Rejected

They rose up, dragged Jesus out of town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over a cliff... -Luke 4:29

Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth.

Imagine Jesus being pushed, dragged, and about to be thrown over a cliff? What a very harsh and ruthless thing to do to anyone... especially if that person does nothing wrong and just says the Truth about who He is. While reading this verse, I saw a vivid image in my head of such thing. It was just plain wrong - doing something like that to a God.

I've never seen the relevance of this passage in my life until today. I knew that every time I chanced upon this story in the Bible before, I easily judged those Nazareans for being so blind, for not seeing Jesus for who He really is... For rejecting a God because of their selfishness and pride.

But this morning, it had a different effect on me. I realized that I am not different from those Nazareans. I actually saw myself, my sinful self in them. I realized that every time I sin, I push Jesus away, the same way they did thousands of years ago. Every time I sin, I drag and force Jesus to the edge of that cliff. Every time I sin, I drive those long nails through His hands and feet. Every time I sin, I reject my loving God.

The verse above was very graphic that I just can't get the scene out of my head. It dawned on me how I have done such act so many times. I imagined myself pushing Jesus (literally) away from my side when all He wants is to be close to me and to love me. I felt guilty and unworthy. I felt sad and ashamed because it seems like I was one of those who conspired about His death on the cross. I was an instrument to the crime that happened 2000 years back. I felt sorry for treating Jesus terribly and inhumanely. He did not, and won't ever deserve anything like that.

"Prophets are never welcomed in their hometown." Yes, I now get what Jesus meant when He said that. He expected the people from His own town, His very own kababayans, to welcome Him with open arms and accept Him as the Messiah BUT they ended up to be the ones who did not want to do anything with Him... that they easily shut Him out from their lives. And when they told Him to ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’ Jesus just could not because they were not ready for His miracles and blessings. They were simply not ready for Him.

In the same way,  we, His children, His friends, His brothers and sisters, His beloved, are the ones He expects to love Him completely, to accept Him fully, and to spare Him from any hurt BUT we are the same people who do otherwise. How ironic, right? Just as how easy it is for us to hurt those whom we love most or how easy it is for those who love us most to hurt us (so deeply), it is just so easy to hurt and turn our backs on Jesus when we sin. And whenever we reject Him, we prevent ourselves from seeing His miracles and close ourselves from His blessings. How sad is that?

I am now convicted to be stronger in my faith and to do everything to avoid sin because I just could not take pushing Jesus to the edge of the cliff and dragging Him out of my life. I know it is not easy, especially when I am already at the face of temptation... But every time I reach that crossroad between good and bad, life and sin, I'll remember that image and hopefully, gather the courage to choose life in His fold.

Ciao!