REJECTION - JESUS
SHOWS US WHAT TO DO
For me, the saddest verse in the Bible is John
6:66: “From that time many of his
disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” The second saddest is
nine verses later: “Neither did his brethren believe in him” (John 7:5). Jesus came
to save the world. He required commitment, but his disciples couldn’t handle it.
They had their own ideas about how to live, and about how Jesus should act too.
Jesus didn’t agree with either. Rejection: Jesus shows us what to do about it.
We all get
rejected sometimes. We’ve asked for, at least hoped for some kind of commitment,
and the person we asked was not willing to give it. We’ve also been in
situations where we refused to fit into the type of person someone else thought
we should be. It feels unfair, but it happens, and we have several choices of what
to do about it. When I read the scriptures in John, I felt so bad for Jesus. I
thought, “Don’t they get it? Jesus is the son of God. Why are they being so
stupid and so mean?” These people had been following Jesus, but then when he
actually required a commitment from them, they said no. It kind of broke my
heart. But then I kept reading and saw exactly how Jesus handled the rejection.
It’s how we need to handle it as well.
After the people left
off listening to Jesus, he just moved on. He was in Jerusalem, but he moved away.
It says in John 7:1: “After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would
not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.” Then when it was feast
time and his brethren thought he should go to the feast in Jerusalem with them,
he told them to go on ahead. He wasn’t going to do what they wanted him to do,
just because they thought he should. He did what God wanted him to do, and we
need to be doing the same.
As it turns out,
Jesus did go to the feast in Jerusalem, but he went privately. God sent him to
Jerusalem, directly to the temple, where he preached the gospel of God, like he
always did, with boldness.
Jesus didn’t stop
preaching. He didn’t stop speaking the truth in love. He didn’t stop calling a
spade a spade. When he saw corruption, greed, and unrighteousness, he plainly
exposed it. Jesus wasn’t afraid.
Even when those
closest to him rejected and criticized him, he didn’t stop doing what God’s
Word said to do. He didn’t let rejection change him. As far as this section of
John tells us, it doesn’t even look like he allowed himself to be sad about the
situation. What a great attitude!
Jesus could
instantly turn his eyes on God and do the next thing with joy. That’s amazing
to me, and I want to have that kind of mindset as well. Jesus didn’t quit or
let himself be weakened by rejection. He stayed strong.
When we get
rejected by people who don’t want to be around us, or by those who don’t think
we’re acting like they want us to act, we can do what Jesus did, and just let
them go.
We replace the
rejector with the lover, Jesus. The words to an old Christian hymn ring true
here: This hymn was written in 1922 by Helen Lemmel and was inspired by a tract
written by the missionary Isabella Trotter:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full, in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace
Look full, in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace
Love, Carolyn
Check out my
books and booklets on Amazon: Part 1 of my first WINGS book is a free download through
Tuesday.
