Rejected by All, Loved by God

Psalm 22: 9-31    Luke 22: 1-5,54-63,23: 21

 

Universal Rejection

With easter time approaching we hasten our journey to see the cross.

Jesus Christ faced universal rejection, which culminated in his being handed over to face death on the cross. He had predicted this (Luke 18: 31-34). Now as the passover drew near (Luke 22) the troops began to join forces against the Son of Man.

On every side the Son of Man faced rejection. Even from within his own inner circle large cracks emerge, betrayal, denial, shameful rejection and bitter opposition, until all the people cried as one: "Crucify Him! Crucify Him." (Luke 23: 21)

We discover the world's attitude, including ourselves as part of the world, towards Jesus. The people of this world reject the lordship of Jesus Christ!

The people of this world universally consent to His crucifixion, sharing guilt, because we love our own corruptions more than we love the goodness of God. This is the reality of our universe.

Pilate's protest, in Luke 23: 22, is "Why, What crime has he committed?" But with universal insistence they mercilessly demanded His crucifixion.

This is where we are all at, sadly. Motivated by our sin, we are all inclined to reject the One God sent to be Saviour and Lord. This is the bad news.

Yet God has good news out of this bad news. "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah" (Acts 2: 36).

What brought about Christ's Lordship? This has occurred because God has not acted democratically, treating Jesus according to our unified opinion. to the contrary, though Jesus is universally rejected by men, he is approved by God.

How do we know this? God raised Him from the dead and made Him Lord of us all. It is us who need to change to line up with God's opinion.

Thus God is calling on us to change our verdict and accept Jesus as Lord and recognise His death as God's method of our salvation.