“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.” This is simply a way of saying: What’s good for one person ought to be enough for another. Such is a running theme of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus told His disciples, on more than one occasion, that they would be tried, tested, hated, and persecuted for their faith—perhaps even to the point of death. In Matthew 13 and 14, we see two examples of this reality in the ministries of Jesus and John the Baptist. These stories remind us, pastors: What’s good for Jesus is good for us.
Jesus Rejected
Nazareth was a small town—the kind of town where everybody knows everybody. This familiarity will be the reason Jesus is rejected in Nazareth. These people know Jesus, His family, and social standing (Matt. 13:55–56). So they question His prowess, “When did Jesus become so smart?” “Where did He get his theological training?” “When did He become so learned?” They did not know—nor did they want to know—Jesus as the authoritative Messiah. As a result, Jesus left Nazareth having received no honor, even in his hometown (13:57–58).
John Rejected
Around the same time Jesus was rejected in Nazareth, Herod heard about Him and began to worry that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead (14:2). Matthew takes this opportunity to recount John the Baptist’s death. John had been preaching against Herod’s unlawful marriage to Herodias, which got him arrested (14:4). His life ended when Herodias’ daughter asked for his head on a platter (14:8). The final moments of the great John the Baptist were a terrifying and gruesome death at the hands of a corrupt ruler. He preached that the Lord Jesus was the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, but John would not get the opportunity to see the Lamb slain for sinners. Even in death, John pointed to Christ, preparing His path.
Rejection in the Ministry
Jesus and John were both rejected—one by His hometown, the other by the state. Most pastors may never face such extreme forms of rejection and persecution. Of course, some brothers over the course of their ministries have faced extraordinary persecution. Yet in one form or another, you and I will all face rejection in some form.
I do not say this to give you fuel to preach at troubling members who give you a hard time. And I don’t mean to present a hopeless, nihilistic view of ministry that shrugs and says, “You just need to get over it.” Ministry is hard. I don’t particularly enjoy being taken to the woodshed by members of my church. I do not like my ideas being shot down. I am terribly grieved by members who fall away in the same manner week after week.
I am not telling you simply to get over it, but I am telling you that what was true for our Lord is often true for His servants. We can take comfort knowing that our Lord and our ministry heroes, like John, have faced what we face—even persecution unto death. This is good news for us because suffering does not signal failure; it places us in the company of our Lord.
The Hope of the Resurrection
Herod regretted putting John the Baptist to death. He feared that Jesus of Nazareth was John the Baptist raised from the dead. But Herod was mistaken. Jesus is not merely John the Baptist—Jesus is a prophet like John. Yet He is more than just a prophet. Jesus has disciples like John, yet He is more than just a teacher. Jesus was a wanderer like John, yet He was more than just a wanderer. Jesus would even suffer a similar fate to John, condemned by earthly authorities. But unlike John, He would not remain in the grave.
That is the great irony of Herod’s predicament. Soon they would kill the Lord Jesus, place His body in a tomb, and seal it shut. Yet on the third day, His body would not be there. The carpenter’s son would rise from the dead as the vindication that His sacrifice for sinners had been accepted.
Pastors, the hope that steadies us in rejection is this: Jesus truly is the Lamb slain for our sins. We follow Him into ministry goals that fall short, sheep that bite us, and church events that do not go as planned because Jesus walked the road first. He calls us to walk paths He Himself has already cleared: to take up a cross like His, be rejected like Him, and die like Him. That isn’t just a call to rejection, but also resurrection. We will be rejected in ministry and resurrected in eternity because Christ has gone before us.
Enduring in Light of the Resurrection
Our call is to endure—not because we must simply grit our teeth and bear it, but because we look forward to the day when we will bear it no longer. Brothers, our lives and ministries have such great hope because even if the worst possible thing could happen to us, we await a more glorious life with our risen Christ. That is a message of gospel hope—the hope that we may indeed be rejected with Him, but we will surely be resurrected with Him. This gives us fuel for the hard days of ministry, because what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Rejection is not the final word. Resurrection is.