May 31 2025

Saturday May 31

Luke 20:17-19 – Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone

17 Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone'? 18 "Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." 19 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people--for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

These verses 17-19, continue the confrontation that Jesus has on Tuesday of Passion Week with the scribes, the priests, and the elders, just days before He is crucified. Jesus has just finished telling a parable to the people that these religious leaders were also carefully listening to. It was the story of the owner of a vineyard who finally sent his beloved son to receive the fruit, but he is rejected and killed by the vinedressers. They realize Jesus is claiming to be the son in the story who is being rejected and killed.

Now Jesus turns back from the crowd to these leaders of the Jews and speaks directly to them and quoted Psalm 118:22. The rulers knew that this was a messianic psalm, and they had heard some verse from this same psalm shouted by the crowd when Jesus rode into the city (compare Luke 19:38 with Ps. 118:26). By applying this verse to Himself, Jesus was clearly claiming to be the Messiah. The "builders who rejected the stone”, were of course, were the Jewish religious leaders (Acts 4:11).

In the Old Testament, the "stone" is a familiar symbol of God and of the promised Messiah (see Gen. 49:24; Ex. 17:6; 33:22; Deut. 32:4, 15, 30-31; Isa. 8:14; 28:16; 1 Cor. 10:4). Because the Jews did not believe, they stumbled over Him and were judged. Those who trust Jesus Christ find Him to be the foundation stone and the chief cornerstone of the church (1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:20).

But Jesus is also referring to Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45. This is where Daniel is interpreting the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar where the Messiah is pictured as a "smiting stone" that crushes all that gets in its way. He was warning the Sanhedrin that they would only destroy themselves if they condemned Him. We need to realized that this same principle applies today, and unbelievers should carefully heed His warning.

You might think about it this way. When the rulers rejected John the Baptist, they sinned against the Father who sent Him. When they crucified Jesus, they sinned against the Son. Jesus had told them that they could sin against Him and still be forgiven, but when they sinned against the Holy Spirit, there could be no forgiveness (Matt. 12:24-37). Why? Because that was the end of God's witness to the nation.

This is the so-called "unpardonable sin," and it was committed by the Jewish leaders when they finally rejected the witness of the Spirit of God through the Apostles. The evidence of their rejection was the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:51-60). Then the Gospel went from the Jews to the Samaritans (Acts 8) and then to the Gentiles (Acts 10). Even today the Jewish people have a double veil over their eyes that keeps them from acknowledging that Jesus is their promised Messiah (2 Corinthians 3:7-18).

In this parable of the vineyard and vinedressers who rejected the servants of the owner and kill his son, Jesus illustrated the insidious nature of sin: the more we sin, the worse it becomes. The tenants started off beating some of the servants and wounding others, but they ended up becoming murderers! The Jewish leaders permitted John the Baptist to be killed, they asked for Jesus to be crucified, and then they themselves stoned Stephen. They sinned against the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that was the end of God's witness to them.

It is a serious thing to reject the message of God and the messengers of God (see John 12:35-43) Remember the warning we read in Hebrews 2:1-4; “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?”

Today, if the Holy Spirit is dealing with you heart about salvation or some sin in your life, respond in humility and repentance, trusting and receiving the forgiveness that only Jesus can give you!

God bless!