Communion #23

We weren’t made for rejection. Researchers have been demonstrating the effects of rejection on the physical body and the mind for some time. And it's clear that rejection is an effect of sin. Rejection is not a natural product of love, so it can’t have been something we were made to endure. 

That’s what makes it even more amazing that Jesus endured so much rejection throughout his life here on earth. There was the rejection that he experienced at birth, that albeit he would not have had full consciousness for, when King Herod in Matthew 2 sought to find and kill Jesus. Then there was the rejection he received for having come from Nazareth. There was the rejection he received in Nazareth when he said a prophet has no honour in their hometown (Mark 6:4). A rather interesting thought when you consider that he was both rejected for being a Nazarene, and also by the Nazarenes. There was the rejection by the religious leaders of his day, which we could all kind of see coming. And there was the rejection by the crowd who cried out for his crucifixion over that of an actually guilty man. And it was far more than rejection that he experienced throughout his arrest and crucifixion. He was spat on, he was hit, he was stripped…and much more. 

A man that knew not an inch of rejection until he chose to enter this imperfect world, endured more rejection than most of us. Yes it is inspiring to observe how he handled this rejection. But greater still is the fact that he only endured this rejection so that we might not be rejected. By God. But he simultaneously demonstrated that being perfectly united with God, equips us to handle any rejection we may experience at the hand of people. What an incredible lesson!