Live :: Learn :: Lead

Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place called Golgotha.  Here they crucified him, and with him two others–one on each side and Jesus in the middle.  John 19:17-18

Jesus was in the middle.  It wasn’t enough for the writer to say “one on each side” of Jesus, but he emphasizes the fact that between two thieves, Jesus was in the middle.  We might easily write it off as just a description of the crucifixion scene, but as I have been thinking about it this morning, I found there to be great significance in that phrase.  It’s not just the physical placement of where Jesus was when he died; “Jesus in the middle” means a great deal more.  Jesus is in the middle of :

• The Old Covenant and New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15)
• Death and Life (Romans 6:23)
• Condemnation and  Absolution (John 8:11)
• Defiled and Holy (Colossians 1:22)
• Robbed and Fortified (John 10:10)
• Old Life and New Life (2 Corinthians 5:17)

The purpose of Jesus Christ was not just to be a hero, a man of good deeds, or a king.  His purpose was to stand in the middle of you and I, to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin.  Someone had to die, and it should be us.  But Jesus hung on a cross on that Friday 2000 years ago, to take the place of our judgment.  Without Jesus in the middle, we are left unjustified, separated, and condemned.

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.”  Between God and us, Jesus is in the middle.