“‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
The Lord has just shared a parable with the crowd. In it he speaks about how the tenants of a vineyard repeatedly mistreated and killed servants of the vineyard owner. The parable ends when the tenants murder the owner's son. Such is the picture that Jesus paints of the religious leaders of his day. For years God sent prophets to their forefathers and they rejected their message. And in like manner these elders rejected John the Baptist. And sadly they were now rejecting the Son of God.
Is there a more chilling passage in all of scripture than this one that speaks of a stone that breaks and crushes? When I think about that cornerstone I go back to the day I fell on it and my life was broken to pieces. My pride was broken. My attitude was broken. My sin was broken. Falling on that rock was the best thing that has ever happened to me. Yet to those who reject the Cornerstone, and do not fall on it, Jesus speaks of a terrifying expectation of crushing as the stone falls on them.
Again I fall at your feet Lord Jesus. Break me and mold me in your image.
Thanks Bob. The stakes are high. I'm so grateful that the awesome awesome God who is so unlike me in every way reaches down and shows me how to be accepted into his family and rescues me!
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