The Man in the middle
The crucifixion of Jesus was a story of contrasts, one that is still played out every day.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39 NIV)
These are the famous belligerent words of one of the two robbers who hung along each side of Jesus. But the other criminal reacted differently.
“42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
(Luke 23:42,43 NIV)
Then, there is man in the middle. His words were; 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34 NIV)
Two sinners were getting what they deserved, and one righteous man, the Son of God, was being punished for doing something He did not do. Three different reactions to the same fate, suffering followed by death.
We will all walk our own hill to Golgotha someday and face our demise. For some, it will be quick and painless, but for many, suffering will be an integral part of the process. Either way, the result will be the same. When you’ve lived long enough, you will die, and the journey to those final moments is up to each of us.
We get to choose how we will spend eternity – starting today. The decision is never forced upon us. You got out of bed this Good Friday and immediately began making choices; many are trivial, but others are determining choices. Determining choices make us, one step, one day, one year at a time, the person we will be at our Golgotha. And our destiny depends upon what we think about the man in the middle. Without the man in the middle, this would be just another sad story.
Some days we shake our fists at God and blame Him for the hand, we’ve been dealt. In those moments, like every other, we choose what we think about the man in the middle, and the result is not so lovely. We’ve all been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Some folks keep making the same choices most, or in the case of the first thief, all the way to the grave. Those folks die never believing the man in the middle was the Son of God. That decision is indeed one option.
The second thief expressed option two.
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
We don’t know much about either criminal. Perhaps the first thief grew up with abusive parents or maybe without a father. Maybe he grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and had to fight his way into adulthood. Whatever his history, it hardened him to what the man in the middle offered – forgiveness and new life. He just could not bring himself to choose another kind of life, even to the end. Like Pharoah, his heart was as cold as stone.
But consider the second robber. Perhaps he grew up in the same neighborhood living in a similar situation as the first guy. His dad left his mom when he was a baby, and his mother became a drug addict. The bully down the street frequently beat him up, so he learned to defend himself and make his way early in life. But deep down in his soul, he knew there was more to life than he experienced. He believed in God.
He didn’t know where this compulsion was rooted or how it got there. It was just there. There is a God. I wonder if there were times when he called out to the Almighty, but he felt no one listened. Life didn’t change, and so he kept surviving the only way he knew to do so.
Who knows what led these two men to their cross, but it might be a little more complicated than what is often considered. I’ve met many people whose lives are just hard, really hard, and I can see why they would be bitter. They find it too difficult to believe in a benevolent, loving God because that is not their experience.
But when it all came down to the end, the second thieves’ convictions erupted when placed alongside the man in the middle whom he knew to be innocent. His sense of justice caused him to revile the man hanging across from him. “Don’t you fear God, you idiot!” (My paraphrase).
Maybe, just maybe, this is God’s Son, but either way, he is an innocent man who just asked God to forgive His murderers. Who does that! I think I believe He is who He says. If so, the man in the middle is my only hope, and my tiny seed of faith causes me to seek His help. Please remember me, King Jesus!”
And that one final decision determined his destiny. “On this day, you will join me in paradise, my friend.”
I like stories with happy endings, don’t you?
Sometimes I’ve witnessed folks who made a deathbed decision to put their trust in God. Like the older brother to the prodigal son, it is natural to think, “What! This person can live like hell their whole life and still make it to heaven?!”
I propose a different perspective. It is never too late, never. Never too late to start making the right choices. With God, it is never too late.
I find the Good Friday part of the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus one of the most inspiring and uplifting of all. The man in the middle is always there, offering grace, kindness, and forgiveness to anyone, anytime.
But I wonder if the repentant thief briefly thought, “I wish I would have acknowledged my belief in God so much earlier in life. Maybe I wouldn’t be hanging here now.”
Life is an endless series of choices rooted somewhere deep inside us. God tells us that He set eternity in our hearts. It seems to me that the earlier we appreciate that reality, the easier it will be to make helpful, quality choices and then reap the rewards. Even with that confession, we will fail many times, but we can always hear the words of the man in the middle. “Father, forgive them, for they don’t even know what they are doing.”
No matter your history. Beyond your circumstances, take heart; paradise awaits you. This excellent existence shall be gifted to all who trust the man in the middle.
Sundays comin’!
Live Inspired!
Don Mark
