Rejected Stone

Matthew 21:42
“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Jesus told a story that the original audience understood to be speaking of how they were rejecting the Son of God. In response to the story, Jesus refers to builders who had rejected the “chief cornerstone.” In many ancient buildings, the foundation was supported by a cornerstone, without it, the foundation would not be able to support that which was built upon it. Jewish lore tells the story of the building of Solomon’s Temple, a project that took many years. The massive stones for the Temple were quarried some distance away from the Temple site and delivered to the builders. As they were laying the foundation, a very oddly shaped stone,that did not seem to fit, arrived. The contractor, thinking the quarry had made a mistake, had the stone thrown away. It was pushed down a hill into the city trash dump. Sometime later, the contractor sent to the quarry asking for the chief cornerstone. The quarry sent back a message saying it had already been delivered. When the contractor argued that he had never received the stone, someone reminded him of the oddly shaped stone, the one that did not seem to fit his plans, that he had thrown in the trash. Sure enough, that was the stone that would support the whole building. With great effort, they raised the stone out of the rubbish heap, and continued erecting what would become a building which would bring glory to God and salvation to man.

It is not difficult to understand what Jesus is getting at. In the parable, the Son was rejected because the vine dressers saw no value in having Him rule over them. They thought their lives would be better, more profitable, and more successful without the Son. But they were, in fact, rejecting the most important aspect of life; relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Have you made Jesus the chief cornerstone of your life? Is the rest of your life built upon the solid foundation of relationship with Jesus? Take some time right now to surrender all to Jesus and to reflect upon how you can let Him reign in every area of your life.

Pastor Jim

Questions for chapter 21

Riding into Jerusalem on a donkey was a public declaration by Jesus of being the Messiah. How did the people react?
Why was it wrong for the Temple to be filled with all that stuff? See verse 13.
What lesson do we learn about bearing fruit from the fig tree?
Why do you think the religious leaders were afraid to answer the questions posed by Jesus?
In the parable of the Vinedressers, who are the characters representing?
What does the phrase in verse 42 mean?05