Tuesday, April 16, 2013

April 17, 2013

"He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God."  John 1:11-13
 
Sadly ironic isn't it?
 
Jesus came from Heaven where He was not only accepted but exalted and worshipped to earth where He would be largely rejected. As the Prophet Isaiah foretold, "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem." Isaiah 53:3
 
If anyone SHOULD have been accepted it would have been Jesus, the Son of God Who shared in the creation of the world. Don't you agree? But clearly, these Scriptures tell us He wasn't.

On further thought, acceptance implies among other things, belonging. From that standpoint Jesus didn't really belong here, He belonged in Heaven. He certainly didn't belong in a feed trough in a stable in a tiny place like Bethlehem. Nor did He belong on a cruel cross beaten to a pulp though innocent and holy. The Son of God was out of place in a borrowed tomb for three days.

Maybe those are reasons to exlpain why He wasn't accepted even by His own. Maybe He wasn't accepted because He didn't belong. Maybe He was too good for this planet.

This wasn't a surprise to Jesus. He was well aware of Isaiah's prophecy when He came to earth. Not only did He know He would be rejected and reviled and crucified, it was the very reason He came!

What if He HAD fit in? What if He would have been accepted and lauded? What if he had been wildly popular and loved by all the religious establishment? Either He would not have been crucified OR it would have made it MUCH harder for Him to have submitted to such a degrading torturous death.

He had to be rejected on earth so you would have a chance to belong in Heaven. It isn't important that He be accepted by all those who rejected Him but it is extremely important for Him to be accepted by you!

".......Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God....."