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  UNREQUITED LOVE
  by J.R. Miller
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Summary: Jesus' love failed not despite being treated unjustly and
receiving a Cross as an answer to it, and He offers us redemption and a
chance to accept Him despite our past rejection or mistakes.

Topics: "Unconditional Love", "Rejection of Christ"
Scripture References: Matthew 23:37, Luke 19:41, John 1:11

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DESCRIPTION
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J.R. Miller's sermon 'Unrequited Love' reflects on the profound
rejection Jesus faced from His own people, despite His unwavering love
and the blessings He offered. He highlights the contrast between the
devoted few who accepted Christ and the larger nation that opposed Him,
culminating in their ultimate betrayal. Miller emphasizes the severe
reproofs Jesus delivered to the religious leaders for their hypocrisy
and lack of true faithfulness. Despite the pain of rejection, Jesus
maintained His love, weeping over Jerusalem and longing for their
acceptance, ultimately responding to their betrayal with the promise of
redemption. This sermon calls us to reflect on our own responses to
Christ's love and the importance of genuine faithfulness.

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CONTENT
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Jesus came as the Messiah of His people--but His own received Him not. A
few individuals received Him, among them the Twelve and a little company
of men and women. These were ardently devoted to Him. They believed in
His Messiahship, although they did not understand what it meant. But His
nation accepted Him not. They opposed Christ from the beginning, and
their opposition grew in bitterness, until at last they nailed Him on a
Cross! This was their return for His love!

Christ's reproofs of the nation for their rejection, were very severe.
Some of them were spoken in the temple, before He finally left it. Some
were spoken to the disciples from the Mount of Olives. He laid bare the
hearts of the teachers and rulers. They bound heavy burdens on the
people--but they themselves did not touch them with one of their
fingers. They devoured widows' houses, and then made long prayers--that
men might think them holy. They paid tithes of the smallest things--but
justice, mercy and faithfulness, they omitted from their lives. They
were careful to keep their dishes clean--but they paid no heed to their
own inner lives. It was with breaking heart that He

told them of the doom that was impending. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you
who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have
longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks
under her wings--but you were not willing. Behold, your house is left
unto you desolate!"

There are two marvels here. One is that the rulers could have rejected
Jesus Christ. He came doing good, going about in a marvelous ministry of
mercy. He came offering them all the blessings of eternal life. How
could they despise and reject Him?

The other marvel is that Jesus kept love in His heart through all their
rejection. On Palm Sunday, as He was riding into the city amid the

acclaim and enthusiasm of the people, when He passed the crest of the
hill and the city came into His view. He broke into loud weeping and
cried, "If you had known, in this your day, even you, the things which
belong to your peace! but now they are hidden from your eyes." The love
of Christ failed not, though unrequited, though treated so unjustly,
though the answer to it was a Cross! His answer to man's rejection--was
redemption!

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/jr-miller/unrequited-love/
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