What do you do when you feel unwanted?

We moved when I was in junior high, and my new school was the most clique-ish place I have ever seen. Very distinct groups rarely interacted with each other except when required to for class. I spent weeks, maybe months, eating alone and walking around the grounds in tears during lunch break until finally I found a friend.

So that’s one option when we feel unwanted: cry. 🙂

Another option might be to become a pathetic sycophant, doing anything to be accepted into the group. Kids get drawn into gangs this way.

A third option could be embracing the opportunity to be a maverick, with a “Who needs them, anyway” attitude.

Unfortunately, some people seek revenge on the group for making them feel like an outsider.

One of the saddest Bible verses to me is John 1:11: “(Jesus) came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

The world was inhospitable to Him since He was in the womb.

• There was no room for Him to be born (Luke 2:1-7).
• Herod tried to kill Jesus by having all the male babies under two years of age in Bethlehem killed (Matthew 2:13-23).
• Satan tried to tempt Jesus to do away with Himself (Matthew 4:1-11).
• During His public ministry, Jesus had “nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:19-21).
• His own half-brothers did not believe in Him (John 7:3-5).
• People listened while He healed and gave them food. But when He started to say “hard things,” they left (John 6:60-71).
• Some tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:28-30).
• His disciples often didn’t understand or argued over which of them would be the greatest.
• The scribes and Pharisees publicly debated and baited Him and eventually called for Him to be crucified.

He was the Messiah they had been promised and were expecting for centuries. But He wasn’t quite the kind of Messiah they were looking for. They didn’t just ignore Him or overlook Him: they rejected Him. Some went even further than rejection: they sought to do away with Him.

Jesus, thankfully, did not choose any of our listed options when people ignored, rejected, despised, or threatened Him.

He loved.

“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

He didn’t wait to die for us until we had cleaned up our act. He knew when He came that people would reject Him. But He loved them anyway. He took the initiative and sought to turn their hearts to Himself.

John 1 goes on to say that, though His own people did not receive Him, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10).

He goes beyond acknowledging and saving us. He makes His home with us. “Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him'” (John 14:23). He rejoices over us with joy, prepares a place for us.

Even once we come to know Him, we can sometimes let the cares of this life crowd Him out. We celebrate His coming with such frenzied activity that we neglect the very One whose birth we’re celebrating.

Room for pleasure, room for business,
But for Christ the Crucified,
Not a place that He can enter,
In the heart for which He died?
– D. W. Whittle, “Have You Any Room for Jesus?”

His love is perfect and perseveres despite all obstacles.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room,
and heav’n and nature sing.
– Isaac Watts

May our hearts be hospitable to our Savior. May we not only make room for Him in our minds, affections, and time: may we give Him first place. And may we let His initiating, persevering love flow through us to others.

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