The rejection of Jesus Christ is a significant theme throughout the New Testament, highlighting the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and the spiritual blindness of many during His earthly ministry. Despite His divine nature, miraculous works, and profound teachings, Jesus faced rejection from various groups, including religious leaders, His own people, and even His disciples at times.

Prophetic Foundations

The rejection of the Messiah was foretold by the prophets. Isaiah 53:3 describes the suffering servant as "despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief." This prophecy underscores the anticipated rejection that Jesus would face. Psalm 118:22 also speaks of the stone the builders rejected becoming the cornerstone, a passage Jesus Himself referenced in Matthew 21:42 to illustrate His rejection by the Jewish leaders.

Rejection by Religious Leaders

The Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes were among the most vocal opponents of Jesus. They perceived Him as a threat to their authority and traditions. In John 11:47-48 , the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council, expressing concern that Jesus' growing influence could lead to Roman intervention. Their rejection culminated in their plot to arrest and crucify Him, as seen in Matthew 26:3-4 .

Rejection by His Own People

Jesus' rejection extended beyond the religious elite to the broader Jewish populace. In John 1:11 , it is stated, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." This rejection is poignantly illustrated in Luke 4:28-29 , where the people of Nazareth, His hometown, attempted to throw Him off a cliff after He proclaimed the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in their hearing.

Rejection by Disciples and Followers

Even among His followers, Jesus experienced moments of rejection. In John 6:66 , after a difficult teaching, "many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him." This highlights the challenge of accepting the full message of Christ, which often conflicted with personal expectations and desires.

Rejection at the Crucifixion

The ultimate act of rejection occurred at the crucifixion. Despite Pilate's attempts to release Jesus, the crowd demanded His crucifixion, choosing Barabbas, a known criminal, over the sinless Christ (Matthew 27:20-23). This public rejection fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53 and demonstrated the depth of humanity's spiritual blindness.

Spiritual Implications

The rejection of Jesus is not merely a historical event but carries profound spiritual implications. It serves as a reminder of the human tendency to resist divine truth and the necessity of faith to overcome spiritual blindness. Jesus' rejection also underscores the cost of discipleship, as He warned His followers that they too would face rejection for His name's sake (John 15:18-20).

Conclusion

The rejection of Jesus Christ is a multifaceted theme that reveals the fulfillment of prophecy, the hardness of human hearts, and the profound love of God in offering salvation despite humanity's resistance. This theme invites reflection on personal acceptance or rejection of Christ's message and the implications for one's spiritual journey.Psalm 2:1-3
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
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Psalm 118:22
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
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Isaiah 6:9,10
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear you indeed, but understand not; and see you indeed, but perceive not.
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Isaiah 8:14
And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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Isaiah 49:4
Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.
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Isaiah 50:1-11
Thus said the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have you sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
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Isaiah 53:1-4
Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
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Matthew 7:26,27
And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened to a foolish man, which built his house on the sand:
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Matthew 8:12,34
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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Matthew 10:14,15,33
And whoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
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Matthew 11:16-19
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like to children sitting in the markets, and calling to their fellows,
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Matthew 12:38-45
Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from you.
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Matthew 13:3-14,58
And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
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Matthew 17:17
Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him here to me.
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Matthew 21:32,38-45
For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and you, when you had seen it, repented not afterward, that you might believe him.
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Matthew 22:2-13
The kingdom of heaven is like to a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
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Matthew 26:31-35,69-75
Then said Jesus to them, All you shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
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Mark 5:17
And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
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Mark 6:3-6
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
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Mark 12:1-12
And he began to speak to them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and dig a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to farmers, and went into a far country.
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Mark 14:27-31,66-72
And Jesus said to them, All you shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
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Mark 16:16
He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned.
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Luke 6:46-49
And why call you me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
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Luke 7:30-35
But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.
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Luke 8:37
Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about sought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again.
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Luke 10:16
He that hears you hears me; and he that despises you despises me; and he that despises me despises him that sent me.
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Luke 11:23-26
He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathers not with me scatters.
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Luke 13:34
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kill the prophets, and stone them that are sent to you; how often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen does gather her brood under her wings, and you would not!
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Luke 14:16-24
Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
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Luke 17:25
But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
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Luke 19:42
Saying, If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things which belong to your peace! but now they are hid from your eyes.
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Luke 20:9-18
Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to farmers, and went into a far country for a long time.
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Luke 22:31-34,54-62,67
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
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Luke 24:11,15-25,37-39
And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.
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John 1:11
He came to his own, and his own received him not.
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John 3:11,12,18,19,32
Truly, truly, I say to you, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and you receive not our witness.
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John 5:38,40,43
And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he has sent, him you believe not.
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John 6:36,60-68
But I said to you, That you also have seen me, and believe not.
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John 7:3-5,12,13,15,25-27
His brothers therefore said to him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that your disciples also may see the works that you do.
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John 8:13,21,22,24-30,45-47,53
The Pharisees therefore said to him, You bore record of yourself; your record is not true.
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John 9:16,17,24
Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keeps not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
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John 10:20,21,24,33
And many of them said, He has a devil, and is mad; why hear you him?
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John 11:46-48
But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.
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John 12:37,48
But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
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John 15:18,20,24
If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.
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John 18:15-27
And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known to the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.
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Acts 13:46
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, see, we turn to the Gentiles.
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Acts 18:5,6
And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
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Acts 22:18
And saw him saying to me, Make haste, and get you quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive your testimony concerning me.
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Acts 28:24,25,27
And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
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Romans 3:3
For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
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Romans 9:31,32
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.
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Romans 10:16,21
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias said, Lord, who has believed our report?
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1 Corinthians 1:18,23
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but to us which are saved it is the power of God.
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2 Timothy 2:12
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
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Hebrews 6:6
If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
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Hebrews 10:29
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite to the Spirit of grace?
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1 Peter 2:4,7,8
To whom coming, as to a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
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2 Peter 2:1
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
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1 John 2:22,23
Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son.
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2 John 1:7
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
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Jude 1:4
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Marcion Rejected the Preceding Portion of St. Luke's Gospel ...
... Book IV. In Which Tertullian Pursues His Argument. Jesus is the Christ of the Creator.
Chapter VII."Marcion Rejected the Preceding Portion of St. ...
/.../the five books against marcion/chapter vii marcion rejected the preceding.htm

How the Apostle's Preaching was Rejected by Jews and Gentiles ...
... these wicked men rejected, which the ears of the faithless could not endure; viz.,
that the birth of God should be proclaimed in the man Jesus Christ, that the ...
/.../cassian/the seven books of john cassian /chapter ix how the apostles.htm

The Master Rejected: the Servants Sent Forth
... THE MASTER REJECTED: THE SERVANTS SENT FORTH. ... The new instrument which Christ fashions
to cope with unbelief. What does Jesus do when thus 'wounded in the house ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture d/the master rejected the servants.htm

Jesus Before the Jewish Rulers. Ch. 22:63-71
... After Jesus had been denied by Peter, he was grossly insulted and abused by his
captors. ... When Christ is rejected, when his teachings are despised, when his ...
/.../erdman/the gospel of luke an exposition/f jesus before the jewish.htm

Rejected in his Own Country
... Yet if, as it would seem, Nazareth rejected Christ because He was not a person of ...
The perfect and lowly humanity of Jesus is a stumbling block to some who will ...
/.../chadwick/the gospel of st mark/chapter 6 1-6 rejected in his.htm

Dialogue of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho
... Chapter CXXXII.--How great the power was of the name of Jesus in the Old Testament. ...
Chapter CXXXVI.--The Jews, in rejecting Christ, rejected God who sent him. ...
/.../justin/dialogue of justin philosopher and martyr with trypho/

The Millennium in Relation to Christ.
... King of the Jews." But as we have seen, Israel rejected their King and crucified
Him. And what we now desire to emphasize is, that, Jesus Christ has never yet ...
/.../pink/the redeemers return/2 the millennium in relation.htm

The Judicial Severity of Christ and the Tenderness of the Creator ...
... Book IV. In Which Tertullian Pursues His Argument. Jesus is the Christ
of the Creator. ... Christ, the Stone Rejected by the Builders. ...
/.../the five books against marcion/chapter xxxv the judicial severity of.htm

Despised and Rejected of Men.
... CHAPTER XLI. DESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN. ... "I adjure thee by the living God, that
thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God!" Jesus said,. ...
/.../lathbury/childs story of the bible/chapter xli despised and rejected.htm

The Knowledge of Jesus Christ the Best Knowledge
... fire, and, consequently, will be rejected by him. Farther, as our devotions to God
will not, so neither, without this knowledge of Jesus Christ, will our acts ...
/.../selected sermons of george whitefield/the knowledge of jesus christ.htm

Who is Jesus Christ? | GotQuestions.org

Is there power in the name of Jesus? | GotQuestions.org

Is Jesus God? Did Jesus ever claim to be God? | GotQuestions.org

Jesus: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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