December 2nd

Daily Reading

Psalm 69:8

Even my own brothers pretend they don’t know me; they treat me like a stranger.

Isaiah 53:3

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.

John 1:11

He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.

John 7:5

For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

(Readings taken from Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/ New Living Translation)

God despised

The word ‘despise’ is harshly descriptive.

Scorned. Disdained. Loathed.

The words conjure dark and heavy imagery.

It seems absurd that the very people Jesus came to love and heal and help, might respond with such bitterness.

Ugliness.

As we meditate on these readings, we’re invited to revisit the complexity of Jesus’ task.

If Jesus is so good – why did his own people crucify him?

If Jesus’ own people did not crucify him, would he be so good?

Jesus came to be our Saviour, a gift that required laying down his life. A task that required someone despise him, in order to fulfil his mission.

Hate, disdain and loathing however, are not characteristics of God. They are attributes of a fallen world. Markers of sin. They are evil responses governed by greed and power and self-gratification. A faulty kingdom.

God, is Love.

Jesus incarnates Love.

It is not then his people who hate, loath and reject him, it is their brokenness.

It is my brokenness.

Despite the grief, Jesus willingly accepts the hideous hate of his people, knowing it is the only way to break the curse of their ugly sin.

Of our ugly sin.

For me it is a breath-taking truth that Jesus endured rejection, that I might experience Love.