IN HIS NAME: On The Road To Calvary

Friday, April 18, 2014

On The Road To Calvary - Rejection

The road to Calvary was a rough one for our Lord. Not only did He have to deal with the

physical suffering as a human, but He also had to deal with betrayal from one of His insiders. In this post we will see He also had to deal with rejection. As I wrote in yesterday's article, if you live long enough, you will encounter betrayal. The same goes for rejection. You may be rejected by a boyfriend or girlfriend, husband, wife, parent, child, employer. As a writer, I know the pain of rejection.

So how was Jesus rejected?

Then Jesus told them, "This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: " 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered' (Matthew 26: 31).

Just as Jesus knew who would betray Him, He also knew who would reject Him. When Jesus told His disciples of His impending death, Peter said he was ready to go with Him to prison and even to death. But Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me" (Luke 22: 34).

And sadly, Peter did deny the Lord. How could he do it? But he was not the only one to reject Jesus in his time of trial. None of His disciples were around when Jesus was being ridiculed and beaten. Where were they when He took the long walk to Calvary, stumbling and falling beneath the weight of the cross?

We might ask the question, who did worse? Judas who betrayed Jesus, or Peter who rejected Him? One showed that he knew Him by greeting Him with a kiss; the other showed he didn't know Him by cursing and denying Him.

What do you do when people say that Jesus is not the Son of God? What do you say when they ask you to explain your faith? We don't only reject Jesus by our words, we also reject Him with our actions. Titus 1 : 16 says, "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good."

His disciples' rejection came as no surprise to Jesus. He knew they were going to do it. He'd warned them about it. But when His Father rejected Him, it was too much for Jesus to bear. He cried out with a loud voice, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27: 46). The fellowship Jesus had enjoyed with His Father had been broken. A holy God could not look at His Son who had become sin for us.

And that's the message of Calvary. Jesus suffered rejection so we can receive acceptance. Thank you Jesus.