“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

Talk about tension!  It filled the air like electricity does before a tropical Florida thunderstorm.  Early in the Passion Week Jesus “entered the temple courts” (Matthew 21:23) to give Israel a final witness of his mission and message.  Earlier (vs. 12-17) he had cleared the temple of the merchandisers after removing them 2 years before (John 2:12-22).  This was the perfect time for the chief priests and elders to have a face-to-face encounter to tarnish him and ruin his reputation, making it easier to arrest, convict, condemn and kill him.  Nothing would make them happier than to regain the popularity he stole from them.

So they began by challenging his authority: “By what authority are you doing these things? … And who gave you this authority?”  Fair questions, even reasonable.  The national leaders wanted a simple explanation in public.  Jesus responded masterfully as always with a question of his own: “John’s baptism—where did it come from?  Was it from heaven, or from men?” (v. 24).  The leaders immediately knew they were in a pickle and said they didn’t know.  “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things” (v. 27).  Jesus turned the tables on them in more ways than one.

But he wasn’t done with them.  He told them two parables, the first (vs. 28-32) a story of a man with two sons.  Dad told both to go to work.  The first said he wouldn’t, but changed his mind and went.  The second said he would and didn’t.  Then Jesus upbraided them for the unbelief and said they were worse off than the hated tax collectors and prostitutes.  No self-esteem worries here: their souls were at stake!

The second parable (vs. 33-40) was about the tenants.  A landowner built a vineyard, supplied it and rented it out to some farmers entrusting it to them while he traveled.  At harvest time he sent servants several times to collect the fruit.  Each time they were mistreated, beaten and killed.  After this he sent his son, thinking they would respect him.  But the tenants killed him too, removing him from the inheritance and making the vineyard theirs.  Or so they thought.  Trapping them in the story and their own emotions, he asked, “What will [the owner] do to those tenants?”  “He will bring those tenants to a wretched end and give the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

Bingo!  After confessing their own guilt, Jesus quoted from Psalm 118:22-23 (NKJV), “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”  First, he clearly identified himself as the rejected son of the landowner (God).  Similarly, without saying so directly, he identified himself as the rejected cornerstone.  The real cornerstone nailed the usurpers in public.  They wanted to return the “favor” ASAP.

A literal cornerstone was the most important part of any ancient building.  The stone had to be of the highest quality, sculpted to precision with lines and corners exact.  It had to be set securely.  The walls would run in symmetrical order from this stone.  If the ground were uneven, the large cornerstone would be in the lowest place, the heaviest load-bearing point.  Similarly Jesus was of the highest purity, thoroughly prepared, and had straight “lines” of holiness and righteousness.  He went to the cross, the lowest position possible on earth, to carry the weight of our sins on his shoulders.

Since the cornerstone was the first stone to be set, no other part of the building could be built until it was firmly in place.  Likewise, the Church (Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Peter 2:4-10) could not be started until Christ had come.  After him the foundation of the apostles and prophets followed.  Then came the multitude of believers from around the world that fit into their places in “a spiritual house” (Peter) or “a holy temple of the Lord” (Paul in Ephesians).  Inside this structure — indeed, inside each one of us — dwells his Spirit.

Regarding our faith, Jesus is a figurative cornerstone.  Who else came to save us from ourselves and our spiritual waywardness?  Who else died for us?  Rose for us?  Intercedes for us?  Comes for us?  If he hasn’t done what he’s done, and doesn’t do what he’s promised, we’re in deeper than we even know.  Without our cornerstone, our lives and futures crumble into so much rocky debris.  Perhaps that’s why there are so many stones in Israel today.  Are you standing with the cornerstone, or part of the debris?