David Bahn – Reflections

Discarded rubble hardly seems worth keeping, much less do we think such rubble will become more important than any other stone of any building. But that is what Jesus says of himself in Matthew 21:42.

There are plenty of builders out there who have clearly in mind what is important and what may easily be discarded. There are many who would work their plans, choosing by worldly standards of power, prestige, and pulchritude. They set up their empires. They build their mansions. They have their way all around us. But they will not prevail

Compare that to Jesus’ life and ministry. Although for a time Jesus was popular and successful, he never sought that; he knew earthly fame would be fleeting. But he also knew that the truth of God, and the power and influence of the Holy Spirit would propel the mission of God to its ultimate victory.

So he became the rejected stone. He was discarded by the rulers of his day, flogged, stripped, and crucified. But on the third day he rose again. He is at the right hand of God. And one day he will return to judge the living and the dead. He is the cornerstone of our faith and the solid foundation of our hope. When he returns he will fall on those who rejected him. But those who build their lives on him will live forever. He is “the stone that the builders rejected.” But he has become “the cornerstone.” This truly is “marvelous in our eyes.”

Matthew 21:33-46

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. ³⁴When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. ³⁵ And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴²Jesus said to them,  “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. ⁴⁴And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.