By E. L. Thornton
Isa 53:3
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lords of lords. He came the first time in humility and was rejected. He lay in another’s manger, in a borrowed barn. In the time of His ministry He had no were to lay His head. He rode anothers colt, the colt of a donkey, into Jerusalem. He died on another’s cross, and He was buried in a borrowed grave, His body wrapped it linen that was not His. His origin was from the smallest town in Judea. He was born amid shame and disgrace. Yes, He came the first time in humility.
His second coming will be with power and with glory. The very clouds of heaven will be His chariot that He rides on. He will be escorted by ten thousands of His saints. John said he saw Him and He was dressed in gold, proclaiming, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of hell and of death.” He comes wiping all tears from our eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things have past away. He comes proclaiming to the saints, “You’ve been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many.” Yes! His second coming will be with power and glory, and the rejected One will become the ruling One.
He was, and is rejected.
I. REJECTED BY WHOM:
The prophet Isaiah prophesied that He would be rejected. How dismal, and depressing, and doleful, and discouraging, it must have been to Jesus, to read Isaiah, and realize that this was speaking of Himself. He lived a life of hopelessness, knowing that in just a few short years His life would be over. He loved life as much as any of us, for He prayed to be delivered from His death, but He said, “nevertheless, thy will be done.
He may have made a glorious entry into Jerusalem one day, but just a few days afterward the same crowd would be crying “Crucify Him!” How ironic that their hearts could be changed so quickly.
The initial rejection of Jesus was by the Jewish people. He wept over Jerusalem because the people of that city had rejected Him. He came that men “might have life, and they might have it more abundantly”(John 10:10), but the Life – giver was spurned.
Pg. 2
“THE PRICE OF REJECTING JESUS”
John 1:10-11
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Not only was Jesus rejected by the Jews, He was rejected by the Gentiles, and He is still rejected by many people today. I’m not speaking about the rejection of sinners only, but speak to every one that God has give a call to and that didn’t obey. I wonder how many people that are in this building now have rejected Jesus in some fashion.
II. WHY WAS JESUS REJECTED:
Why would any member of the human family reject Jesus?
God controls the animal and the flowl kingdoms. They obeyed Him when Noah finished the ark. But God has give man the ability of choice, and it will be the ability of choice that will doom the majority of humanity.
Why did His followers leave Him while He was teaching? John 6:66-67
66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
This question can probably never be answered adequately, It makes no sense at all to reject One so kind and loving yet it does happen. Perhaps Jesus gave us the best insight to the reason why some reject Him. John 3:19-20
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
III. THE PRICE OF REJECTION:
When the plants of our cities have turned out their last finished work;
When the merchants have sold their last yard of silk, and dismissed the last tired clerk;
When the banks have raked in their last dollar, and paid their last dividend;
When the Judge of earth says, ‘CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT”, and asked for a balance, What then?
Pg. 3
“THE PRICE OF REJECTION”
When the choir has sang its last song, and the preacher has prayed his last prayer,
When the people have hear their last sermon, and the sound has died out in the air;
When the bible lies closed on the pulpit, and the pews are all empty of men,
And each stands facing his record, and the great book in opened, What then?
When the actors have played their last drama, and the mimic has made his last fun
When the film has flashed its last picture, and the billboard displayed its last run;
When the crowds seeking pleasure have gone off into darkness again,
When the trumpet of ages has sounded, and we stand before God, What then.
When the bugle call sinks into silence, and the marching columns are still,
When the captain repeats his last orders, and they’ve captured the last hill;
When the flag has been hauled from the mast head, and the wounded checked in,
And a world that rejected its Savior is asked for a reason, What then?
You may reject my words today, you may reject the voice of God as He speaks to you with conviction, but you will not reject God, nor His words, on judgment day. God deals with you with choice today, but at the great judgment He will disseminate His words with force. You will obey His voice.
When Jesus made the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, it was on a lowly donkey. When he returns as Kings of kings, He will be riding a white horse. (Rev. 19:11)
Long before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah prophesied, “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return (I will not change my mind), that unto me every knee shall bow and every tounge shall confess the Jesus is Lord.” (Isaiah 45:23)
When Jesus comes as King of kings, He will come clothed with a vesture dipped in blood (Rev. 19:13). Those who have rejected Him will see the blood and know its true meaning, but it will be too late.
