Built on the Cornerstone

Matthew 21:33-46

It’s Tuesday. But not just any Tuesday. It’s the Tuesday of the most important week in human history.

Two days ago, the King came to Zion - “humble, and mounted on a donkey” (21:5).

And now, the King’s cross and His empty tomb - events that have long been out on the horizon, off in the distance - are now closer than ever before.

And one final time, the King wishes to spend this Tuesday addressing the religious leaders. The priests, the Pharisees, and the elders gathered around Him. Not to *listen* to Him, the One who is both King and Prophet (21:46). But instead, to challenge His authority (21:23).

And as He had done so many times, He would address them in parables. But these would not be cutesy, Aesop-Fable-like parables, teaching us how to live a good, moral life. No, with these parables, the Prophet-King wants to make it very plain, very clear to all: not only who He is, but also, what He knows these leaders are about to do to Him.

Among the several parables He would tell, He tells one of a vineyard Master, His Son, and the tenants. The Master would repeatedly send his servants to harvest the fruit; and repeatedly, one by one, the tenants would beat, stone, and kill the Master’s servants.

But with the Master’s Son, it would be different, right? So the Master sends His Son, saying, “They will respect my Son.” But just as with all the other servants, the tenants throw the Son out of the vineyard, and kill Him.

For the priests, Pharisees, and elders, the message is loud and clear:
“They perceived that He was speaking about them” (21:45).
They were the builders, rejecting the Stone (21:42).

Just as their fathers repeatedly did with God’s prophets, one more time, they would reject and kill - not just any prophet - but God’s one true Prophet. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!” (23:37).

It’s Tuesday. In three days, these leaders would hang this Prophet on the tree and kill Him.

But the Master is sovereign over it all. This would be “the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (21:42). On Sunday, the stone would be rolled away, and the Stone, rejected by the builders, would become the Cornerstone of our salvation.

The question before us today is this:
What will WE do with this Prophet?

Will we be like the religious leaders - rejecting this Prophet, and what He has to say to us? Will we, like them, challenge His authority? The authority that even He has over our own lives?

Or will we receive this Prophet? Will we build our lives on this Cornerstone?

And the promise for us who will build our lives on this Cornerstone is an unshakable life in Him.

“Therefore the Lord God said:
‘Look, I have laid a stone in Zion,
a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
the one who believes will be unshakable.’”
(Isaiah 28:16, CSB)

-Joe Groppel