February 22
“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The Stone which the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone?”’” Matthew 21:42.
At the beginning of the first Holy Week, Jesus had come to Jerusalem, and as was customary for Him, He went to the temple to teach. As He was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him with a question: “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” Matthew 21:23.
They received from Jesus an answer that they did not expect. He said, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John – where was it from? From heaven or from men?” Matthew 21:24-25. Immediately, the religious leaders held a conference. “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus and said, ‘We do not know.’ And He said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’” Matthew 21:25-27.
Then Jesus told several parables, and it became clear to the religious leaders that Jesus was speaking of them. He asked them another piercing question: “Have you never read in the Scriptures?” They were the religious leaders who should have known what was recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures. They had the title and the name of being the religious teachers, but they did not know what was taught in the Scriptures. And they rejected Jesus as the Son of God and the promised Messiah. “The Stone which the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone.”
The Christian Church is built upon Christ. Where Christ is rejected, there is no Christian Church. What happened during Old Testament times and at the time of Jesus also happens today. There are many religious teachers and leaders who do not know what is taught in the Bible, and there are many who do not believe what is written in the Bible. They reject Jesus as being our promised Savior, who has fulfilled the Law of God in our place and who suffered and died on Calvary’s cross to take away our sins.
Instead of directing people to Jesus as their Savior, many religious leaders direct people to do good works in order to get right with God. However, we get right with God by putting our faith and trust in Jesus’ blood and righteousness, not our own works. The apostle Paul wrote, “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast,” Ephesians 2:8-9. Our faith is built and rests upon Jesus, the Chief Cornerstone. God moved Isaiah to write, “Behold, I lay in Zion a Stone for a foundation, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone, a sure foundation,” Isaiah 28:16. The psalmist wrote, “The Stone which the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone,” Psalm 118:22. Paul wrote, “You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone,” Ephesians 2:19-20.
Rest your faith on Jesus, the Chief Cornerstone of the Christian Church, and you will live in heaven.
Christ, Thou art the sure Foundation, Thou the Head and Cornerstone;
Chosen of the Lord and precious, Binding all the Church in one;
Thou Thy Zion’s Help forever, And her Confidence alone. Amen.