Handling Rejection

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Scripture Text:  Mark 6:1-6

Mark 6:4

And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”

(ESV)

A scan of the headlines, especially the political headlines, illustrates the divided culture in which we live.  With each side of an issue entrenched in their beliefs, the result is a rejection of the ideas of the other side.  However, when this rejection becomes personal with the rejection of the person as well as his or her ideas, rejection begins to tear apart any hope of resolution of differences.  Jesus had the ability to reject ungodly ideas and beliefs while accepting the one having these beliefs by dying for them on the cross.  Jesus rejected ungodly ideas through his teaching backed by signs and wonders telling who he was.  His death on the cross provides a bridge of acceptance of sinners while rejecting their sin. 

The context of Mark 6:1-6 is Jesus in His hometown with His disciples.  Jesus begins to teach in the synagogue, astonishing the audience (Mark 6:1-2).  This was nothing unusual for Jesus’ teachings often astonished His audience (Matthew 7:28; Matthew 22:33; Mark 1:22; Luke 4:32).  However, this time Jesus is teaching those in His hometown where he grew up.  While scripture tells us little of Jesus childhood only providing the account of the boy Jesus in the temple when He was twelve (Luke 2:41-52), those in Nazareth had familiarity with Jesus’ childhood.  Perhaps they remembered seeing the boy playing in the streets with the other children, possibly some of them.  Perhaps they remembered the boy helping Joseph in the carpenter's shop or going with His mother to the market. 

The source of their rejection of Jesus was from not being able to believe that this young child of a simple carpenter could have such great wisdom.  Even though they heard the wisdom of Jesus’ teaching and were aware of the miracles performed in His ministry, their lack of understanding and believing in who Jesus was has prevented Jesus from doing any miracles in His hometown (Mark 6:3-5).  In fact, their lack of belief amazed Jesus (Mark 6:6). 

We too can experience rejection when we make the decision to make Jesus our savior.  This passage provides guidance on how we can handle this rejection.  The passage tells us,

1)      To focus on the mission of sharing the Gospel and making disciples (Mark 6:1-2; Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20) – God respects each person’s freedom of choice.  Therefore, when sharing the Gospel with someone, we have no control over whether they accept it or not for that is a personal choice.  Their rejection is not of us but our message and God who sent His Son to die for their sins.  Our calling from God is as messengers sharing the Good News of Salvation from God through Jesus. 

2)      To ignore feelings of inadequacy (Mark 6:3) – While Jesus as the Son of God had no reason to feel inadequate, we have a history of sin that the enemy uses to make us feel inadequate.  However, Jesus death on the cross has set us free from this history (John 8:36).  We must fill the gaps of our inadequacies with the truth of the Bible so we can ignore our feelings of inadequacy and any rejection due to someone pointing them out, remembering that they are rejecting God, not us.

3)      That those closest to us may reject us the most (Mark 6:4) – Those closest to us know our inadequacies and history and as such have ammunition to provide our greatest rejection.  While rejection from those closest to us can be emotionally devastating, we must follow Jesus example and continue sharing the Gospel with others (Mark 6:6).  When rejected by those closest to us we must pray that God sends someone else that they connect with. 

There was rejection in Jesus time, and it continues today but we must follow Jesus’ example by pressing on with the mission God has given us.  Jesus commanded the church, which is the people and not the building, to share the Gospel and make disciples.  Jesus would not have commanded us to do that without equipping us.  He has given us the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Bible which are more than adequate for the task.  We, therefore, must ignore rejection and not take it personally so we can share the life-changing message of the Gospel with a world in need.