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Even Jesus didn't hang out with those who hated Him. He had the discernment to know who was who. He sought out the broken, the open, the humble, the seeking. He told His disciples to do the same thing. He openly scorned the merely religious that had no love in their hearts, for they did not reflect the Heavenly Father*, and so He told them - even though they thought they would one day enter into the kingdom of Heaven, they would ultimately risk hearing, "I never knew you."**
He instructed His disciples to go out to the people, and whoever receives you, pour out your blessing, and whoever rejects you, wipe the dust off your feet and move on.
It seems there will be many people we love but who are unable to love us, and worse, even unable to just respect us.
At the end of His life, Jesus cried out over His people as He looked out over Jerusalem, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I longed to gather you under my wing as a mother hen gathers her chicks, but you would not have it." He openly cried out His angst over their hardness of heart, and so will we, but we do not have to "hang" with these people who are blatantly disrespectful, hurtful, clueless, sanctimonious, and judging.
He only turned Himself over to them once, though highly reluctant to, and sweating drops of blood over it, but it was only because His Father wanted Him to, and He knew there was no other way to carry out His Father's will to pay for our sins that we may be His and come to live with Him some day.
After our child's death, we are not the same. We are different.
Jesus was different than what the people expected. Jesus came and showed a whole new way. He did and said things that drove the merely religious people berserk. He knew what was important and carried out the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law which He instructed them, kills, and was only a shadow pointing to the true realities in Heaven.
We have been touched in a way that we know what is important. Jesus knew what was important; Everything He did was out of love. We have suffered, and we know the path of the suffering and have a heart for them. Our hearts go out to one another's out of love. So did Jesus' heart. He came to bind up the broken-hearted. He still binds the hearts of the brokenhearted, for He ever binds our hearts, and calls us unto Him to hide in the safety of His love, under His wing (the same wing the merely-religious rejected).
Thank You Lord for Your tender mercies. Hide us in the shadow of Your wing and heal our battered and broken hearts. Thank You that You tell us we are blessed even though... and especially so... we cry.
"Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted."
~Matthew 5:4
*"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them."
He went on to say,
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven."
**
Jesus speaking,
"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!'"
When Jesus sent His disciples out to share His message with them, He instructed His disciples,
"Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town."
~Matthew 10:11-15
He went on, letting them know He knew the evil they were up against:
"I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. But be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues."
~Matthew 10:16-17
He went on to instruct them how to handle the nay-sayers and those who would harass them:
"When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another."
~Matthew 10:23a
When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36
At that time Jesus said,
"I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things (the secret spiritual things of God) from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure."
~Matthew 11:25-26
Then He kindly spoke to people like us that are weary and burdened down...
"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
~Matthew 11:28-30
Now, watch how Jesus went about doing what He was called to do, but those around Him were always telling Him He was doing it wrong, yet Jesus followed the spirit of the law and was not bound by the conventions men thought He should be bound to:
In Matthew 12:
"At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."
He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that One greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
~Matthew 12:1-8
Later, after Jesus healed on the Sabbath, the legalistic Pharisees became outraged! The Scriptures reveal that after Jesus healed on the Sabbath, "the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus."
~Matthew 12:14
And what did Jesus do? Did He hang with these men who had no respect for Him? No!
"Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place."
~Matthew 12:15
But even for these men who were a part of His chosen people, He had great love. In His last days, this was the cry from His heart:
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, ow often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"
~ Jesus, crying out in Luke 13:34
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.... He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge...
~Psalm 91:1-2,4a
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings from the wicked who assail me...
~Psalm 17:8
In Luke 4, Jesus quotes the Scripture from Isaiah 61:1-3, saying for this very reason, He came:
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on Me,
because the Lord has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to bind up
the brokenhearted
too proclaim freedom for the captives
and release for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn
and provide for those who grieve in Zion--
to bestow on the a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of
righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of His
splendor."
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