So they took Jesus, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
— John 19:17–18

~~~~~

The Center
By Jennifer Kane

They led Him out,
bearing the weight of a world gone wrong—
a beam across His back,
a crown of thorns pressed into truth.

Golgotha was no throne,
yet there they lifted Him up
between two men,
between two choices,
between belief and scorn.

He hung in the middle—
not by accident,
but by design.
The center of all things.
The center of suffering.
The center of salvation.

He was there
as soldiers cast lots
and mothers wept
and rulers scoffed.
He was there
as silence swallowed His friends
and the skies dimmed in sorrow.

He was there,
when the penitent thief whispered hope,
and the unrepentant one clenched his hate.
He was there,
speaking forgiveness
with cracked lips,
offering heaven
with His final breath.

He stood where heaven met earth,
where God met man,
where justice met mercy.

The center beam
of a broken world
held up the Lamb of God.

And He did not flinch.
He did not turn.
He bore the weight of both thieves,
both crowds,
both sinners and saints.
All of us.

At the center,
He finished it all—
not with a sword,
but with surrender.
Not with vengeance,
but with victory.

And still,
to this day,
He is the Center.
To pass from death to life,
we go through Him.
To find peace,
we look to Him.
To be whole,
we fall at His feet—
at the center
of the cross.

~~~~~

Scripture: John 19:1-42

Jesus in the Center

In John 19, we find Jesus, not on a throne of gold, but nailed to a wooden cross. Not in the center of applause, but in the center of suffering. Yet this was not a defeat. It was a divine positioning. Jesus was — and is — the center of everything.

Jesus Was Centered Among Humanity

From birth to burial, Jesus chose to dwell among us. He didn’t live in ivory towers or hide behind holy curtains. He touched lepers, talked with women, dined with sinners, and wept with the broken. Even in death, He was “numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). In John 19, we see Him surrounded by a cross-section of humanity — soldiers gambling, women weeping, leaders scoffing, and bystanders confused. Jesus was, and remains, the center of the human story.

Jesus Was Centered Among Sinful Men

The cross was intended to humiliate — to shame Jesus by placing Him between criminals. His enemies thought this would make His suffering worse. But in that position, Jesus embraced the very mission for which He came: to seek and save the lost. While the religious rejected Him and His friends fled, Jesus stayed centered in the middle of sin, offering salvation in the place of death.

Jesus Was Centered Among Confusion

John 19:15 shows the confusion of the crowds: “We have no king but Caesar,” they cried. In Matthew 27, some mistook Jesus’ cry for help as a call to Elijah. The world didn’t — and still doesn’t — understand what He was doing. Yet Jesus remained centered, clear in His purpose, anchored in the will of the Father. He stood in the middle of misunderstanding so we could know the truth.

Jesus Was Centered Between Belief and Rejection

One thief cursed Him; the other pleaded for mercy. Two men, two responses — and Jesus in the center. To this day, humanity divides on either side of the cross. Some mock, some believe. But everyone must deal with the Man in the middle. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). To move from perishing to saved, we must go through Jesus.

Jesus Was Centered Between God and Man

On the cross, Jesus became our High Priest and our sacrifice. He stood in the gap, bearing the wrath of God and extending the mercy of God. As John 19:30 tells us, His final words were: “It is finished.” The debt was paid, the veil torn, the way opened. Jesus reconciled heaven and earth, standing in the center, arms outstretched.

Jesus Is the Center of God’s History and Work

We don’t look at the cross and say, “Poor Jesus.” We look and say, “Worthy is the Lamb!” The crucifixion wasn’t a tragedy — it was a triumph. All of Scripture pointed to this moment. All of history turns on this axis. Jesus is the center of God’s plan — past, present, and future. He is not to be pitied, but praised.

Where is Jesus in your life? Is He at the center, or just a part of the margins?
Are you the thief who mocks, or the one who believes?
Will you come to the cross today — to the center — where mercy meets justice, and where grace pours out for all?

Let Jesus be the center — of your heart, your thoughts, your relationships, your fears, and your hopes. Because only at the cross does everything finally make sense.

~~~~~

Lord Jesus, thank You for taking the center place — not just in history, but in my heart. Help me to fix my eyes on You. Be the center of everything in my life. When the world is confused, when I am surrounded by sin, when I face rejection or despair — remind me that You are right there, in the center, holding all things together. Amen.

July 14, 2025