Tag Archives: cornerstone

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – CORNERSTONE!

Bible Study, ,

CORNERSTONE!

“But Jesus didn’t back down. ’Why, then, do you think this was written?

“That stone the masons threw out –                                                                                                     It’s now the cornerstone!                                                                                                                      “‘Anyone falling over that stone                                                                                                          will break every bone in his body;

if the stone falls on anyone,                                                                                                                    it will be a total smash-up.’

“The religion scholars and high priests wanted to lynch Him on the spot, but they were intimidated by public opinion. They knew the story was about them.”  Luke 20:17-19.

“There are two kinds of people in the world…!” Ever heard that statement?

In this incident, the two kinds of people are – those who use criticism wisely and those who want to silence the critic! Jesus’ antagonists fell into the second category. Even destructive and unkind criticism can be beneficial if one “eats the meat and spits out the bones.”

In this instance, it would have been eternally beneficial for them if they had taken Jesus’ words seriously. His intention was neither destructive nor unkind. He had tried everything to get them to wake up and realise where they were headed, but to no avail. They belonged to the category of unteachable people, those who were too proud to admit they were wrong and to want to know the truth more than to preserve their egos.

The only thing that stopped them from carrying out their murderous intention was their fear of public opinion. Of course, that was right in line with their general attitude anyway. They always played to the crowd, but in this instance, public opinion would only drive them underground until the time was right and they could get the crowd on their side.

In the heat of this furore, once again Jesus kept His cool. He knew He was right because He always stood on the side of truth. But His being right was not an image or an ego thing. It was an earnest plea to heed His words because of the consequences.

He was quoting Psalm 118:22, a fragment from a Messianic prophecy. The religious leaders would have been familiar with the Scripture and the insinuation that Jesus was the cornerstone, which would have riled them even more. Therefore they were enraged on two counts, His outright exposure of their intended plan to kill Him, and His Messianic claim which they interpreted as blasphemy.

The cornerstone of which Jesus spoke, not only supported the entire structure, it was also the test everyone has to pass or fail on their way to eternity. Every person either “falls over” the stone or will be crushed by the stone. This sounds like a heartless statement, and it would be except for one reality – everyone has a choice.

The way we respond to the “cornerstone” is the way we understand and treat the mercy of God. He has provided a way of escape from the inevitable result of our rebellion against Him. He warned the first pair that disobedience would bring death, but they did not believe Him. Because of their rebellion, death came on the whole human race. God sent His own Son, the “cornerstone”, to pay the debt we all owe Him so that we can go free.

That does not mean that we are free to do our own thing because there is no longer a penalty. It means that God will have mercy on those who return to Him and recognise and come under His authority by accepting His offer of forgiveness and entrusting themselves to His love. When we fall over the cornerstone, we are broken of our stubborn self-will. We submit to Him by choice and we are on a new road to true freedom.

The other option is to be crushed by the cornerstone. For God to be perfectly just, He has no alternative. He must be true to His nature and to His word. Imagine His heartbreak when He has to consign rebels to destruction because they decided to reject His offer when they could have had life!

THE BOOK OF ACTS – JESUS, CORNERSTONE

Bible Study, ,

JESUS, CORNERSTONE

“With that, Peter,  full of the Holy Spirit, let loose: ‘Rulers and leaders of the people, if we have been brought to trial today for helping a sick man, put under investigation regarding this healing, I’ll be completely frank with you — we have nothing to hide. By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the One you killed on a cross, the One God raised from the dead, by means of His name this man stands before you healthy and whole. Jesus is the ‘stone you masons threw out, which is now the cornerstone.’ Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been given or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.'”  Acts 4:8-12 (The Message).

Now the fat’s in the fire!

Peter could not have stated his case more clearly or thrown down the gauntlet more emphatically than he did at that moment! His words were loaded with truth, courage, boldness, conviction and challenge. He, a Galilean fisherman with no more training than three years with Jesus, was standing before the highest and most powerful religious court in the land and indicting them!

It’s history repeating itself. Only a few months before, Jesus had stood before the same court on trial for His life; yet He was the real judge and the court the accused. Now His followers were in the same position. It was religion going head-to-head with truth all over again.

Jesus had promised His disciples: ”’These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.'” Mark 16:17-18 (NIV).

The unseen kingdom of God had once again become visible through a miracle of God’s love and grace which had set a man free from the chains of disability. Everything imperfect is evidence that we are still living in captivity to a fallen world. Jesus brought with Him the good news that it would not remain like that forever. Little did these arrogant religious bullies realise that they had played a part in putting God’s plan into action by sentencing the innocent Son of God to death.

Wherever the apostles went, they heralded and demonstrated the power of this kingdom that would one day take over all the kingdoms of the world and restore all of creation to its original perfection. This would inevitably lead to a clash between God’s kingdom and the kingdoms of this world over which the prince of this world presides for now.

Peter insisted that the ‘stone the builders rejected, was now the cornerstone’ of this building Jesus was working on – a spiritual temple built out of living stones, every person who trusted in Him for salvation, not in the puny and futile ‘righteousness’ the religious leaders were so proud of and so confident in.

The problem in our world is that the bold confidence in asserting this truth is interpreted as ‘religious intolerance’ and ‘hate speech’. In some countries, even those who pride themselves on being ‘free’ will arrest those  who do not comply.  According to the opinion of the world, all religions are equal, and that may be true if we consider that Jesus did not come to found a new religion but to reveal the Father and to open the way for mankind to be reconciled to Him.

So we, who believe in Jesus, continue to assert that He is the cornerstone and that there is no other name by which we must be saved because He alone is the mirror image of God and the way to the Father. All over the world, governments and individuals are killing the messengers but they cannot kill the message because truth is indestructible.

Another Nail In His Coffin

Bible Study, , , ,

ANOTHER NAIL IN HIS COFFIN

Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: ‘A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place.

At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

He had one left to send, a son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, “They will respect my son.” But the tenants said to one another, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven’t you read this passage, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this and it is marvellous in our eyes”?’

Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Him because they knew He had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away (Mark 12: 1-12).

Clever guys! You got the message! But did they?

Why did Jesus tell a story like this against the religious leaders? Was it to alert them to the fact that He knew what they were up to? Was He warning them not to do it because there were serious consequences for them if they did? Was He giving them an opportunity to change their minds?

Remember that this story followed the cleansing of the temple and their enquiry about His authority to do that. They must surely have got the message, loud and clear that He had done what He had done to the merchants and money-changers because He was acting on authority given to Him by none other than God Himself. If that was so, then the story He told about them, concealed in the parable of the vineyard and the unscrupulous tenants, came from the same source of authority as His action in the temple.

But these men were stubborn, just as stubborn as their forebears who refused to submit to God’s authority. In spite of the retribution that fell on them time and again, the Israelites had never learned the lesson. Disobedience to God’s Word carries penalties – not because God is cruel or vindictive, but because there are natural consequences to transgressing the laws which keep the universe functioning in harmony with the nature of God.

Let’s look at the parable. There are some clear lessons in it, for them and for us. Jesus often told a story to address a problem; leaving the hearers to discern the answer for themselves. It was up to the hearers to identify with one or more of the characters in the story. There are four groups of people in this story; the owner of the vineyard, the tenants, the owner’s servants and his son.

What was the issue? The vineyard was the property of the landowner – the tenants those who worked the vineyard and owed some of the harvest to the landowner. They were stewards of property not their own.

The owner of the vineyard had a right to collect some of the harvest, but the tenants acted as though they had a right to it all. When the landowner sent servants to collect what was rightfully his, they rejected his claim and abused his servants. They refused to honour the rightful heir, murdering him with the idea that, if he were out of the way, they could lay claim to the vineyard and keep the profits.

Their thinking was faulty for the following reasons:

  1. The vineyard did not belong to them. They were stewards responsible for working it for the landowner.
  2. The profits did not belong to them. The owner had the right to claim his share.
  3. They were under the authority of the landowner. They were obliged to do what he requested.
  4. They were servants, not sons. They had no right to the inheritance.

The religious leaders got the message, loud and clear, but they did not receive it. Their response was the same as the tenants – kill the messengers and in that way negate the message, so they thought.

Did it work for them? Not according to Jesus. What would actually happen and what they thought would happen were poles apart. Israel was God’s “vineyard”. He had done everything for them to guarantee fruitfulness, and entrusted it to appointed leaders who were to care for His people under His directions. But instead they had led the people astray. Time and again He sent His prophets to call the people back to Himself but they were ignored, rejected and abused and some were even murdered.

Then He sent His one and only beloved Son. What would they do with Him? The custodians of God’s “vineyard” were already scheming to kill Him. Would they get the message? The outcome was already determined – and Jesus indicated in the conclusion to His parable that He knew what it was. Would they heed the warning? There were consequences in it for them if they didn’t.

Their response indicated that they were like the hard soil of the footpath. The more they were warned, the harder their hearts became, strengthening their resolve to get rid of the landowner’s son.

What is the condition of your heart?

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

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Cornerstone!

Christian Life, , ,

CORNERSTONE!

“But Jesus didn’t back down.’ Why, then, do you think this was written?

“That stone the masons threw out —
It’s now the cornerstone!”

‘Anyone falling over that stone will break every bone in his body; if the stone falls on anyone, it will be a total smash-up.’

“The religion scholars and high priests wanted to lynch Him on the spot, but they were intimidated by public opinion. They knew the story was about them.” Luke 20:17-20 (The Message).

“There are two kinds of people in the world…!” Ever heard that statement?

In this incident, the two kinds of people are — those who use criticism wisely and those who want to silence the critic! Jesus’ antagonists fell into the second category. Even destructive and unkind criticism can be beneficial if one eats the meat and spits out the bones.

In this instance, it would have been eternally beneficial for them if they had taken Jesus’ words seriously. His intention was neither destructive nor unkind. He had tried everything to get them to wake up and realise where they were headed, but to no avail. They belonged to the category of unteachable people, those who were too proud to admit they were wrong and to want to know the truth more than to preserve their egos.

The only thing that stopped them from carrying out their murderous intention was their fear of public opinion. Of course, that was right in line with their general attitude anyway. They always played to the crowd, but in this instance, public opinion would only drive them underground until the time was right and they could get the crowd on their side.

In the heat of this furore, once again Jesus kept His cool. He knew He was right because He always stood on the side of truth. But His being right was not an image or an ego thing. It was an earnest plea to heed His words because of the consequences.

He was quoting Psalm 118:22, a fragment from a Messianic prophecy. The religious leaders would have been familiar with the Scripture and the insinuation that Jesus was the cornerstone, which would have riled them even more. Therefore they were enraged on two counts, His outright exposure of their intended plan to kill Him, and His Messianic claim which they interpreted as blasphemy.

The cornerstone of which Jesus spoke, not only supported the entire structure, it was also the test everyone has to pass or fail on their way to eternity. Every person either “falls over” the stone or will be crushed by the stone. This sounds like a heartless statement, and it would be except for one reality — everyone has a choice.

The way we respond to the “cornerstone” is the way we understand and treat the mercy of God. He has provided a way of escape from the inevitable result of our rebellion against Him. He warned the first pair that disobedience would bring death, but they did not believe Him. Because of their rebellion, death came on the whole human race. God sent His own Son, the “cornerstone”, to pay the debt we all owe Him so that we can go free.

That does not mean that we are free to do our own thing because there is no longer a penalty. It means that God will have mercy on those who return to Him and recognise and come under His authority by accepting His offer of forgiveness and entrusting ourselves to His love. When we fall over the cornerstone, we are broken of our stubborn self-will. We submit to Him by choice and we are on a new road to true freedom.

The other option is to be crushed by the cornerstone. For God to be perfectly just, He has no alternative. He must be true to His nature and to His word. Imagine His heartbreak when He has to consign rebels to destruction because they decided to reject His offer when they could have had life!