Our Understanding Savior

And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words. Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Matthew 27:39-46

Someone you thought deeply cared about you says, “I don’t want to see you again.” You didn’t do or say anything wrong; for whatever reason, the person simply chose to turn away and end the relationship permanently. Maybe you’ve been turned down from the job you felt was perfect, and the interviewer didn’t even have the courtesy to tell you. You had to call the company and find out secondhand from the secretary that someone else was hired.

Rejection in any form is painful. It may take a long time for emotions to heal. The good news is that you have a Savior who knows the intense hurt of rejection. He reaches out to you with a hand that was once torn by nails. He carries your burdens on shoulders that were ripped by scourges and weighted down by the beam of the cross.

Jesus wasn’t just rejected by mankind. When He gave up His spirit on the cross, He shouted the cry of someone utterly abandoned: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Almighty God looked away from His own Son, who bore the guilt of all the sins of the world.

When others turn their backs, cling to the loving and gracious Savior who never lets you go and understands the trauma or rejection.