THE REJECTION OF THE CORNERSTONE
The Final Week (one very long day) • Sermon • Submitted
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Rejection is a very common aspect of life. So common, that we might not even give thought to it.
On the playground at school when students are picking teams to play against one another there are often children who are rejected because of a lack of proficiency in the activity being played.
In school it used to be that a student’s work was often rejected by the teacher as being inadequate. This was a teaching moment regarding the quality of ones work.
Years ago, when we lived in Auburn Hills, my father-in-law and I went to Home Depot to purchase lumber for a building project in our house. We looked carefully over the 2x4’s and rejected those which were warped or so knotted as to cause a problem.
When we lived in Maine, our son, Caleb, would often work Potato Harvest. One of his jobs was to look over the potatoes that were harvested and separate the good quality potatoes from the rejects.
All of this is to say that rejection is a common part of everyday life.
Please turn with me to , as we continue in our series titled THE FINAL WEEK — One Very Long Day! This passage is about a double rejection. Because the religious leadership of Israel rejected the prophets, and the Cornerstone, God rejected them as leaders of His people, and replaced them with leaders who bore fruit.
But what was the human condition that led to the rejection of Messiah, the Cornerstone? Ultimately it boils down to pride. For the religious establishment of Israel, they took pride in their works of righteousness. They took pride in their standing in the community. They took pride in their shepherding of God’s flock. Because of their pride they did not recognize God Incarnate when they saw Him with their own eyes. Because of their pride they did not recognize that they were, in fact, poor, wretched, miserable, and blind. Because of their pride they ultimately rejected the One who would become the chief corner stone!
As we go through this passage we will consider the setting, the telling of the parable, the unpacking of the parable, the application of the parable, and the understanding of the parable.
Let’s read this passage together.
THE SETTING
THE SETTING
In truth the setting for this parable goes back a long ways. I would argue that it goes back as far as the time of Ezekiel, the OT prophet. That is because, through this man of God, the Lord rebuked the leadership of Israel for its poor shepherding of the flock of Israel. Look at the scathing remarks of God to the shepherds of His people:
Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?
You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock.
Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.
They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered.
My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.” ’ ”
Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
“As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;
therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.” ’ ”
For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.
As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.
I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.
I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God.
“I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.
“As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.
Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet?
As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!’ ”
Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad,
therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.
“Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.
And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.
“I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing.
Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.
They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid.
I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore.
Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord God.
“As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord God.
Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
“As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;
therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.” ’ ”
That is the greater context, but the immediate context is in relationship to the things that happened at the time of Christ’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and the incidents that followed. If you will recall, a few weeks back we looked at
The Fig Tree Incident
The Fig Tree Incident
At that time I noted that unfruitful fig tree represented the fruitlessness of the religious leaders of Israel. They gave an outside appearance of being fruitful, of being spiritual, but in fact it was a false deception. After this we looked at
The Exposing of Hypocrisy
The Exposing of Hypocrisy
Christ was challenged by the religious leaders about His authority to clear the temple, and to teach in the temple. Christ refused to answer their question unless they would answer His question regarding the source of the ministry of John the Baptist. Was it from man or from God? Since they refused to answer this question, understanding that it was a trap, Jesus refused to tell them the source of His authority. Instead He told them a parable in which He answered the question about John’s authority being from God. Then He delivered a scathing rebuke for their lack of faith in the message that John preached.
Both of these episodes point to
The Lack of Fruitfulness from the Religious Establishment of Israel
Immediately after rebuking these men for their unbelief, Jesus launched into the second of three parables in which He denounced the so-called spiritual leaders of Israel. This brings us to
THE TELLING OF THE PARABLE
THE TELLING OF THE PARABLE
As we read through this simple parable once again, I want you to note the way in which Jesus drew His audience into the story.
Inclusive Story Telling
Intended Response Achieved
THE UNPACKING OF THE PARABLE
THE UNPACKING OF THE PARABLE
As we unpack this parable we are going to look at the characters and what they represent, as well as the proper conclusion that priests and elders came to regarding the story-line of the parable.
Let’s begin by looking at
The Characters
The Characters
Landowner — God the Father
Vine-growers — Religious Leaders of Israel
Vineyard — Israel
Fruit — Righteousness
Slaves — OT Prophets (including John)
Son — Jesus
The Conclusion
The Conclusion
Judgment
THE APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE
THE APPLICATION OF THE PARABLE
It is in this application section that Jesus, oddly enough, revealed the true meaning of this parable to the chief priests and elders. I say oddly because His normal practice was to reveal the meaning of parables only to the apostles. But here, Jesus intent clearly was to use this parable as a rebuke of the religious establishment in Jerusalem. Let’s look at verse 42 as we consider how Jesus rebuked the ignorance of these religious leaders.
Ignorance Rebuked
Jesus rebuked these men for being ignorant of the Scriptures. I’m pretty sure that the issue was one of ignorance of the meaning of the Scriptures more so than merely not having read them.
The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.
Cornerstone Rejected
The OT reference is to which was a very familiar passage to all in Israel — especially to those traveling to Jerusalem from elsewhere. It was one of the songs that was sung as they made their journey to Jerusalem for the sacred festivals.
There are two different stones that can be referred to as a cornerstone. One is used on a foundation to tie together two intersecting walls. The other is used as a capstone of an archway.
The teachers of Israel had always held that the nation itself was the rejected cornerstone by the other kingdoms of this world. But Jesus is correcting their misunderstanding. It was a reference to His rejection by the leaders of the nation.
A builder during ancient times would spend a great deal of effort to find the perfect cornerstone for the building he was constructing. Failure to find the right stone for the foundation of the building could lead to the collapse of it. This passage from Psalms is stating that the very stone which builders rejected, was in fact the cornerstone that should have been chosen. As the song I sang earlier pointed out: “Though rejected by His own, He became the cornerstone.” And, according to , this was a God-thing!
A builder during ancient times would spend a great deal of effort to find the perfect cornerstone for the building he was constructing. Failure to find the right stone for the foundation of the building could lead to the collapse of it. This passage from Psalms is stating that the very stone which builders rejected, was in fact the cornerstone that should have been chosen. As the song I sang earlier pointed out: “Though rejected by His own, He became the cornerstone.” And, according to , this was a God-thing!
Let’s look at verse 43 as we consider the
This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
Penalty Announced
The penalty for the rejection of the Cornerstone was that the present religious leadership would lose their role of shepherding God’s people. That responsibility would be given to the apostles of Christ.
There are many who take the statement that “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it” as to mean that the predominately gentile church will replace the nation of Israel in God’s program. But we have to remember that Christ is dealing with the religious leadership of Israel and not the nation as a whole in this particular context.
David L. Turner notes:
“Matthew does not view the church as a gentile entity that supersedes Israel but as the eschatological Jewish remnant that spreads the kingdom message to all the nations, including Israel.”
Did the apostle in fact produce fruit? You better believe it. Luke’s writing on The Acts of the Apostles demonstrates as much. And you and I, who are believers in Jesus Christ, are a small part of the fruit that they produced. The amazing thing is that this vineyard, which was planted nearly two thousand years ago, is still producing a phenomenal amount of fruit! And will continue to do so.
Let’s look at verse 44 as we consider the condemnation of those who reject the Chief Cornerstone.
Rejectors Condemned
One commentator pointed out that there is both mercy and judgment involved in the understanding of this verse. The one category is portrayed by the statement: He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces which implies the opportunity for mercy. One who is broken can be mended. Just as one who recognizes that he is spiritually bankrupt, who grieves over the massive weight of his sin, and humbles himself before God, embracing the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will find spiritual healing and restoration.
The second category is represented by the statement: but on whomever it (the Cornerstone) falls, it will scatter him like dust.” The stone fell on the religious establishment of first century Israel, and by 70 AD the temple and its sacrificial system ceased to exist.
THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PARABLE
THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PARABLE
Message Received
Anger Toward the Messenger
Fear of the People
How do we see God in the act of redeeming His people in this passage? We see it in the replacement of the unfruitful shepherds of Israel with shepherds who would produce fruit. Not only would these uneducated men produce fruit by bringing many to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But also they taught believers how to live in a manner worthy of the calling they had received in Christ. They taught them to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in their day to day lives.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
What is the proper response to this message?
If you have never seen God for who He is, and yourself for who you are — a sinful wretch like me — you need to respond by truly seeing the God of the Bible and not the God of your own imagination. You see, the religious establishment had fashioned a god of their own imaginations, and they did not truly recognize God for who He is. And therefore, they did not recognize themselves for the sinful wretches they were.
After seeing God for who He is and yourself for who you are, you need to recognize who Jesus is. He is God Incarnate. He became a man so that He could redeem His own from destruction and crown them with loving-kindness and tender mercy. He did so by dying on the cross, and absorbing God’s wrath for all who would place their faith in His person and His work.
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Believer, there is a proper response for you too. Perhaps there are many proper responses. It is not only unbelievers who struggle with pride; unfortunately pride can hit us just where it hurts. We need to continually recognize our shortcomings and failures. We need to confess them to God and seek His forgiveness, which He is faithful and just to give. And we need to continually seek the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to live our lives in a manner that is worthy of the calling we have received.
Let’s pray.
Closing Song: Rock of Ages #342