Oh Really? The Man in the Middle Placed below a notable criminal called Barabbas, He was nailed to the Cross.

Placing Himself in the middle between God the Judge and fallen humanity, He was reckoned even below a robber and murderer. In His crucifixion He is placed central among two other robbers as being the chief miscreant of the company. This is fitting in terms of His mission, because He was to take upon Himself all the perfidiousness of the entire human race. He is at the cross the central Personification of humankind in utter fallenness deserving of death. He is the Man in the middle between two equally guilty and death-worthy representatives of humanity. Yet, one of those experiences the grace of God, the other one goes to the judgement seat on his own merits. Jesus is the gateway to salvation for the one; he is the stumbling block to the other. To the one He is a savour of life unto life, to the other a savour of death unto death (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). Redemptive history reaches its cosmic apex: Abels blood cried out against Cain; Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated; Peter is chosen, but Judas is rejected. Criminals hang on crosses; they receive the death of utter abjection. Both of them on Jesus side are equally worthy of the penalty. In them the lot of mankind is evidenced. The guiltless One hangs in the middle. But already He gives life everlasting to one who is born again of the Spirit of life. The other one continues to show the depth of fallenness by blaspheming God. It was, therefore, a proof of desperate and diabolical obstinacy, that while God held him bound by the final judgment, he did not even then return to a sound mind; for if there had been the smallest particle of godliness in the heart of that man, he would at least have been constrained to yield to the fear of God. We now perceive the general meaning of his words, that those men, in whom even punishments do not produce amendment, are desperate, and totally destitute of the fear of God, notes John Calvin. He is the Man in the middle of history. The entire history of mankind since the fall has been called redemptive history, because everything was waiting for the Man to be placed in the middle. This moment is the axis of history, as God moves into this world and works reconciliation with a people dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).

Some preaching I have heard and reading I have done remark that Jesus hanging there as He did was symbolic of a huge embrace of all His saved ones. To me, that amounts to trite exegesis and elastic symbolism. If that were true, then what of his two neighbours, and what of all those who went before and still came after? Are they all reaching out in embrace? If you wish to know more about the medical horrors of crucifixion death, I would suggest you search the web (do not read it just before going to bed, though). This crucifixion is the war of all wars between Christ and the prince of darkness, not an invitation. Sure, Jesus does invite people to the wedding banquet; He has called people ever since the Fall. He called Adam and Eve with the (rhetorical) question: Where are you? He called and led His people out of Egypt (2 Corinthians 10:4; Romans 10:21). He calls His apostles; He continues to call His church out of the world. On the Cross the emphasis was rather different. It was the final battle of supremacy between the Kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. He is the Man in the middle of much controversy. Looking at the traditional creeds of the Christian Church - the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed it is very noticeable that only approximately twenty percent of each creed is dedicated to the Father and the Holy Spirit, while the rest is taken up with God the Son. Apart from the enlightening work of the Holy Spirit He is and continues to be an enigma. Why can you not hear my speech? Because you do not hear my words (John 8:43), Jesus continues to say to the sceptics. But to those who can say with (now believing) Thomas (John 20:28), My Lord and my God! He gives a restored relationship with God and all the blessings that flow from this. To such He is the Mediator, the (the Dutch word for Mediator describing the concept under study here very aptly, is Middelaar, Middl-er) and penal Substitute.

The Man in the middle, He is much more than a man. He is also God, the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father, except through Him (John 14:6). To those who believe on Him these words are wonderful! To those who disbelieve these words are deadly. On which side of the Man in the Middle do you hang?

Dr Herm Zandman 30/10/1013