In Walt Disney’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Esmeralda and Quasimodo were considered outcasts. Quasimodo a hunchback, and Esmeralda, a marginalized gypsy. Each of them had their own issues, however, found solace in Notre Dame.
Esmeralda sings in the church a song called “God Help the Outcasts.” Part of the song stands out when she says,
“I don’t know if you can hear me, or if you’re even there. I don’t know if you will listen to a humble prayer.
They tell me I am just an outcast, I shouldn’t speak to you…Still I see your face, and wonder, were you once an outcast too”
Esmeralda sees herself as an outcast, and she wonders if the Savior she’s praying to was an outcast too.
The word “outcast” is defined as “a person who is rejected or cast out, as from home or society.”
Many in the church may feel like an outcast.
They feel like:
- They don’t have the right pedigree or ancestry.
- They have made too many mistakes.
- They are inadequate to serve Jesus.
- They are not popular enough.
- They have been rejected by family members, and close associates, and wonder if God, and the church would do the same.
- On the job or at school people always question their Christian lifestyle, or are mocked for their dedication.
- They don’t feel like they register with the 30, 60, or 100 fold (Matt. 13:8-10).
Whatever the case, they feel like an outcast, or perhaps they fight feelings of rejection.
From Nazareth
And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene (Matthew 2:23)
Nazareth was about 55 miles north of Jerusalem, in the regions of Galilee. Nazareth was fairly small in size and was inhabited largely with Gentiles and people noted for their crude and violent ways. The term Nazarene had long been a term of contempt, used to describe any person who was rough and churlish.
In John chapter one Nathanael heard that Jesus was from Nazareth he replied with, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Due to its proximity to Gentile cities and its mixed population, its backwoods manners, general biblical illiteracy and lack of refinement, the people of Judea ridiculed Galilee and Nazareth. The implication is that nothing good ever comes out of Nazareth.
In Luke chapter four when Jesus read from the Scriptures in the synagogue it was in Nazareth. The Nazarenes lived up to their reputation and were filled with wrath and wanted to kick Jesus out (Luke 4:20-30). The town of outcasts even rejected Jesus!
The Old Testament prophets foretold that the Messiah would be the object of scorn and ridicule, in other words a Nazarene:
But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised of the people (Psalm 22:6).
Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, To him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the Lord that is faithful, And the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee (Isaiah 49:7).
He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not (Isaiah 53:3).
The Hebrew words employed to describe the Messiah are revealing:
- Despised – to be looked down on with disdain and possibly hatred.
- Abhorred – to find repugnant.
- Rejected – being abandoned or left by others.
- To esteem – to regard highly; think much of. In this verse the Messiah is not held in high regard.
When Matthew says that Jesus would be a called a Nazarene, in essence he is declaring that Jesus would be the promised outcast. Jesus wasn’t going to be the most admired. Jesus wasn’t going to be the most popular. Jesus wasn’t going to be the most handsome (Isa. 53:2). Jesus wasn’t going to be the wealthiest. Rather, Jesus was going to be despised, abhorred, rejected, and not esteemed. We see that over and over in the Gospels:
- The Pharisees despised him!
- The Saducees abhorred him!
- Some of His own disciples rejected Him (Jn. 6:66)!
- He came unto His own and His own received Him not (Jn. 1:11)!
A Cast of Outcasts
Scripture is made up of a cast of characters that could be labeled outcasts. Despite their background, temperament, physical attributes, or failures they were considered God’s people.
Jacob: Jacob was the son of Isaac, and the grandson of Abraham. He’s name means “supplanter” or “trickster” (Gen. 27:36). He had a twin brother named Esau. Of his two sons, Isaac loved Esau the most. He was a skillful hunter, able to bring home the best venison. Jacob, on the other hand, was loved by his mother (Gen. 25:27). Jacob had soft hands, and a deceptive smile. Despite being a trickster, and not being the black sheep of the family, God chose to use Jacob, and later changed his name to Israel meaning “prince with God” (Gen. 33:28).
Leah: Jacob’s deception and choices led him to work for his uncle Laban. He fell in love with Laban’s daughter Rachel (Gen. 29:10-11). Laban, another hustler in the family, tricked Jacob in to marrying Rachel’s less-attractive sister, Leah (Gen.29:22-25). Scripture describes Rachel as a brick-house, but all Scripture says about Leah, was that she had kind eyes (Gen. 29:17). Jacob had several children with Leah, many who would make up the twelve tribes of Israel. When Jacob was about to die, it was his desire to be buried with Leah, not Rachel (Gen. 49:31).
Rahab: She was a prostitute in ancient Jericho (Josh. 2:1). As such, she would have been tolerated but scorned by the people of the city. When Joshua and Israel were about to take Jericho by siege, they sent two spies in to the city. Rahab took the two spies in and protected them (Josh. 2:5-24). Her and her family survive the attack on Jericho (Josh. 6:23). She marries a man named Salmon, and together they have a son named Boaz, who married an Moabite outcast named Ruth. Rahab and Ruth two outcasts who are in the genealogy of the God of Outcasts- Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:5-17).
David: He was the youngest son of his father, Jesse. His older brothers were more handsome and favorably statured. While his brothers were away fighting for Israel, David was left to watch his father’s sheep in the fields alone. When the prophet Samuel was sent to Jesse’s house to anoint the second king of Israel, Jesse left David out in the fields thinking he was incapable to be Israel’s king. Samuel believed David’s brothers fit the part of king, but God thought otherwise. God wanted the outcast, the runt of the family. What he lacked in size, he made up for in spirituality (1 Sam. 16:1-13). David’s throne would be an eternal throne notwithstanding his own weaknesses and failures (2 Sam. 7:1-17).
Zacchaeus: He was a short man with a big problem. He earned a living by being a tax collector for Rome. The major issue with that occupation is that Zacchaeus was a Jew collecting taxes from his own countrymen. When he heard Jesus was coming through his town, he climbed up a tree to catch a glimpse of Israel’s King. Everybody hated Zacchaeus, but Jesus chose to go to his house for a meal that day (Luke 19:1-10).
The Woman at the Well: This unnamed woman came to a well in Samaria at a time during the day when no one would see her. You see, she had been married five times, and the man she was living with wasn’t her husband. She was trying to avoid being around people, and yet Jesus didn’t avoid this outcast. Instead of rejecting her Jesus told her of living water that would quench the thirst she had (John 4:5-42).
The Leper: Leprosy was an awful disease. No one dared come in contact with someone who had been infected with leprosy. They were the ultimate outcasts in Israel. While Jesus was in one of the cities a leper fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to cleanse him. Jesus could have spoke a word and healed him from a distance. Instead Jesus reached out His hand to touch and heal him. The man who was once an outcast now attracted crowds to hear his testimony of how Jesus the Outcast had healed him (Luke 5:12-16).
Time fails me to write about the woman marred with an awful reputation who washed Jesus with her tears and hair (Luke 7:36-50). The paralytic whose friends lowered him from a roof (Matt. 9:1-8). A demoniac who lived amongst the tombs (Mk. 5:1-20). The woman whose constant bleeding was an embarrassment to her (Mk. 5:24-34). The Old and New Testaments are full of people who were labeled outcasts. Whether they were broken from sin, paralyzed with affliction, or publicly looked down upon, The God of the Outcasts healed, comforted, accepted, and loved them.
The Church of Outcasts
You must understand, that the church is made up with outcasts and imperfect people.
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:26–31).
Here is the Message Bible’s paraphrase of this section:
Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “somebodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God (1 Corinthians 1:26–31 MSG)
God chose you just the way that you are to bring glory unto Himself. We don’t boast of our own goodness or stature. Instead we see ourselves for what we really are- outcasts serving a God who can relate to our every feeling and emotion.
Called to be Outcasts
Christ does not save us so we can fit in with the culture we live in. Rather, he saves us, and transforms us into His image, and then wants us to live as outcasts and vagabonds.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9)
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2).
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you (2 Corinthians 6:15–17).
Notice what Jesus said, that if He was rejected then His followers would be rejected.
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you (John 15:18–19).
If Jesus was rejected while on this earth, and if He has been rejected by unbelievers throughout history, do not be surprised if He is still rejected. And do not be ashamed that if Christ’s followers have been rejected and scorned for 2,000 plus years, that you will also be rejected.
Conclusion
If the Son of God was despised and ridiculed as an outcast, why are we always striving for social acceptance and status? Take note to what Paul said in Second Corinthians, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Cor. 6:17). As we come out and separate ourselves from the world, the Lord will receive us. The word “receive” in the Greek means “to admit, or to welcome.” Christians are never going to be accepted by secularized culture. But we can find acceptance in Christ Jesus.
Jesus came to save sinners and outcasts—those who are truly detestable before a holy God. However, He came to seek and to save the lost. You can see that you are welcome in the in the midst of outcasts, serving the God of the Outcasts.