1. Jesus refused to let people discourage, frustrate, or defeat Him because of their faulty perception of His worth. The Lord knew that His success was not determined by peoples’ estimate of His worth but focused on His heavenly Father’s overwhelming love, power, and advocacy for Him and His ministries.
Illustration: An umpire named Babe Pinelli once called Babe Ruth out on strikes. When the crowd booed with sharp disapproval at the call, the legendary Ruth turned to the umpire with disdain and said, "There’s 40,000 people here who know that the last pitch was ball, tomato head." Suspecting that the umpire would erupt with anger, the coaches and players braced themselves for Ruth’s ejection. However, the cool headed Pinelli replied, "Maybe so, Babe, but mine is the only opinion that counts." Believers need to realize that God’s judgment is the only one that counts and resist the temptation to argue over disappointments. We need to rely on God’s sovereign choices for us regardless of whether they seem popular or not at the moment.
2. Jesus spoke with great courage, confidence and assurance in God’s promises regardless of the opposition. He said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
Illustration: (USA)--And finally, a revival ministry is opening its doors to help struggling pastors in the United States. With 80-percent of pastors feeling unqualified or discouraged and 70-percent saying they don’t have a close friend, Life Action Ministries[6] is hoping many pastors will come for a special kind of retreat. The ministry is offering four-day and
10-day retreats to help rekindle the fire of ministry in their hearts. Life Action is praying that pastors will return to the pulpit refreshed and ready to lead souls to Christ.
3. Jesus did not let his own relatives’ low estimate of His abilities distract Him from His purposes. Mark writes in Mark 3:20 "He went home and once more such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind." Realize that those who are closest to you will often be the ones who are your most difficult opposition. Jesus said, "Unless a man hates (In comparison to His love for God) his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, even his own life. He cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14)
4. Jesus did not give into the pressures, priorities and perspectives of his own Mother and brothers. In Mark 3:31-35 Mark writes, "Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother." Jesus also put things in perspectives of God’s eternal truth rather than allowing human demands to distort His view of God’s will. Jesus knew that the world would hate him because He was the light of the world and the world hates light because it exposes them in their darkness
5. Jesus resisted the temptations to resort to the same political intrigue of people like Judas who miscalculated Christ’s power to turn a tragedy into a triumph.
6. Jesus overcame the sinister plot of the Pharisees to destroy Him (They saw him as a threat to their religious and political power) because He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed of men is detestable in the sight of God." (Luke 16:15)
7. Jesus did not give in to Herod’s mis-perception of Him as a lunatic or a political rebel. He showed Herod that His kingdom was not of this earth, but all men should seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness and then everything would be provided to them. (Matt. 6:33)
8. The crowds’ wrong estimate of His worth did not discourage Jesus. They chose Barrabas to be set free instead of the Son of God. The Lord knew that people poles are often fickle and mean little in gauging truth.
9. Jesus used the guard’s underestimation of His power. The guards fell asleep and as they did the angels rolled he 2,000 pound stone away from the grave and Christ rose from the dead and conquered sin, the devil, and death through His ascension into heaven.
10. Jesus did not allow His disciples to frustrate Him when they thought they could use Him for their own advancement. The Lord tolerated the disciples’ self-ambitions because he understood their limited ministry, spiritual, emotional, mental, social, cultural, Biblical and character maturity levels. Jesus said, "It is not up to me to decide who is promoted, but that is left to my Father in heaven.
11. Jesus did not let people deter Him from His final objective when people mocked him and shouted, "You have saved others, now save yourself." He stuck to His goals regardless of the public humiliation.
12. Jesus did not let peoples’ jeers cause Him to lose self-control and become angry when they shouted, "You said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it." (Mark 15:29-32) Jesus expected people to mis-interpret His motives, methods and manners. He said, "As the Father as sent me so send I you." We must be willing to suffer the same kinds of persecutions, criticisms and scorning from people of limited perspective of mature truth.
13. Jesus occasionally rebuked His disciples for their limited understanding. He said, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And He explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning Himself." (Luke 24:25-27) Be willing to confront people with truth who you know to be teachable.
14. Jesus explained that everyone is known by the quality and quantity of their spiritual fruits. Vindication comes through a person’s good deeds, fruits of the Spirit and blessings given by God through the quantitative and qualitative growth of His church. Let the Lord fight your battles for you, as He is able to deliver you from any person’s wrong perception or estimate of your true value and worth before God!
