“Rejected” - The Suffering Messiah 8

Why Is Jesus asking why? – in His deepest, darkest moment??????

Rejected – Defective.

Unwanted – Unloved.

Discarded – Throw Away.

Something wrong with me.

Not good enough – Inadequate.

Do any of these words describe your feelings or your experiences and the messages you have received in life? Have you ever been rejected by someone close to you, perhaps one or both of your parents?

How many of us have been forsaken by:

• Our dad, our mom or both…
• A spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, fiance
• A best friend 
• A business partner etc. leaving us broken and alone at a critical time in our lives
• Our own bodies, turning against us with cancer and other physical illnesses taking their toll on our health
• God Himself (or at least you felt like God has left you because of your own sin or someone sinning against you, especially if that person was in a position representing God to us a parent, a priest, a pastor, teacher etc.?)

And we are left wondering what is wrong with us? Why did this happen to me? Am I forever defined by rejection?  Will I always carry this pain and fear and need to protect myself from being hurt again?

Jesus’ Personal Identification With Rejection:

Jesus was affirmed by His Father at different times in His ministry, saying the words so many of us long to hear, “This is My Son (or daughter), in whom I am well pleased.” So how can He identify with us?

But Jesus also chose to hang on the cross, in His deepest darkest hour, carrying all of our sins in His own body, as our Savior who ‘knew NO sin, was made to BE sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God,’ (2 Cor. 5:21).

Christ hung there, feeling totally forsaken, rejected and abandoned – as if His Father was never going to come back again, crying out, “Why have YOU forsaken ME?” (Psalm 22:1)

Christ chose to fulfill prophecy, hanging on the cross crying out to His Father, “My God, My God, WHY?” – asking the very same question our hearts ask… after Jesus has:

• Lost blood
• Been abandoned and denied by those closest to Him
• Had His hands and feet pierced by nails, His nerves on fire
• Felt totally forsaken and rejected by His Father in His deepest, darkest moment
• Embraced all our sins, and the consequences of sin – leading to the ‘second death’ of eternal separation from His Father (Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8)

In His humanity, Jesus went through this excruciating experience:

• Choosing not to trust in His own power to relieve His pain and sense of isolation
• Choosing to trust in His Father’s presence even when He could not feel it

And in His divinity:

• He could identify with you and your experience
• Earning the right to earn your trust in your heart
• So He could embrace all your pain from being rejected, isolated, abandoned by those close to you
• So you could receive HIS healing, HIS love, and
• HIS identity HE has for you:

a. Based on what HE has done FOR YOU

b. NOT what others have done TO you

Dear Lord Jesus,

Thank You for choosing to fulfill prophecy, going through the pain of rejection as You hung on the cross, so You could embrace all my rejection, and all the ways I’ve tried to numb my pain of rejection…

So You could rise again to fulfill Your mission statement to:

• Heal my wounded heart
• Setting me free
• Walking me out of my prison of rejection
• So I can receive Your acceptance
• With my truest, deepest identity as Your son/daughter

In Your Name Jesus, Amen.

Next Time:

How can Jesus relate to parents struggling with a sense of failure, disappointment, anxiety and/or worry about their children when their children have been hurt, betrayed, abused or not walking with the Lord?