Jesus, Rejected by the Jews - March 15, 2023 - Lent Midweek 4 - Text: Isaiah 53:3; John 1:11; John 5:43; Luke 4:29; Luke 17:25; Luke 23:18

This year during the season of Lent through Easter Sunday morning we are continue what we started during our Advent season, that is we are looking at some of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, passages including His life, trials, suffering and crucifixion and finding the New Testament passages that confirm their fulfillment in our Savior, Christ Jesus. Today we continue with Jesus’ rejection by the Jews.
 

About Jesus, the Messiah, speaking through the prophet Isaiah God says, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). Isaiah’s prophecy is that the Messiah, Jesus, would be rejected by His own people. Isaiah’s words of truth were seen way back in Advent when the birth of the king was announced and King Herod sent his men to slaughter all the children two years and under in the area of Bethlehem in order to make sure there was no threat to his throne. Jesus was rejected as the professional clergy, the scribes and the Pharisees continually attacked Him, called Him names and sought ways to do away with Him.
 

Jesus was acquainted with grief as He began His public ministry by being tempted by the devil for forty days in the wilderness. He was grieved as many of His own people refused to believe in Him and even as His own disciples at times did not know what to make of Him. He was most especially acquainted with grief as He suffered being beaten, whipped, mocked, spat upon and nailed to a cross, innocent though He was.
 

Jesus was despised by His own people. By the time of Jesus’ birth and life, the promises of a Savior had turned into earthly promises only, that is earthly promises for a social-political savior. One who would free them from their bondage and rule by the Romans. Perhaps it was the way it was because throughout their history the children of Israel had to be rescued time and again as they would sin and God would allow other nations to discipline them and then would have to rescue them. Perhaps that is why the most important part of the promise of a Savior made in the Garden of Eden, that is the promise of an eternal life in heaven Savior, one who paid the price for sin, was all but forgotten by many in Israel. Yet there were some in Israel who did continue to look for the Savior from sin and did believe Jesus to be that Savior.
 

In his Gospel, John speaks of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy as he speaks of Jesus own people rejecting Him, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11). “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him” (John 5:43). Jesus was born of the line of Jewish descent from the line of Judah and King David. Jesus was a Jew and yet His own people, at least many, did not or would not or even could not believe Him to be the One promised through the line of Abraham. As John so well lays out through the signs, wonders and miracles Jesus performed that He is truly God in human flesh. Yet He is denied by many of His own people and yes even by many people still today.
 

In his Gospel Luke writes of the account of Jesus’ rejection in what was believed to be His hometown. After preaching and offending the people Luke writes, “And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff” (Luke 4:29). As Jesus tells those of His hometown that a prophet is not accepted in his hometown, so Jesus was not accepted in His home town. As He proclaimed the fulfillment of God’s promises so they took offense and became angry with Him, thinking that they knew who He truly was.
 

And so the people tried to kill Him. They rose up in order to take Him and throw Him off the edge of the cliff in order to kill Him. Yet, even in their failed attempt they failed to recognize the truth of His words as Luke relates that He passed through their midst, indeed, as He performed a miraculous feat so as to escape.
 

Later Luke writes further of the rejection of Jesus by His own people as he writes, “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation” (Luke 17:25). And in conjunction with the accusations against Jesus before Pilate and the release of a prisoner Luke writes, “But they all cried out together, ‘Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas’” (Luke 23:18).
 

So, we have Jesus Himself speaking of his rejection, that is as He told His disciples He would tell them what would happen before it happened so that they would believe when it did happen. And it did happen just as He spoke. Jesus was rejected and we have Luke relating of His specific rejection when He is standing before Pilate on trial for being the King of the Jews.
 

Pilate had a custom of releasing one Jewish prisoner at the time of the Passover. He knew that Jesus was brought before him on trumped up charges and because of the jealousy of the Pharisees and so Pilate gives the people the option of a known, proven murderer, Barabbas, or of an innocent, not proven guilty, prophet, Jesus. Being stirred up by the Pharisees the people ask that Barabbas be released and that Jesus be crucified. One may only wonder if Barabbas understood the gravity of the situation, his freedom for the life of an innocent man.
 

What does this mean? Certainly we know who Jesus is. We know that He is the Messiah. As we read and hear the prophecies of old and as we read and hear the witness of the New Testament Gospel writers we know that Jesus is the promised Messiah. We can know for certain that Jesus is the Messiah as the Gospel writers write of His fulfilling the prophecy of God and especially today as we hear of His fulfilling the prophecies of His rejection.
 

Jesus was rejected by many of His own people who would deny His Messiahship. As we said earlier, too many in Israel had given up or forgotten of the most important part of God’s promise of a Savior, that is the forgiveness of sins part, that part in which we are made just and right in God’s eyes so that we may have eternal life with Him in heaven. Too many were too concerned about their lives in this world, their being freed from their bondage by the Romans.
 

Jesus was rejected by His own people and what may be the worst case scenario was that He was innocent and Barabbas was guilty and yet the people asked that Barabbas be released and Jesus be crucified. Certainly the people were stirred up by the Pharisees and certainly as is usually the case with mob violence, they had no idea of what they were doing or for what they were asking. Yet, in all that took place, God’s hand directed these events for us and for our salvation.
 

And so, Jesus was put to death for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us. In His perfection, and because of His perfection, Jesus took our sins, all our sins, our sins of omission and our sins of commission, our sins of thought, work and deed, and the sins of all people, of all places, of all times, upon Himself and paid the complete price for all sin.
 

The price for sin set in the Garden of Eden was death, human death for human sin and that is what Jesus paid. He paid the price for our sins for us, in our place by giving His life for ours. Though one man, Adam, sin entered the world and yet, through one man, Jesus, forgiveness was earned and paid for, for all people.
 

Not only did Jesus pay the price for sin, He also gives us the forgiveness He paid for and earned so that we have eternal life with Him in heaven. Indeed, all sins have been paid for and all forgiveness is given to us. Our only option would be to refuse and reject His forgiveness which many do by not confessing our sins and by not believing that Jesus accomplished all that needs to be done in other words believing that we need to do something because what Jesus did was not enough.
 

Thanks be to God that He sends His Holy Spirit to come to us through His Holy Word, through Holy Baptism, through Holy Absolution and through His Holy Supper to lavish us with all the gifts and blessings He has to give; to give us forgiveness, to give us faith, to strengthen our faith and to give us life and salvation. And He stirs in us to rejoice and say, to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.