Ultimate Rejection

About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lemasabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – Matthew 27:46

I have always wondered about today’s passage because the bible tells us that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), yet at the darkest, most painful moment of Jesus’ life He was forsaken, abandoned and rejected. I understand that the full weight of our sins were upon Him and that sin separates us from God, which means that the sin separated Him from the Father. I also believe that out of His amazing love for us, Jesus willingly took our sin penalty so that we could again be in a right relationship with the Father; replacing our sin with His righteousness. But how does knowing this help us believe that God will never leave us nor forsake us?

Throughout His ministry, Jesus was rejected by people who did not believe who He was or the message He taught and did not accept the redemption He offered. He was rejected by family, neighbors and followers when the message was more than they could comprehend or chose to believe. But He experienced the ultimate rejection on the cross when the Father looked away.

But here is the beauty and truth that was demonstrated in that moment; Jesus experienced the ultimate rejection so that we never will.

Yes, we will experience rejection in this life from other people, but as believers we will never experience the Father looking away from us and that’s all because our loving Savior took the ultimate rejection to the grave. He made it possible for us to experience the eternal presence of God. He bridged the gap that our sin created and made a way for us to have daily fellowship with God. He is the reason that we can know with assurance that God will never leave us nor forsake us.

Thank you Jesus for enduring the punishment for my sins. Thank you for taking the rejection, the penalty, that I deserved and replacing it with Your righteousness which gives me a right standing with God. Thank you for making a way for me to have a personal relationship with God. Lord you suffered the ultimate rejection for me and I pray that I will endure the light and momentary sufferings of rejection that I encounter in this life with the same grace, forgiveness and mercy that You did.