The Believer's Middle-Man

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Timothy 2:5,

The ideal Man to the Greeks was stoic—one whose character avoided all extremes. The Greek mind had four favorites:

Prudence, the middle line between negligence and recklessness;

Temperance, the middle line between excess and abstinence;

Fortitude, the middle line between dangerous and cowardice;

and justice, the middle line between mercy and severity.

The Greek mind longed for, but never found, the perfect middleman. Until Jesus. The proof is found in the diversity of His followers.

Why is one of Christ's disciples so different from the other? It's because their Master spanned all virtues. He is the Mediator, the Middle-Man, joining opposite extremes. Look at the opposites that followed Him. Peter the Impulsive followed Him, as did John the Calm. Nathanael is there with his faith, and Nicodemus with his questions. Martha’s there with her working, and Mary with her resting. Paul is there with his argument and James with his proof. He has a Bethlehem manger for the child and Pisgah mountain for the old. Joy met Him at Cana, and depression at Gethsemane. He joined the chatter’s by the fireside and the learned in their hall. He spoke with the farmer in his field and the lawyer in his law. Is it any wonder that the Greeks would see Jesus?! He was the perfect Middle-Man.

The believer has also found a Middle-Man. No single quality could attract us all. All extremes meet in Jesus: joy and sorrow, love and anger, power and gentleness, storm and calm, rebuke and praise, passion and patience, depth and simplicity, heaven and earth. This Middle-Man has a share in it all.