We have all experienced ‘rejection’ at one time or another or one form or another.
It may have been something very minor or it may have been so devastating that it affected your whole life and all of your relationships.
Here are some common examples: you were not chosen to play on a sports team, you were teased during your school years, you were publicly humiliated, not allowed in group or not asked to join a group, you were not given a job you applied for, or you were laid off from your job for no good reason.
Some painful examples: Knowing you were an unwanted child, growing up without ever feeling love from one or both of your parents, growing up in a home where your parents divorced, being the object of abuse (verbal, physical or even sexual), having a brother or sister favored above you, our dealing with the pain of a divorce.
Psalm 118:22-23-The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
Matthew 21:42-44-Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.
And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
Acts 4:8-12-Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:
If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well,
let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.
This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The cornerstone was the most important stone in Solomon's temple, Christ is compared to its cornerstone, and He built His church on the rock foundation truth that He was the Divine Son of God sent from heaven, Israel's appointed Messiah.
The interpretation is sure, that Jesus would build a new kind of temple, a living spiritual temple for both Jews and Gentiles; and Christ would build this new temple on Himself as the Divine Son of God.
1 Peter 2:4-8-Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,”
and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
"Man's rejection can be God's direction. God sometimes uses the rejection of hateful people to move us to a new place or assignment--where we wouldn't have thought of going on our own. He must slam the door in our face through rejection to get us to look in another direction. Then when we get to that new place, we thank God for the rejection rather than being bitter about it." --Kent Crockett
Rejection is in the Eye of the Beholder
A young salesman became discouraged because he had been rejected by so many customers he approached. He asked a more experienced salesman for some advice.
“Why is it that every time I make a call on someone I get rejected?”
“I just don’t understand that,” answered the older salesman. “I’ve been hit on the head, called dirty names, and thrown out the door, but I’ve never been rejected.”
Rejection isn’t what happens to us but how we interpret what happens to us.
So if you ever been rejected, then you are in good company, because not only did people reject Jesus then but people still do!
