The middle man is someone who intercedes, who goes between two or more parties to negotiate and deliver messages. Anymore when we think of a middle man, it’s with a bad connotation—as if we’re getting a bad deal because we cannot deal with the person directly. But we read in Romans that Jesus is our middle man—in more ways than one.
#1 Jesus intercedes for us.
“Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” (Romans 8:34)
Jesus is the middle Man in that He intercedes for us, sitting at the right hand of God, pleading our case. When we have accepted the payment Jesus made on Good Friday on the cross and we put our faith and hope in the Resurrection on Easter morning, then Jesus intercedes for us to God. Jesus is our middle man to God. The writer of Hebrews called Jesus our great High Priest.
“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Matthew 27:51a)
At the time, there was a separation within the temple, a curtain that separated what was called the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest could enter here and only he could talk to God on the people’s behalf. They had created a middle man to God whom they called the high priest.
“So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)
In tearing the curtain between the Holy of Holies, Jesus declared that He would be the only middle man moving forward. There was no need to go through anyone else to talk with God—Jesus is our only middle man.
#2 Jesus was the literal middle man.
“Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.” (Matthew 27:38)
When Jesus was nailed to the cross, He was crucified with two others and Jesus was placed in the middle. One of the criminals hurled insults at Jesus, but the other behaved quite differently.
“But the other criminal protested, ‘Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.’
“And Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (Luke 23:40-43)
The Man in the middle said he could come. Isn’t that how it went for all of us when it gets down to it? We get to go to eternal Paradise, we get to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because Jesus said we could. We have been invited, children of God, heirs with Christ, all because of what Jesus did on that Holy Easter Weekend some 2,000+ years ago. All because of the middle Man.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.