When Barabbas Met Jesus: A Story of Grace Through Human Eyes

Jim Caviezel as Jesus on Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ

“Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.”
 Ephesians 1:18

There are stories in Christendom that unsettle tidy theology—especially when that theology is rigid, overly systematic, and suspicious of anything that sounds mystical. Many in my own evangelical camp, who rightly cherish the Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura, tend to downplay personal experience, especially when it comes to conversion.

I still hold Scripture as the final authority. But the older I grow, the more I read Christian history and listen to the testimonies of the saints, the more I resonate with A. W. Tozer’s words to a church that was doctrinally correct but spiritually shallow:

“The Christian mystic differs from the non-Christian mystic in that he believes God has spoken, and that what He has said is authoritative.” — The Pursuit of God

The mystical but very real story of Italian actor Pietro Sarubbi may stretch your understanding of how God saves. But perhaps it will also deepen it.

The setting is Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ—in my not-so-humble opinion, the most powerful cinematic portrayal of Jesus’ suffering ever filmed. The movie left a global mark on audiences, but it also profoundly affected the cast, especially Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus.

During filming, Caviezel was struck by lightning—twice. He was accidentally whipped for real, his shoulder was dislocated under the weight of a 150-pound cross, and he developed hypothermia while hanging on the cross in freezing Italian winter conditions. He required medical treatment multiple times. Playing Christ left a permanent imprint on his body and his soul.

But Caviezel was already a Christian.

Pietro Sarubbi was not.

A local Italian actor, Sarubbi was cast as Barabbas. Although his screen time would last less than a minute, its effect would last the rest of his life.

Mel Gibson instructed Sarubbi not to make eye contact with Caviezel until the actual filming of the scene. Just as the real Barabbas would not have seen Jesus until the moment of his release, Gibson wanted that first look to be real.

By the time the scene was filmed, Caviezel had already been beaten, bloodied, and crowned with thorns. Sarubbi had not seen him since before the torture.

When Pilate presented Jesus and Barabbas to the crowd—grace and guilt standing side by side—the murderer was freed, and Barabbas finally looked into the eyes of the Man who would die in his place.

That look changed everything. In that life-altering moment, the eyes of Pietro’s heart were enlightened. Sarubbi later said an “electric current” ran through his body. What he saw was not an actor—but grace.

“It was like I was really seeing Jesus… The Holy Spirit used one man to look at another man. Later I read Pope Benedict XVI’s Deus Caritas Est, which said, ‘The Lord encounters us ever anew through the eyes of the men and women who reflect His presence.’ That explained what was inexplicable to me. A simple actor playing Jesus looked at me in a way that turned my soul upside-down. From that moment on, there was a change in my personal, human, and professional life.”

Sarubbi did not hesitate to call it what it was:

“During the filming, I had a conversion.”

He would later write a book about it titled From Barabbas to Jesus: Converted by a Glance.

Some are converted by sermons.
 Some by Scripture.
 Some by suffering. And one was converted by a look.

So I’ll leave you with the same question Pilate asked, and the same question every soul must answer:

What do you think?

Micah Coate, President & Host of Salvation and Stuff