble, not knowing when my day would come.

            “Then they come to get me.  They tie my hands and lead me out.  Finally, my day had come.  The light hits my eyes, and I cannot see.  I only hear them shouting my name: ‘Barabbas!  Barabbas!’  Why?

            “Then I see him next to me.  Who is this man?  They call him ‘Jesus.’  Huh.  That was my name once.  It means ‘the Lord saves.’ Ha!  But not this man they call ‘Jesus’!  God had forsaken him.  And that dog Pilate was forced to let me go.

            “I started to run, but I could not run far.  I could not make myself leave.  I met the crowd as they led this fool out the gates and up the hill.  Who is this man?

            “Then I saw them: two fools who fought beside me, now beside him as they are crucified.  And I laughed!  Ha!  That is my cross!  And they nailed him to the cross and I laughed again.  Ha!  Those are my nails!  Who is this man?

            “Then a darkness fell all around us… It was a different kind of darkness.  It was a darkness I could feel go through my bones.

            “Then something changed.  I kept looking up at my cross.  I watched him choke out every breath, and my breath drew short.  I watched more blood cover those nails every time he moved, and I could not forget: those nails were for me.

            “Then he died, and the ground shook.  It knocked me to my knees.  I fell, and when I looked up, I saw him dead.  And I thought, ‘It should have been me.  That was my cross.  Who is this man on my cross?  That was my cross.  I was born for that cross.'

            “You might think I am crazy, but you weren’t there!  It took me a long time to get my mind straight after that.  I hid out around the city for a few days, then made my way south.  But what could I do?

            “I have spent my whole life hating Rome, robbing and killing to strike back when I could.  Now I am free.  I was born for that cross, but it was given to someone else.  What do I do now that I am free again?

            “Then I decided: I will go back to the caves.  I will do what I know.  Forget this man ‘Jesus’!  Barabbas will rise again!  I will get my revenge!  They will know that they killed the wrong man!

            “Who is this Jesus, anyway?  Just a fool, cursed enough that he ended up on a cross that was meant for me.  But he is dead…”

            Whispers rise up among the people.  Barabbas leans in to hear the muffled rumors passing among the men.

            “What rumor do you speak of?  That he’s alive?  I must go!”