What the Bible says about Jesus Christ Despised and Rejected

Despite His welcome into Jerusalem six days before, Jesus knew that He was despised and rejected:

» But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. (Psalms 22:6)

» Look on my right hand and see, for there is no one who acknowledges me; refuge has failed me; no one cares for my soul. (Psalms 142:4)

» Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully. . . . [T]he reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. . . . Those who sit in the gate speak against me, and I am the song of the drunkards. . . . You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; my adversaries are all before You. Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. (Psalms 69:4, 9, 12, 19-20)

Jesus was very much despised. Consider that the Eternal Lord, the very Creator of the whole magnificent universe, was regarded as contemptible and worthless! We recoil from the idea that our Elder Brother, who gave up so very much for us, should be the subject of the songs of drunkards!

» But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. (Luke 17:25)

» He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. . . . He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. (Isaiah 53:3, 8)

These two scriptures prompt some additional questions and points to ponder: To whose generation was Isaiah referring when he asked, "Who will declare His generation?" How extensive was "this generation" in Luke 17:25? Were these terms, "this generation" and "His generation" limited to the time and place of Jesus' human lifetime only, or do they, as the other verses quoted above imply, extend to the whole world over the six thousand years allotted to man's self-rule? Just six thousand years? Yet, even in the Millennium, will there not be those who despise and reject Jesus Christ and His rule (Ezekiel 38; Revelation 20:7-8)? Isaiah 53 tells us first that Jesus is despised—He still is today! He also tells us that Jesus was despised. Has not Jesus in fact been rejected by all of mankind?

In addition to His awareness of the rejection of the world, Jesus also knew that even His closest friends were very weak, spiritually, despite all they had witnessed during their association with Him. He knew that they would stumble or be offended because of Him, forsake Him, and scatter like frightened sheep:

Then Jesus said to them, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered'" . . . Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, "What? Could you not watch with Me one hour" . . . And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. . . . Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him. . . .Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled. (Matthew 26:31, 40, 43, 50, 56)

Worse still, Jesus knew that one of those closest to Him—and He, of course, knew which one—was in the process of betraying Him:

Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me." And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?" Then He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?" He said to him, "You have said it." (Matthew 26:21-25)

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Jesus' Final Human Thoughts (Part One)