The best is yet to come

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” (Mark 3:20-22)

We rightly emphasise the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus for us upon the cross. However, his suffering wasn’t limited to the cross. He suffered many things throughout his earthly life.

This fulfils Isaiah 53:3:

“He was despised and rejected by mankind,

a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”

This rejection is seen in these verses. We’re not surprised by the rejection of the teachers of the law in v22. But in v21, his family said, “He is out of his mind.” These even appears to include Mary (v31). It seems that even his earthly family did not understand. Those who should have grasped who he is failed to do so.

It’s hard when anyone rejects us, or misunderstands us, but when it’s your own family, or closest friends, it is even harder. Here our Lord Jesus experiences the rejection of the religious leaders who should have recognised him, and the misunderstanding of his family, who should have known him.

Jesus did not simply arrive on earth to die for us. He lived a whole life on earth; God with us.

What does this tell us?

• Have we experienced rejection and/or misunderstanding, even from those closest to us? Most of us have. But we also have a Saviour who has experienced this. We can have confidence that he knows and is compassionate to us and is able to comfort us in our loneliness and pain – and who is with us in it.
• Do we feel like raging and holding bitterness in our hearts against those who have hurt us? It’s a powerful temptation. Yet, because Jesus did live a whole life on earth, we have a Saviour who was “tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin” (Heb 4:15). So we can go boldly to the throne of grace in our frailty and anger, and ask for his help, confident that he will help us (Heb 2:18).