He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:3-6
Would We Be A Part Of The Chaos?
So many hated Jesus. Why? What was it about Him that caused them to reject Him? We think about our lives on this day and wonder would we have rejected Jesus, shunned Him because He was different, because we did not agree with what He was saying? Would we as a society have plotted to kill Him? Would Jesus make us feel uncomfortable today, as He did some people as He walked this earth Incarnate, God in the flesh? What about Jesus makes you feel uncomfortable? We muse on these things today as we remember Jesus and as we think of how we treat people in our day. Jesus did everything possible to disrupt the chaos of strife and He was a Peace-Maker in every situation you find Him in. We need to be so, even if we are rejected and despised, we can cling to Jesus, dig our life roots deeply in Him and usher in His peace that disrupts chaos, into every relationship we find ourselves in.Listen up to this 1 Minute Encouragement Video On Wisdom About Disrupting Chaos In Your Life:
Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Hebrews 12:14-15
Do We Do This? Conditions? Rejection?
You don’t like someone, maybe it is their personality, maybe it is that they are loud or confident in themselves, and the way they are shaped, it just rubs you the wrong way. You don’t like them; you don’t want them in your life, and you definitely don’t want them to speak into your life. It is not about anything they have done, because they have served you at every opportunity given, it is just something about their design, the way God shaped (Psalm 139) them in personality, that is not like you, and it makes you feel uncomfortable like iron that sharpens iron. (Proverbs 27:17) Feeling awkward, what does the human condition do, it tries to shape others like they are designed, shape them in your image, because you are comfortable with who you are, but not who they are. Do we do this? Instead of loving people unconditionally, we put conditions on them to try to make them like us, in our image, in our shape, in our personality, because that is comfortable for us. Some people may not be easy to be around, because they are not designed or shaped in personality like us, and we have to step out of our comfort zone when they are around us because they are just not likable to us.
According to Matthew 4:13, Jesus left Nazareth, where He was rejected, and dwelt in Capernaum where He was accepted. Because Jesus was rejected by His own family and neighbors, He said in Matthew 13.57 -- "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house." Mark 5:17
Rejection? Experienced It? Dished It Out?
Everyone is made in the image of God, (Genesis 1:26-27) and His Word is written on our hearts, (Jeremiah 33:31-34) yet each of us is different and uniquely gifted and talented. Our personalities were shaped to be different, so we could be on mission with Jesus, and reach people for God’s Kingdom. There are people designed by God where you know He broke the mold, there is no one else like them, and they can reach people for Jesus that you can’t even begin to reach. God purposefully shaped us differently in design, personality, shaped us with specific gifts and talents. Some people accept the uniqueness God has shaped into people, others reject it. Some people even go to the extreme to try to change others because they are so uncomfortable with the way God has designed them, and the mission He has given them. Jesus felt this and knew there were places and people who did not want him there or who did not accept Him and even some who wanted to kill Him. Even Jesus was not wanted or accepted and this is something we also will experience. This kind of conditional rejection, is a heartache that should change us for the better, this conditional acceptance by others, because of the way we are shaped, it should make us even more diligent to embrace the God purpose in each person we have a divine relationship encounter with. God sets people together, quite possibly because iron sharpens iron and makes us better people, more like Him.
Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.” John 11:45-48
Are We Self Righteous? Are We Bitter?
Jesus served and loved people, meeting their needs, healing them, sharing the Father God with them, and loving them well with the heavenly provisions of truth and life. Jesus did things that made people stand in Awe of Him, the miracles, teaching in the temple, as He was anointed beyond measure. Did they know He was God in the flesh? No, this was hidden from them. To them He was just a very anointed, Prophet, a Teacher, a very, very unusual and gifted man. Yet, some of them knew as God revealed to them, He was the Son of God. Religious leaders despised Him because He did not fit the mold they were trying to shape people in and they wanted to get rid of Him because He made them feel uncomfortable. Those who wanted to kill Jesus did not understand Him, could not look past their traditions, as Jesus was doing something new, and they did not like the things He was doing and saying, it scared them because they could not control Him. Human nature doesn’t change much over the years, as we can see in our own lives that people are rejected for the way God has shaped them. Human beings put our self-righteous, condescending, human condition on display, and parade it for the world to see at the center of our nations, as we see the disdain we have for each other played out as people wound people, so they can cancel them for position, power and fame. One of the best lessons during Holy Week was Jesus and how He Jwas not bitter about the way He was treated, Jesus was forgiving! The root of bitterness can turn you into a very judgmental, self-righteous person that makes horrible decisions in order to feed the bitterness within. Listen Up To This 1 Minute Encouragement Video:
Are We People Of Truth~Do We Falsely Indite Others
People plot and make up false indictments in order to get others out of their lives, people they can’t control, people they don’t’ understand, people that make them feel uncomfortable because they are not shaped like them. Get them out of our lives at all cost, this is what the human condition does and thinks that It is better for us, if this person who makes us feel uncomfortable, doesn’t speak like we want Him too, doesn’t act like we want Him to, is different from what we think he should be and causes strife between us. This One Who has served and loved us, it is better for us if he was just not around, so let’s ghost him out of our lives. Have you been there and done this in your way, in your day? Have you tried to make someone in your image and failed, so you falsely accuse them to try to get them out of your life? Sound familiar: It is better for us if they are not in our life, so let’s falsely indict them, as they did to Jesus.
Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world. Jn 11:49-52
Dig Deeper Into The Wisdom Of Disrupting Chaos
Look at my servant, whom I strengthen. He is my chosen one, who pleases me. I have put my Spirit upon him. He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or raise his voice in public. He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged. He will not falter or lose heart until justice prevails throughout the earth. Even distant lands beyond the sea will wait for his instruction. Isaiah 42:1-4
Chaos Ahead! God Navigation Needed!
Thank you for stopping into The Bridegroom’s Cafe and nourishing your soul at The Miraculous Musing Table. We hope your spiritual meal today was thoroughly filling and your energy and passion is renewed. Please share this spiritual meal with someone else on your Social Media Platform, stop and do that right now, we so appreciate it. The Bridegroom’s Voice is the best Voice we could hear in times such as these and we are grateful for it. God bless you, Much, KimberlyMac