The Man On The Middle Cross!

Last night we watched The Greatest Story Ever Told. While we were watching Rodney made a comment that resonated with me. He said, "This doesn't follow the scriptures word for word but it does seem to catch Jesus the way He really must have been better than some of these kinds of movies."

Then this morning I hear a preacher talking about the thief on the cross and what might have happened as he approached heaven's gates. He said He might not have understood who Christ was until the very end, but he did know this...."The Man on the middle cross said I could come here".

We in our denominations have rules, regulations, certain procedures that we require for church membership and so many other small things that can keep people from becoming part of our group, if they don't conform. As a result they often don't. We can't understand why everyone won't just fit into the pattern we have set for them. I understand this because I grew up in a denomination that was exactly like this. If you didn't follow the path they laid out you could not even take communion at our church.

I wonder what Christ thinks of this? All He required from the thief was that he understood that He, Christ, had done nothing wrong and was suffering and hanging there for us. He didn't demand baptism, he didn't ask for a tithe, he didn't ask him to speak a certain way. I am sure that the thief wasn't even dressed on the cross so Christ certainly wasn't concerned with what he was wearing.

These scriptures tell us the only thing that is required of us....

John 3:14-18

The Message (MSG)

15, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. 

As we all work to make our churches more and more desirable for our neighbors we need to live the message of Jesus. Compassion, tenderness, acceptance and above all love. We also must make sure others understand Christ's sacrifice as well. We need to let any and all come, however they come. Just as Rodney says every Sunday..."God loves you just the way you are". Everyone who crosses our doorways should never feel anything but that message.

When this comes hard for us, at times, we ourselves need to remember that God loves us just the way we are too. We make mistakes, like anyone. But we only need to love and believe in the message of Christ as well.

Let's not forget, Christ, the man on the middle cross, lived His life showing, with His very being, this most powerful message.

May the gift of Easter change your life, your church and your neighborhood!!

Blessings!