Advent Season
(Anticipating the Birth of Jesus)
28 Names of Jesus | December 21, 2020
Name #19: “Mediator (The Bridge)” – I Timothy 2:1–7
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (I Timothy 2:5–6).
Paul starts I Timothy 2 with a very appropriate challenge for all of us when it comes to our calling to pray for all people. He defines the lifestyle for a believer that is good and pleasing to God. Paul points out that our ultimate goal as good citizens is to live in such a way that draws people to a relationship with Jesus.
At the end of our passage for today, we see another name for Jesus, mediator (I Timothy 2:5). Strong’s Concordance defines the Greek word for mediator, mesités, as a person who “intervenes to restore peace between two parties, especially as it fulfills a compact or ratifies a covenant.” Jesus did both of these things on our behalf. There is even more depth to this term. It points to the priests’ responsibility as mediators in the tabernacle and temple.
Mediator is a concept derived from the ceremonial worship prescribed in the Old Testament. In the tabernacle and later in the temple, the priests mediated between God and the Israelites by offering animal sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people, and by interceding to God for the nation. In their position as mediators, the priests were the only ones eligible to enter the Holy Place, the place where God had made His presence known.
Paul makes it very clear in this passage that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. Jesus declared this truth to His disciples when He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In these moments Jesus was affirming that “the only way someone can come to the Father is through Jesus, who lived a completely sinless life, in thought, word, and deed.”
Jesus’ death was the substitutionary atonement for all of our sins (ransom for many), and in those moments He fulfilled the requirement to provide a newer and better covenant ratified by His blood. The writer of Hebrews describes the upgrade in covenants: Christ “has obtained a more excellent ministry, to the extent that He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).
As mediator, Jesus “serves as the bridge, between the invisible God and people who seek God.” In the season of Christmas, we have an interesting picture of a baby in the manger, the Savior of the world, and a culture that has no clue about the implications of His birth. The baby in the manger was born to use His life to build the bridge that provides the path to a restored relationship with God forever. The mediator had arrived and would change the destiny of all men who receive Him as their Lord and Savior. We must never forget the effect of the mediation of Jesus on our lives because of the love of the Father. He lived as the “Word became flesh” so we could see God, and to model for us how to love God and love each other. His ministry as mediator continues in our lives every day.
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Chuck