*For context, it might be helpful to read this post first.
Visualize
Despised: To regard as negligible, worthless, distasteful.[1]
“He was despised by mankind” –Isaiah 53:3
Read
Sitting at our kitchen table over dinner, our senior football player, Jo, and one of his Hispanic football buddies told me the story behind the North football game that ended in a fist fight on the turf between opposing teams who were supposed to be politely shaking hands. The cops were called to break up the fight and no charges were filed, but the human destruction went soul-deep.
The night of the game in question, North played its fiercest rival—the wealthy school in our district where athletes “Pay to play” and “Daddy’s money” gets hurled by fans and students alike when the refs appear blind to the yellow-flag offenses of wealthy players.
One of our players, an athletically talented senior whose family members were drug dealers with bad reputations, lost his dad his junior year in what was most likely a drug deal gone wrong. Though his dad was brutally murdered, this young man put on a tough face, distancing himself with “I don’t care anyway.” The story made the local news and was passed around at poor and wealthy schools alike.
The night of the big fight, North lost to the wealthy school by a handful of points. Our players battled like hell, mustering every latent skill at their disposal—but it wasn’t enough. As the teams crossed the field in two long lines for the obligatory sportsman-like handshake between opponents, one of the wealthy kids leaned over to the player who’d lost a father, whispering: You deserve it—that’s what losers do, get themselves murdered.
There was no ref to call a taunting foul—probably wouldn’t have anyway—so the athlete reacted the only way he knew how: with his fists. All too quickly, two fist-fighters became three, then four, then five, as others joined the brawl on the field. I’m not sure how the cops sorted it all out, but I do know it’s sickening the way we humans despise one another.
To despise another human being is to hate him enough to wish him harm or relish whatever tragedy upends his life. Each of us, at one point or another, sits in the place of both the despised and despiser. We feel the sting of judgment for labels we carry—divorced, addict, drop-out, loser, spoiled brat, cheater, _______. Or, on the flip side, jealous of something another person has, we secretly smile when they lose that something. To cover up our despising hearts, we throw out “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” then follow with a qualifier that reveals how we still despise, “but you should have known better, done better.”
When Jesus descended into the tragedies of humanity, he did so without qualification. He wept with those who wept, mourned with those who mourned, rejoiced with those who rejoiced. He sat with prostitutes, adulterers, corrupt government officials, the oppressed and the oppressive.
Jesus, unlike us, was despised without despising. Deemed a rebel who deserved death by jealous Pharisees, Jesus engaged their hatred without hating. The Pharisees, blinded by envy, could not see or believe Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. They disdained everything about him, including the company he kept, “Look who he hangs out with: tax collectors and sinners! Surely the Son of God would not associate himself with such worthless human beings!”
The Pharisees despised Jesus most of all because his actions reflected the Father who sent him. Their hatred overwhelmed them to the point that they picked up stones to kill him, yet he calmly asked, “For which of my good works do you stone me?” They replied, “We are . . . stoning you because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”[2] Jesus countered the Pharisees without insults, mockery, or defense. With compassion, he simply invited them to judge him by his actions—do they reflect his Father in heaven? If not, no need to believe his claims, but if so, they must answer to God for how they despised him.
We too, must answer for how we despise or honor Jesus, for how we despise or honor our fellow humans. Will we, like Jesus, rest in our identity as his beloved when we are despised by others? Will we, like Jesus, choose compassion instead of despising in return?
Ponder
How might Jesus be offering you comfort and conviction for ways you have been despised and chosen to despise in your secret heart?
Pray
Inhale: You despised no one. . .
Exhale: Help me repent . . .
*You can read other posts in this series here.
[1] Merriam-Webster.com
[2] John 10: 31-32, paraphrased, NIV, Biblegateway.com
Pursued 