Very Different Treatment

He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Isaiah 53:3a

One of the most profound truths I have learned in the past couple of years is God’s delight of me. I drank in the truths that He valued, loved, and favored me. To think that to my heavenly Father I was special was profound. To this day I find it amazing and almost beyond comprehension.

Yet, when Jesus came to this world His reception was the exact opposite. He was regarded with disfavor and scorn. Instead of being embraced, people turned entirely away from Him. He knew personally and first hand the full depth of sorrow and grief. Not just sorrow over how He was treated but sorrow over what His creation had become. Ever since the Garden of Eden He has lost the hearts of the very ones He brought into existence.

I think of receptions and there is a world of difference between knowing I am going to be among friends who care about me, strangers who don’t know me, or enemies who dislike me. The knowledge of each group would affect the way I felt about meeting with them. I would look forward to seeing the friends. I would be shy but hopeful seeing the strangers. I would utterly dread approaching the enemies.

So I marvel that Christ came into this world fully aware of the reception and treatment He would get. Yet His willingness to come opened up so much for each of us. He faced rejection so we could be accepted. He faced loneliness so we could live each day in His presence. He was condemned so we could be forgiven. Everything we have in Christ He received the complete opposite of. And when I receive the ill treatment of this world, I can know that He knows just how I feel.

Father, help me to fully appreciate what it was like for Your Son to live here. Amen.