Rejection seems to be a part of the life the enemy wants to reinforce. It comes in an endless variety:
•not getting the job
•a parent whose approval is out of reach
•a parent who decided not to be your parent
•a spouse who says they no longer love you or they love someone else
•a friend that suddenly betrays you
•a child who turns their back on your love.
•Gender, Sexuality
•Ethnicity
Was Jesus Rejected?
Hebrews 4:15 - Jesus is not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness
Does this say anything about the pain of rejection? Sympathizing is one thing, but does Jesus know this kind of hurt? Yes. Jesus experienced it.
Being fully God, he chose to become human to experience human suffering. Every part of Jesus' life on earth was touched by rejection.
Rejection by family members
•John 7:5 “even his brothers did not believe in him”
•Jesus’ family rejected him as the Messiah
•He had human relationships that hurt him, when love wasn’t returned, wanted, or accepted
Rejection from his community
•Matthew 13:57 Neighbours and family friends “took offense at him”
•He was “without honour” in his hometown
•Jesus “did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (v. 58)
•He knows what it’s like to lose the love and support of a community, to feel unwelcome in a place that was once home
Rejection from people who once claimed to love him
•Jesus, in his God-ness, predicted both Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial
•He saw it coming. But his humanness still experienced the hurt
•John 13:21 Jesus was “troubled in his spirit” as he foretold of Judas
•He had just washed the disciples feet, symbolizing the laying down of his life for them
•Peter, who professed his love and commitment to Jesus more fervently than any other disciple, would deny and reject any association with him in hours
•Sudden, total, heartbreaking rejection
Rejection from his Father
•Matthew 26:38 Jesus was “very sorrowful, even to death”
•Luke 22:44 He sweated blood
•This was more than thoughts of the approaching physical pain. It was the knowledge that he would soon be separated from and abandoned by his Father
•Matthew 27:46 Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He didn’t ask, “Why I am I in such pain?” or “Why do I have to endure this?”
Redeemed from Rejection
•Rejection is a significant source of pain for many of us
•Jesus understands our pain in the most real way, and he shares the burden
•He experienced everything that we now experience in order to redeem it all and cover it in grace
•The gospel stands as the unfaltering, unchangeable answer to rejection
•Rejection created the need for the gospel in the first place
•Sin entered the world because two people rejected God and his command. For this, they faced God’s eternal rejection. We too were placed under a curse of separation from his favour and bound to his wrath
•Jesus redeemed us from that curse by taking it upon himself
•To redeem is to buy back, to accept, to choose
•Redemption is the opposite of rejection. By the power of the gospel, we have received the “Spirit of adoption” Romans 8:15
•That’s permanent, binding acceptance
•We know that, now, nothing can separate us from the Father’s love Romans 8:38-39
•Man’s rejection is made small in light of the truth that, through the gospel, we have God’s eternal love and acceptance, unconditionally
•What can man’s rejection do to us if Almighty God is for us?
Questions
1. If Jesus identifies with our weakness and experienced what we did, are you able to identify with Jesus and the rejection he received?
2. What type of Rejection have you suffered in your life?
3. How should we handle rejection?
4. What steps do you need to take to be healed of the Hurt and Pain of rejection?