Rejection

Isaiah 53:3 "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

We have all faced rejection in our lives. I've seen it in churches, in families, even in the animal kingdom. That word "rejection" carries more weight with it than any of us can possibly imagine. The Bible prepares us on this subject in more ways than one involving God's people who were rejected because of various reasons.

(1) Saul was rejected as king of Israel because of his disobedience.

1 Samuel 15:23 "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king."

(2) The offspring of Israel was rejected because of their unbelief.

2 Kings 17:20 "And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight."

(3) God's chosen people were rejected because of their lack of understanding God's Word.

Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."

But nobody faced rejection like Jesus did!

(1) He was despised and rejected by mankind.

(2) That rejection created a world of sorrow and grief that He became familiar with.

(3) Men could not look upon Him due to that rejection.

(4) That rejected brought Him lower than He had ever been.

Yet in spite of it all He paid the price for our salvation. He refused to allow rejection to stop Him from doing His work. He overcame it by His faith in the will of His father.

Remember Jesus when...

-People reject you.

-Seek to destroy you.

-People are determined to stop you from doing good.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light. Rejection couldn't stop Him, and by His grace it can't stop you either!