The Cornerstone
The Cornerstone
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Matthew 21:42
The cornerstone was a special stone that would be chosen for a new construction. It would be the first stone to go on the foundation and many people would do a sacrifice on the stone so that the building would be strong. It was thought that, much like the foundation, the cornerstone would carry the weight of all the stones that would be put on top and around.
Jesus is our cornerstone. It’s very sad that this text says and indeed prophesied that God’s people would reject Jesus. Jesus wasn’t the stone they were looking for. They wanted a leader who would be violent and powerful, who would topple the Roman government and make them the new superpower on earth. Instead they saw a cornerstone that was more focused on forgiveness, peace and love. They didn’t believe such a weak looking stone could hold anything up. How they were wrong.
What looked like a weak stone was able to topple a government much greater and more evil than Rome. Jesus toppled Satan’s reign and sin itself. Jesus wasn’t just trying to build a human country but a heavenly one. In truth, there is nothing weak about Jesus.
43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
Matthew 21:43-44
We must fall on this stone or in other words we must submit out wills and persons to Jesus. We must let him be our foundation and strength. We must not try and be our own strength. Falling on his breaks us but only so that God can rebuild us anew. This is a scary proposition but a necessary one to truly receive the salvation he offers.
In the same way Jesus sacrificed himself for us, we must sacrifice our own wills to him.
God bless,
Pr. Steven Couto