Rejected
December 14
“He was despised and rejected by men”
Isaiah 53:3
“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”
John 1:11
“There was no place for them in the inn.”
Luke 2:7
Can you imagine how Joseph and Mary must have felt upon arriving in Bethlehem? After the long, tiring, physical journey, they must have been so relieved upon seeing the city, knowing they’d be able to finally rest. If Mary had begun to have labor pains on the journey, they must have been rather frantic and anxious to get someplace where she could give birth. I have taken many road trips with my family, and it is always so exciting when the miles start getting less and less to your destination and you know you’ll be able to check into a hotel or pull up to a family member’s house and finally be able to relax and unwind after a long day of traveling.
Such would not be the case for Mary and Joseph. There was no place for them. The census was happening, so there would have been a lot of people in Bethlehem needing temporary housing, but certainly you would expect one to make room for Mary and Joseph when they saw how pregnant Mary was. Did Joseph have family in Bethlehem? If that was where he was required to register, you would certainly expect there’d be someone he knew there.
Once again, we see more prophesy fulfilled in God’s perfect and unexpected plan. Isaiah 53:3 told us that the Messiah would be “despised and rejected by men”. Our God came down to become one of us and our very first response to him was rejection. When Jesus was in his most fragile state, we turned our back on him. Was it too inconvenient? Were people too apathetic to care about Mary’s state? Did they know Joseph’s family and hear the rumors of the unwed pregnancy?
30 years later, we will see Jesus despised and rejected again. When Jesus is once again in a most fragile state, this time beaten and nailed to a cross, we turn our back on him once more. But Jesus endured all of this willingly, for the joy he knew was coming. “Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
The joy set before Jesus was conquering Satan, sin and death for us and being seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. The rest and joy that wasn’t found in Bethlehem was found in heaven. And because Jesus faced so much rejection and shame, he purchased that rest and joy for us as well.