“These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.”
—John 16:1-2

Reflection

Jesus warned His disciples that following Him could bring rejection from their own people. He told them plainly, “They will put you out of the synagogues.” He spoke these things to them so that when persecution came, they would not fall away.

After the fall of the temple, Jewish believers in Jesus experienced exactly this kind of rejection. Roman persecution against Jewish Christians increased, but so did attacks from their fellow Jews. Those who confessed that Jesus was the Messiah could be put out of the synagogue. By the turn of the first century, Jewish believers were being labeled as heretics and sectarians and were officially barred from most synagogues.

Their situation became even more difficult during another major revolt against Rome.

In AD 132, Shimon Bar-Kokhba launched a large-scale revolt and was believed by many Jews to be the long-awaited Messiah. For those looking for a political leader who would restore the nation of Israel with force, Bar-Kokhba seemed to have all the right qualifications. He gave Jews tremendous hope as his forces captured strongholds, towns, and even Jerusalem.

Many Jewish believers in Jesus supported the revolt and the effort to resist Roman oppression. For a brief season, this even united them with people who had opposed them.

But when Bar-Kokhba was proclaimed the Messiah, Jewish believers in Jesus faced a serious dilemma.

They could not accept another Messiah.

Most withdrew, and they were immediately labeled as traitors. They had already been alienated from synagogue life. Now they were excommunicated from the rest of Jewish life and treated even more harshly. At that point in Jewish society, to be a Jewish follower of Jesus unofficially meant that you were no longer considered a Jew.

The words of Jesus had become painfully real.

He had warned His followers beforehand, not so they would live in fear, but so that they would not fall away when rejection came. Confessing Jesus could mean losing the acceptance of the very community to which they belonged. Yet when they were forced to choose, they could not deny the One they knew to be the Messiah.

There are moments when faithfulness to Jesus carries a real cost. The early Jewish believers knew that cost personally. They were rejected by their own, yet they would not surrender their confession of Jesus as the Messiah.

Application

• When following Jesus brings rejection or misunderstanding, remember that He warned His disciples beforehand so that they would not fall away.
• Hold firmly to your confession of Jesus, even when remaining faithful to Him carries a personal cost.

Prayer

Jesus, strengthen me to remain faithful to You when following You is costly. Keep me from falling away when I experience rejection or misunderstanding. Give me courage to hold firmly to the truth of who You are. When I am pressured to compromise my confession of You, make my heart steadfast. I choose to remain faithful to You as Messiah, whatever the cost. Amen.