God treated Jesus as if He lived your life and mine so He could treat you and me as if we lived the life of Jesus. That’s the glorious Gospel of grace. Sound too good to be true? If so, you are beginning to understand the concept of grace. Unimaginably, the price Jesus paid for our forgiveness through His victory on the Cross included a lifelong experience of rejection.

Consider the following Scriptures:

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. —Psalm 118:22

[Jesus must] be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed. —Mark 8:31

“Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple, and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” —Mark 14:49

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name. —John 1:11–12

What comfort does Jesus’ rejection give you in your struggles?

The Gospels report that no one in Jesus’ family (except his mother, Mary) believed He was the long-awaited Messiah. We even learn that they were embarrassed by Him: “When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, ‘He’s out of his mind’” (Mark 3:21). Family and friends in his hometown of Nazareth went so far as to be “offended by him” and asked, “Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3). And elsewhere, we’re told that “not even his brothers believed in him” (John 7:5). But it wasn’t just Jesus’ family who rejected Him, it was the religious elite who had studied the Scriptures and should’ve been most prepared to identify Jesus as the Messiah.

The religious leaders of Israel comprehensively rejected Jesus, fulfilling His predictions that He would suffer and be rejected “by the elders, chief priests, and the scribes” (Mark 8:31). (Elders were distinguished laymen and financial aristocracy; ruling priests filled the role of High Priest, like Caiaphas, and were usually from Sadducean background; and scribes were mostly Pharisees, such as Gamaliel.) A careful reading of the Gospels reveals the wording of Jesus’ prediction exactly matches the narrative’s events. Jesus’ passion predictions included His understanding that He would face the agony of death and sin alone. They cover historical events and the internal thoughts and emotions of others. Only God can see inside the hearts of men with such precision.

Have you considered that Jesus endured a hopeless situation because of our condition? How does that shape your faith?

But God proves his love for us in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. —Romans 5:8

The death and Resurrection of Jesus included rejection so that you may never be rejected. This may be an excellent opportunity to extend unconditional love to a friend or loved one. Thanks be to God for His grace and that we serve a God of many second chances.

As we conclude, wrap yourself again in the truth of God’s love for you. Jesus knew He would endure rejection (Matthew 26:31). Even His closest friends would “fall away.” Yet, John reminds us, “he loved them to the end” (John 13:1), reminding us of this crucial truth: Jesus loves us perfectly.