A painting by Sigismund Goetze, bearing the title "Despised and Rejected of Men," attracted much attention at the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1904. In the center of the picture stands a Figure which it would be better never to attempt to portray. No pen nor brush can rightly depict the face "so marred more than any man," and the endeavor to do so falls far short of its object.
Still, there it stands, bowed with sorrow and suffering—the figure of Him who came to be the Savior of the world.
On the right hand and on the left a motley crowd is seen. First of all one sees a racing man with jockey, whip and sporting paper. Then one observes a scientist, holding before him a glass tube, absorbed in watching the result of some experiment. Nearby a lovely "butterfly" of society dances from the ballroom with her attendant cavalier bending over her to whisper something in her ear. A little flower girl is seen pressing a bunch of sweet violets upon the lady's notice. Behind the child sits a desolate, forlorn woman, nestling her baby to her breast.
On the right in the picture we see a street orator addressing a mob of men who wave their hands and hats in frantic applause. A soldier is there in uniform; a vestment-clad ecclesiastic with closed eyes and sanctimonious expression; a parson of a different school, with open book, endeavoring to argue with a priest; a hospital nurse; a student; a bare-armed workman with a pick ax across his shoulder; a newsboy upon whose placard we can trace out sensational announcements of a robbery, a divorce, and the winners of a race.
Of all the throng, only the hospital nurse is turning to look upon the Savior, and she shows a countenance expressive of repugnance and dread more than of anything else. The others, differing so widely in their character, their position, their occupation, their tastes, are alike in one respect: they manifest the most absolute indifference to the One in the center of the picture. As far as they are concerned He is truly the "Despised and Rejected.”
Yet they are samples of the men and women who surround us on every hand, denizens of this big world in which we live.
Possibly, if you had been an acquaintance of the painter, he would have depicted you among the crowd. And if he had represented you as showing the same supreme indifference toward Christ as the others, would it not have been the truth?
Ask your own heart: "What think ye of Christ?" Matt. 22:4242Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. (Matthew 22:42). Have you ever turned to Him with gratitude for all that He had done for you? Have you ever looked to Him in faith? Have you cried to Him for salvation?
Or are you still among the indifferent and unconcerned? If so, there is a sermon for you in Goetze's painting. He who is now "despised and rejected" by the many is soon to appear in glory and power. "Every eye shall see Him." Rev. 1:77Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7). None will be indifferent then. Panic will seize those who now are so unconcerned.
Reader, your whole future destiny hangs upon your attitude toward Christ. If He is your accepted Savior and confessed Lord, all will be well with you throughout countless ages to come. If, on the other hand, you are still one of the thoughtless crowd to whom He is the "Despised and Rejected," no tongue or pen can describe the horror of the future that awaits you.
One more thing remains to be told. In the background of the picture stands an angel wrapped in puzzled gloom, as if unable to solve the mystery of earth's indifference to heaven's Lord. A sight indeed it is for angels to muse over: that their Creator should offer Himself as a Savior for sinful men, and that men should not care to accept Him!
May I give you once again the invitation in my Savior's name?
"Come! for angel hosts are musing
O'er this sight, so strangely sad:
God beseeching, man refusing
To be made forever glad.”