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The Broken Rose
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The Broken Rose
Who would love the blossomed rose—
Luster her alluring pow’r,
Fragrance of arousal crowned?
Lovers all ablaze surround—
Bloom and root and stem devour.
Who would want the broken rose?
Seared in sin, in ashes grown;
Tortured pale, her petals torn;
Leaves are lost and left the thorn
Naked on the stem, alone.
Jesus wants the broken rose
While her twisted shape is thrown,
Shriveled, to the wilting scorn:
“Leave, oh, leave her not forlorn,”
Wept and whispered for his own.
Jesus loves the broken rose,
Waters with a bleeding show’r;
Root has gripped the sanguine ground;
Drops of blood, their riches found,
Rise through stem and red the flow’r.
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Photo by David Garzon
Rejection
“You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.” –2 Timothy 1:15
“Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth….They are upsetting the faith of some.” –2 Timothy 2:17-18
“For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.” –2 Timothy 4:9
“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.” –2 Timothy 4:14-15
Paul had quite a list of enemies. He mentioned more of them by name in this book than anywhere else. Some of these were from outside the church, such as Alexander, while others rose from within the church. Most painful of all was Demas’ betrayal — the desertion by someone who was close to Paul.
Christianity is not meant for those who want to be friends with everyone. We will face rejection from without and within if we really believe the truth of the gospel in all its glory and offense.
The problem with Jesus
What a powerful exchange between Pilate and the Jewish leaders!
John 19:19-22
19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
This inscription was to describe “the charge against him” (Mark 15:26). The chief priests were claiming that Jesus was being crucified for something He did—He claimed to be the King of the Jews. Pilate saw through that. He knew that Jesus was being crucified for who He was—the King of the Jews. That was His crime: being the Holy One of Israel sent from God. (Of course, Pilate cared more about saving his own hide.)
Jesus was always at odds with the world. He had told His disciples that “if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). He was “despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). The world would never love Jesus. Even today, it doesn’t love Him but only respects Him—as long as His teaching is watered down, neutered, or ignored. Jesus said many hard things that would cause a lot of people to dislike or hate Him…if they were to read what He said.
Jesus did not come into this world to survive. He did not come to fit in. He came to die. We are called to be holy like Jesus, which means we are called to die to this world. I confess that I get too comfortable here. May God help me to live as a stranger in a world that hates Jesus, my Lord.
Forsaken by God
When we’re going through hard times, it’s easy to question God’s love for us. I can’t imagine what it felt like for Jesus when the people around His cross began to taunt him, insisting that God didn’t care about Him:
Mathew 27:41-44
41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
When even the robbers crucified next to you are mocking you, how can you escape from the conclusion that God doesn’t love you? The hurt and shame must have been unbearable for Jesus. I think that if I saw Him on the cross like the mockers did, I might agree with them that God didn’t want to deliver Jesus and God didn’t desire Him. “Where is your God?” I might ask Him (Psalm 42:10).
So it’s no wonder Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). When God turned His back on Jesus Christ, our Savior experienced shame, anguish, and suffering that we will never face.
