On the Road to Jerusalem: Despised & Rejected

“He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”

—Isaiah 53:3

God’s love is incredible, and our ability to avoid it is deplorable. Isaiah prophesied of God’s coming Messiah. He would be despised and rejected by men, which Jesus was. Though loved by the crowds during His three-year ministry, He was still condemned as a criminal and killed. The same crowds that had gathered to exalt Him on Palm Sunday were the very same crowds calling for His crucifixion on Good Friday.

Two thousand years haven’t changed much in the hearts of men either. Mention the name of Jesus in public and men nod their heads. His is the only name that’s not allowed in schools or government. His name is so controversial that the very holiday named after Him (Christmas) can’t be said by workers in department stores, replaced by the bland and benign, “Happy Holiday’s.”

He is so controversial because His claims are so monumental. He claims to have authority over our lives. In fact, He claims to be the God of the universe. Such claims smack of arrogance or outright lunacy, provided of course, that they aren’t true. But if they are, then all bets are off. As C.S. Lewis brilliantly described it,

“Now, he says, it’s one thing for you to steal $5 from me and me say, ‘I forgive you.’ But what on earth do you say if somebody had stole $5 from you and I said, ‘I forgive them’?

And then there is the time that almost seems to slip out by accident when Jesus is looking down on Jerusalem from the hill above and suddenly says, ‘I keep sending you prophets and wise men.’ As Lewis notes, ‘Nobody comments on it. And yet, quite suddenly, almost incidentally, He is claiming to be the power that all through the centuries is ending wise men and leaders into the world.’

And then there is another curious remark. In almost every religion there are unpleasant observances like fasting. This Man suddenly remarks, “No one need fast while I am here.’ Who is this Man who remarks that His mere presence suspends all normal rules? Who is the person who can suddenly tell the School they can have a half-holiday? Sometimes the statements put forward the assumption that He, the Speaker, is completely without sin or fault. This is always the attitude. ‘You, to whom I am talking, are sinners,’ and He never remotely suggests that this same reproach can be brought against Him. He says again, ‘I am begotten of the One God, before Abraham was, I am,’ and remember what the words ‘I am’ were in Hebrew. They were the name of God, which must not be spoken by any human being, the name which it was death to utter.’

Well, that is the other side. On the one side clear, definite moral teaching. On the other, claims which, if not true, are those of a megalomaniac, compared with whom Hitler was the most sane and humble of men. There is no half-way house and there is no parallel in other religions. If you had gone to Buddha and asked him ‘Are you the son of Bramah?’ he would have said, ‘My son you are in the vale of illusion.’ … If you had gone to Mohammed and asked, ‘Are you Allah?’ he would first have rent his clothes and then cut your head off. … The idea of a great moral teacher saying what Christ said is out of the question. In my opinion, the only person who can say that sort of thing is either God or a complete lunatic suffering from that form of delusion which undermines the whole mind of man. If you think you are a poached egg, when you are looking for a piece of toast to suit you, you may be sane; but if you think you are God, there is no chance for you. We may note in passing that He was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not have that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced mainly three effects – Hatred – Terror – Adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval."

Or again Lewis says, "Jesus told people that their sins were forgiven. This only makes sense if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. I am trying here to prevent the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

Jesus is the divine Son of God who came to give Himself to us! We cannot ignore Him. We can reject Him, we can hate Him, but we cannot ignore Him. He either was who He said He was—the divine Son of God, or the biggest nut job the world has ever seen. And with the full authority of Scripture, I believe He was God’s Christ who came to save us. We rejected and despised Him because His claims meant that He had authority over our lives. Our only hope is to humbly come and embrace Him as Savior and Lord of All. Amen.