Matthew 21:42-46 42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures, “‘The stone that the builders rejected, this one has become the cornerstone, which came from the Lord, and is marvelous in our eyes’? 43On account of this, I say to you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the nations who will produce its fruits. 44And the one who falls upon this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” 45And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. 46And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they were holding him to be a prophet.
Jesus next drives home the application of the parable for the religious leaders who were listening. The religious leaders must have fidgeted at the telling of this parable. Conflict had been building throughout Jesus’ ministry and was reaching a climax when the Jews would act by arresting him and handing him over to the Romans to be crucified. In verse 42, Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:22 (see also Isaiah 8:14–15; 28:16) to show how these Jews had abused their position. This quotation connects the Jews to the historical situation of Israel. The Jewish leaders were doing what ancient Israel did by rejecting God’s call through the prophets to repent and be loyal to covenant. One greater than the prophets was before them, but there were blinded by their prejudices and selfish protectionism. They were committing the same crime as the tenant farmers who represented historical Israel. Now they were about to perform the heinous crime of killing the owner’s son.
Psalm 118:22 is a powerful messianic prophecy of what Jesus experienced. This psalm became important to the early church, as indicted in Acts 4:11 and 1 Peter 2:7. The image is of the construction process of a stone building. The builders would carefully choose which stones to use that would fit in the right spots. They judged one stone as inferior because it did not fit their plans. Another surprise in this passage is that this rejected stone actually became, literally, the “head stone.” There were several places in ancient construction where such a stone would be important. It could be put into the corner to hold up two walls, or it could be the top of an arch that kept a door way or ceiling from collapsing. In either case, the significance is clear. The rejected stone became the most important in the building.
Jesus warns the religious leaders that by rejecting him, they were also rejecting God’s kingdom, and as a consequence, the kingdom would be give to others who would accept his authority. Those who heard this parable were faced with a decision of whether to accept Jesus or to reject him. There are serious consequences to those who reject Jesus. Their lack of faith in Jesus lead to stumbling and eventually being crushed by him. The religious leaders saw the connection between the parable and their attitude towards Jesus. They were clearly guilty for their rejection. They were making plans to get rid of Jesus just like the tenant farmers in the parable. With Jesus’ recent triumphal entry into Jerusalem, many people were excited about his presence. The chief priests and Pharisees were afraid that the crowds would cause problems and possibly lead to a response from the Romans.
Believers in Jesus belong to the new Israel, the church. If the church has inherited Israel’s place, it inherits also the danger of God’s judgment. An encounter with Jesus solicits a decision. The options are rejection or submission. The religious leaders in Jerusalem did not accept Jesus’ authority over them but chose to do their own thing. Each generation is confronted with the same decision. The first generation of Christians experienced the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles despite the efforts of the religious leaders of Israel to stop them. The kingdom of God will advance and triumph whether we are for or against it. The judgment rings out loud. so woe be to the one who chooses to reject the beloved Son and his authority.
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