Rejection packs a blow that grows decisively more wretched as it sinks in. If you've ever watched The Bachelor (this is my admission, yes), rejected contestants go down a predictable downward trajectory (captured ever so deftly on camera) - first shock, then grief, and then the self-pity ("why does this always happen to me?"). Perhaps it's a case of schadenfreude, or delighting in someone else's misery, but there's something in those moments that intrigues me. I think because they are moments which are all too familiar. Rejection stinks, and with it, a resulting pain that is deeply unsettling.  The Book of Isaiah tells us that Christ was "despised and rejected by men" (53:3).  We know this to be true as we read the Gospel accounts of how Jesus was rejected by many, leading to His crucifixion. I have to think that Jesus felt the pain of rejection somehow. Yet we also see that He persisted in his mission and message. He knew the will of the Father (Luke 17:25). And it is through Christ enduring rejection that we are made forever accepted to God - with His wounds we are healed. 

Rejection will still hurt, but Christ turned it around so that we may never face permanent rejection of the Father. This is the good news of the gospel. 

Happy Resurrection Sunday!