Rebels

I just read Isaiah 53. Read it if you have a Bible close by. I've read it before, but this time it seemed to have a lasting impact on me. The last verse states, "...he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels."
There is hope for a rebel. If you think about a rebel, most of the time people have given up on them. Often they are disowned by their families and freinds becuase they have chosen to walk a path that is different than the views of the people around them. They are often people that many have tried to help, but nothing seemed to come from it, so they are considered the ones that can't be helped. They have been given up on. They have been pushed aside. They have been overlooked and sometimes forgotten. Their entire identity is wrapped up in the things they have done wrong - they have been labeled by society. The overall feeling about that person is that they are helpless - too far into their own rebellion for positive change to occur. The definition it gives in the dictionary is, "a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition."
Get what this is saying SPECIFICALLY about rebels. First of all, Jesus was considered a rebel. He died a death that only rebels and criminals died. Good people didn't get crucified. Only criminals that were deserving of it. People saw Him as a rebel. It was important for Him to be considered a rebel because Jesus died for rebels. Jesus didn't die for good people. If He was really going to take our place, He had to become the worst of the worst...He had to die the worst death so He could cover a multitude of sins. In doing this, every person who will ever live and has lived will have the chance to be found righteous and made right before God. Again, He didn't die for good people. It SPECIFICALLY says He died for rebels. These include the ones everyone else has given up on, the ones that have destroyed their lives with the choices they have made, the ones whose lives are basically nothing but a mess.
This is who Jesus was and is. He loves rebels. He loves the difficult ones that seem to be making all the wrong choices. HE LOVES MESSED UP PEOPLE WITH A LOT OF ISSUES. He never gives up on them, never forgets about them, and never pushes them away. And He is perfectly able to love them into wholeness. Lord help us to love like you, to see you like you, to carry your heart and healing to the rebels of the world, just like you did for us.