Chapter 20. Jesus or Barabbas? Patrick would have been quite surprised at the reception the raiders received when they returned to Britain. The man who had raided Ireland was none other than Coroticus, Britain's new hero. Instead of being treated like murdering pirates, they were welcomed as champions. These men were their saviors! To the cheers of adoring throngs, Coroticus and his men marched their captives down the road to their fortress, an abandoned Roman garrison, and chained them in the courtyard.
That night, Coroticus and his soldiers celebrated their victory in a drunken revelry. The next morning, Loman arrived from Ireland. He ran up to the first person he saw, a fisherman drying his nets. "Something terrible has happened!" he cried in alarm. "Some men from Britain raided the coast of Ireland, killing scores of innocent Christian men and taking captive a large group of innocent Christian women and boys!" The fisherman continued working with his nets, not answering at first.
He finally paused and asked dryly, "Were these men who were killed Irish or British?" "Why, they were Irish, of course." "And these women and boys who were captured, were they Irish or British?" "Irish, but I don't see what—" "Well, then they weren't innocent!" the fisherman croaked. "What do you mean they weren't innocent?" Loman demanded. "They were all newly baptized Christians. They'd never harmed anyone." "They're guilty by association!" the fisherman snapped.
"The Irish have been plundering our coast for as long as I can remember. My brother was kidnapped by them. But Coroticus has finally taught them a lesson. An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, is what I say." "So it was Coroticus who did this?" Loman burst out. "That's right. King Coroticus, the savior of the British. He predicted that he would catch the Irish by surprise if he raided them. He was definitely right.
I bet the Irish will think twice about raiding us again after what he did to them." "I've got to talk to him," Loman insisted anxiously. "Where is his fortress?" "You take the Coastal Road to the north. His castle's about six miles up the road. You can't miss it. But don't be thinking you're going to get any sympathy from him or from any of the rest of us." Arriving at the fortress that afternoon, Loman boldly handed Patrick's letter to one of Coroticus's officers.
The man read the letter and broke out in a derisive laugh. "Listen to this! This man wants us to turn over all of our captives and booty to him!" The other soldiers roared in laughter, slapping each other on their backs, ignoring Loman and his companion. One of the soldiers stepped forward, made a sweeping bow, and then said mockingly, "Why, of course, we'll turn everything over to you. We risked our lives to obtain these slaves and goods. But that doesn't matter.
We'll do whatever this bishop of the Irish demands of us." The soldier then slapped Loman across his face. "You traitorous holier-than-thou hypocrites! You and your dog of a bishop just want these slaves and goods for yourselves. Now, get out of here before we sell you as a slave too!" Loman stared at the soldier for a moment, his piercing eyes probing the soul of this professing Christian. He then abruptly turned, and he and his companion stormed out of the courtyard and headed back to Ireland.
Loman looked back at the coast as it disappeared from sight. "It's just like Secundinus has told us," he said sadly to the other man, who was manning the steering oar. "Christianity in Britain has sunk so low it can hardly be called Christianity anymore. I would never have believed that professing Christians would sell their innocent brothers and sisters as slaves to the evil Picts." Patrick shook his head in disbelief when his men reported to him what had happened in Britain.
"I knew our people had wandered far from God," he lamented. "But I never dreamed things were this bad. Coroticus is nothing but a cold-blooded murderer. If only the spirit would allow me to return to Britain, I would confront this Coroticus face to face. But I've spoken to God too many times already about that, and He won't permit me to return to Britain.
The only thing left for me to do is to excommunicate Coroticus and his soldiers and trust that this will bring them to repentance." Patrick retired to the hut where he was staying and prayed at length about the matter. Several times he broke down and sobbed as he cried out to God. Loman came in to comfort him. "I don't know whether I'm grieving more for the slain men or for the female captives who have been violated and by now are the concubines of pagan men," Patrick told Loman with a hoarse voice.
"Maybe I grieve the most for Coroticus and his soldiers and the British people who support them, for they've exchanged their eternal souls for their temporal earthly lives." After considerable prayer, Patrick picked up a writing tablet and sat down at the rough wooden table in his hut to write the letter of excommunication. "Oh, that I could write in vivid prose instead of my crude Latin," he complained. "Don't worry about your grammar," Loman encouraged him.
"Just make sure the message is powerful." "Indeed, it must be," Patrick agreed. "The issue at stake here is enormous. Either the kingdom of God is a real kingdom that transcends all boundaries of nationality and race, or else it's an illusion. If it's an illusion, Christianity is no better than the pagan religions. Paul said that the kingdom of God becomes nothing when Christians take each other to court.
What would he say about Christians slaughtering other Christians merely because they belong to a different nation?" Patrick was quiet for a moment and then began writing. "I, Patrick, an uneducated sinner, live in Ireland. I am a bishop. I believe beyond a doubt that what I am is only by the grace of God, and so I live among barbarians, a pilgrim, and expatriate because of God's love. I never wanted to have to write a letter that is so severe and harsh as this.
However, the love of God and truth of Christ have wrenched these words from me." Patrick hesitated for a moment. He weighed the consequences of what he was about to say. He felt the pain of each word as though it were a dagger thrust into his heart. Asking God for strength, he continued, "I have written these words with my own hand to be delivered to Coroticus and his soldiers. I do not say to my fellow citizens, nor do I say to fellow citizens of the Holy Romans. Rather, I say to fellow citizens of the demons.
I say this because of their evil works. Like all enemies of Christ, they live in death. They're allies of the Scots and the pagan Picts. Dripping with blood, they wallow in the blood of innocent Christians. Christians whom I have begotten into the assembly of God and confirmed in Christ." Patrick's heart pounded as he kept writing, describing how Coroticus and his men had butchered innocent, newly baptized Christians. "Father, please help me find the right words," he prayed silently as he continued to write.
"Let every God-fearing man know that Coroticus and his soldiers are enemies of me and of Christ my God, for whom I am an ambassador. Murderers! Ravening wolves who devour the people of the Lord as they would devour bread. Therefore, I urge you with all earnestness, you who are holy and humble of heart, that it is not permissible to fellowship with such people, nor to partake of a meal with them. You must not even accept their alms.
Not until these men are reconciled to God through tears and sorrow and repentance, and not until they bring back from the Scots and Picts the baptized servants and handmaids of Christ, for whom He died and was crucified." Patrick dropped his pen, fell to his knees, and wept. "Father, forgive me for writing such a strong letter, but please let it penetrate their hearts and bring repentance." He signed the letter, sealed it, and carried it to Auxilius to take to Britain.
"Come right back as soon as you deliver the letter," he warned Auxilius. "The situation could quickly become dangerous." Auxilius assured him he would. Arriving in Britain the next day, Auxilius delivered the letter to one of the local presbyters, asking him to read it to Coroticus in front of all the people. After Auxilius left, the presbyter first read the letter himself. Visibly disturbed by its contents, he quickly told the other clergymen and the community leaders about it.
They all suggested that he take it to Bishop Julius. Before long, news of the letter had traveled up and down the western coast of Britain, causing quite a sensation. Bishop Julius quickly convened a meeting of all of the British clergy in the area. "We're in a real dilemma," Julius told the group of clergymen. "The vast majority of our congregations are solidly behind Coroticus. If we uphold Patrick's excommunication, the consequences will be severe. At a minimum, we will lose a large segment of our parishioners.
Perhaps the majority of those who still come to church. At worst, the people might riot and kill us. It's happened before in other countries." "Who does this upstart bishop think he is, anyway?" Quintus roared indignantly, rising to his feet. "He can't excommunicate one of our kings!" "Yes, but to ignore the letter of excommunication would weaken church discipline," another presbyter objected.
"It would also mean turning our backs on a bishop whom we've ordained." "Patrick has no jurisdiction here," Quintus countered. "He was specifically ordained as the bishop of the Irish. He won't accept our input into his work there, so there's no reason we should accept his meddling in our affairs here." "That's right," another presbyter agreed. "If we excommunicate Coroticus and his soldiers, who's going to protect us from the Saxons and the Picts?
Patrick certainly won't defend us." The group of men chuckled at this last remark. Bishop Julius stood up and quieted the group. "Are we all in agreement, then, that we ignore Patrick's letter of excommunication?" The crowd of clergymen noisily indicated their agreement. "Coroticus! Not Patrick!" many of them began shouting. Finally, Bishop Brannock rose slowly to his feet, being helped by several attendants. He was eighty years old now and was nearly blind.
Because of his age and health, he was quite limited in his ministerial functions. But his love of God had not diminished. He spoke in a hoarse, quivering voice. "Let's not deceive ourselves," he told the group. "It's not Coroticus we've chosen over Patrick. It's Barabbas we've chosen over Jesus." "What do you mean?" one man asked. "I'm saying that we're faced with the same choice that was before the crowd in Jerusalem in Jesus' day. Would they choose Jesus or Barabbas?
In Jesus, they had a man who preached about the kingdom of heaven, not a kingdom on earth. He wouldn't deliver his people from their Roman conquerors. But instead, he told them to love their enemies. In contrast, in Barabbas, the people had a man of action, a political revolutionary. He wasn't content to wait for the kingdom of heaven. In Barabbas, the Jews saw a hero who might deliver them from the hated Romans. In Jesus, they had only promises.
So the crowd chose Barabbas." "But that's different from our situation," Quintus objected. "Is it really?" Brannock countered. "In Patrick, we have a man who preaches the kingdom of heaven, a man who loves the enemies of Britain and has devoted his life to them, a man who trusts only in God, not the sword. In Coroticus, we have a man who can deliver us from our enemies. Yet, we all know in our hearts that he's an ungodly man.
When he's not killing Saxons or Irish, he's usually drunk or in bed with one of the maidens who fawn over him. Now, he's murdered innocent Christian men and sold innocent Christian women to be the concubines of the Picts. If we choose him over Patrick, we are indeed choosing Barabbas over Jesus." "Nonsense!" Quintus objected loudly, jumping to his feet again. "Patrick is no Jesus, and Coroticus is no Barabbas. God obviously has blessed Coroticus, or he would never have been able to defeat the Saxons.
In contrast, Patrick is nothing more than a self-righteous, self-promoting hypocrite. We all know the awful thing he did when he was a young man. That reveals his real character. He's only in Ireland for personal gain. If the people knew the kind of things he's doing over in Ireland, they would curse the very mention of his name." "What kind of things?" someone asked from the crowd. "For one thing, he charges fees to baptize or ordain anyone.
While the other presbyters and I were over there, we witnessed this firsthand. One of their kings brought to Patrick a wooden chest loaded with gold and jewels. It was a baptismal payment. However, Patrick haughtily rejected it, saying it wasn't enough. He told the king to come back with more, or else he wouldn't baptize him." "You never said anything about that before," Brannock interrupted in a quivering voice. "Well, I, uh, didn't want to disillusion the people. They're already weak in faith.
If they knew that a bishop was doing these things, it might destroy what little faith they have left, so I kept quiet for their sake. Now, I see that I was wrong to cover this up." With a gesture toward the group, Quintus added, "If you don't believe what I'm saying, ask the other presbyters. They were with me." The other presbyters all nodded their heads in agreement. "Not only that," one of the presbyters exclaimed, "Patrick is also teaching heresy over there, just like Pelagius.
He's saying that we can be saved without the grace of God and all sorts of other heretical teachings." Bishop Julius now arose. "Well, I think this settles the matter. Patrick has no jurisdiction here. In fact, if anyone's going to be excommunicated, it should probably be him." The false accusations against Patrick quickly spread through the townspeople, and before long, his name was being vilified all up and down the west coast of Britain.
A few months later, one of Patrick's assistants sailed to Britain to obtain some needed supplies. While there, he learned what was being said about Patrick. When Patrick heard the news, he was utterly crushed. For several months, he could hardly eat. He spent most of his time shut up alone in his hut, not even wanting to see his friends. During this time, he did no further evangelism and even quit preaching in the church.
With a thoroughly broken heart, he cried out to God, "Father, would you at least allow me to return to Britain to answer these false charges? If not, take my life now. I don't want to live any longer." But God was resolute. He wouldn't allow Patrick to leave Ireland. However, God did give Patrick the strength to stand again and resume his work. "This will all be straightened out in eternity," Loman comforted Patrick.
"The important thing is that God knows the truth, and so do the people of Ireland." "Besides," Secundinus chimed in, "Jesus said that a prophet is without honor in his own country, so this is nothing new." One Sunday, Patrick preached to the congregation about the cross of Christ. He described how the enemies of Jesus had falsely accused him of many things. They said that he blasphemed God. They alleged that he was trying to set up an earthly government in opposition to Caesar.
Sadly, Patrick pointed out, most of the people of Jesus' day believed those false accusations. "Now, God has privileged me to experience the entirety of the Christ life." Patrick then went on to explain the false accusations being made against him, how they nearly defeated him, and how God had enabled him to stand again. "Since you can't leave Ireland to answer the charges in person, why not prepare a written rebuttal?" Secundinus suggested that afternoon. "That's a wonderful idea, Secundinus," Patrick replied.
"Why didn't I think of it before? I guess I was feeling too sorry for myself." So during the next week, Patrick wrote out a brief defense. He began, "I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned, the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many." He then went on to describe his kidnapping as a teenager, how he was delivered by God's hands, and how God called him back to Ireland. "I was once rustic, exiled, unlearned, and someone who did not know how to provide for the future," Patrick continued.
"But this at least I know for certain, that before I was humiliated, I was like a stone lying in the deep mud. And He who is mighty came, and in His mercy lifted me up. He raised me up and placed me on the top of the wall. And therefore I ought to cry out aloud and so also render something to the Lord for His great benefits here and in eternity." He went on to describe the suffering and dangers he was experiencing in Ireland. Next, he addressed the false charges being made against him.
"Produce even one person who has paid me for a baptism or ordination, and I will gladly return his money," he challenged his accusers. In rebuttal, he explained to his British brethren that instead of charging fees for baptism, he was having to pay tribute to various kings in order to travel through their territory. He had exhausted his entire inheritance in doing this. Finally, he wrote, "I call on God as my witness upon my soul that I am not lying.
I would not write to you out of selfishness or to seek flattery, nor am I hoping for honor from any of you. Sufficient is the honor that is not yet seen. Yet, I see that even here and now I have been exalted beyond measure by the Lord, and I was not worthy that He should grant me this. For I know most certainly that poverty and failure suit me better than wealth and delights. Therefore, may it never happen that my God would allow me to be separated from His people whom He has won in this most remote land.
And if ever I have done any good for my God, whom I love, I beg Him to allow me to shed my blood with these exiles and captives for His name, even though I should be denied a grave or my body be horribly torn to pieces by wild beasts." When he was finished, Patrick showed his testimony to Secundinus. "It's at a time like this," Patrick confessed, "that I really regret having missed my education.
I can't even write a coherent defense, and I know they'll laugh at my awkward Latin." "Yes, but at the same time, they'll also know that it comes from your heart," Secundinus said as he perused the testimony. The next day, Patrick sent his written testimony by courier to Britain. But no one paid any attention to it. So Patrick simply had to turn the other cheek and go on with his work.