Unwelcome

We have an instinctive feeling that, no matter who we are, no matter our follies, foibles, shortcomings, we should always belong. With our close friends, and with our families, we should have a place where we fit in.

We hear the story of the prodigal son, and despite the horrible things that the son does, it still seems somehow right that the father welcomes the son back. Some of the worst stories that pull at your heartstrings are those of parents abandoning their children. That feels so, wrong, so unnatural, that you can hardly believe such things happen. Rejection by those that are supposed to love you unconditionally, by those who know you best is the most complete rejection one can experience.

So when Scripture tells us that Jesus came to those who were his own, but his own did not receive him, we have a picture of what that is like. The Hebrews were God's chosen people. They were brought out of Egypt, given the laws of God, brought into the Promised land, led by the judges, the phophets, the kings, and even when hundreds of years of the most vile sins had sent the Israelites into exile, they were brought back to their land, with their culture intact, awaiting the promised Messiah.

If there was any group of people that should have recognized and welcomed Jesus, it should have been them. But Jesus was rejected, viilified, and executed. God himself enters the world and suffers first-hand the worst the worst that humanity can dish out, including rejection by his own beloved people.