(When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? Luke 7:29-31
“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Luke 9:22
For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. Luke 17:24-26
But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’? Luke 20:17
Rejected. How was Jesus able to walk through that extremely difficult time? Being rejected is extremely crushing to one’s soul. And the emotions that come with rejection can affect every part of your being. How close must we be to the Father and drawing from Him to sustain us through periods of rejection?
Jesus knew rejection. His closest friends left Him at His most difficult point of suffering and rejection. In fact Peter cursed and denied Him three times. Jesus HAD to be drawing from all the times the Father and Him spent working out things in prayer. Jesus had to be communing with the Holy Spirit for encouragement and strength as He faced that terrible beating and excruciating physical and emotional suffering. The time in the garden showed us the stress He personally was facing and trying to navigate.
Rejection gets tougher as it shows up in the closer circles of our lives. It’s one thing to be rejected by those who don’t really know you, but when it begins to show up in areas like your work, friends, family, and spouse …the situation is much more difficult to deal with. The closer the relationship the deeper the rejection is felt. The relationship between Peter and Jesus had to be resolved. Jesus wanted for Peter to know the deepest part of the issue that caused the rejection. It can be studied out in the Greek if you want revelation on how Jesus revealed Peter’s issue (Jesus’ meeting and discussion with Peter on the beach – John 21). And Jesus was willing to meet Peter where he was. It was after Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit that he began to understand what Jesus was trying to get him to realize. And Peter finally made the ‘commitment to death’ for his life in Jesus.
How do you navigate rejection? Who do you turn to? Can you hear the Holy Spirit when He tries to point out things to you? Can you hear Him well enough to hear Him tell you about your deepest wounds?
We are facing the time of refining, because of the ‘hour’. Are you willing to face the ugliest part of yourself? Can He lead you through those things?