"When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left." Luke 23:33
Two men deemed worthy to die by Roman torture and crucifixion. Why are they here in the Easter story? What had they done to be placed on the right and left of Jesus?
Two men and a single choice. Their lives were over, this is without a doubt and they knew it. Romans had mastered crucifixion and they would all die that day. Their final 6 hours on earth and they were granted the right and left of Jesus. And they were faced with a choice - what were they going to do with the cross in the middle?
Two men watched the people of the crowd. Some from the crowd looking at Jesus in disgust; some crying. Some were angry; some were weeping. They watched the people, they watched the cross in the middle.
Two men heard the words spewed from the crowd. In the life they led, they would have been no strangers to hateful speech. Yet today, the crowd was angry and vengeful and Jesus remained silent. Jesus held no anger at their hate. Instead they heard Jesus plea, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34
Two men watching the cross in the middle.
They each made their choice.
One hurled insults, the other rebuked.
One spewed hate, the other sought love.
One was lost, the other found.
One was blind, the other saw.
One wretched, the other grace.
One rejected, the other asked for acceptance.
And Jesus was in the middle.
The bridge between insults and rebuke.
The bridge between hate and love.
The bridge between the lost and the found.
The bridge between blindness and sight.
The bridge between rejection and acceptance.
The cross in the middle is the bridge between hell and heaven.
Easter is about the cross in the middle. You and I are about the cross on the right and the left. Those are our stories. Those are our choices.
Two men.
One choice.
What are you going to do with the cross in the middle?
