The Rejected Cornerstone
Matthew 21:42
Good Friday Message
By Pastor Brian
2022.04.15
Introduction
Tonight, it is Good Friday. We are going to talk about rejection. I hate rejection. Have you ever been rejected? Job application rejection. College application rejection. Look at this rejection letter:
First, they say to you. "We’d like to congratulate you on your impressive academic accomplishments.” Then they reject you. “We regret to inform you that we are not offering you admission.” “We wish you the best of luck in your academic future!”
I am a reject. They don’t want me.
Good Friday is the story of the ultimate rejection. Jesus was rejected. They did not want him, and they nailed him to the cross. Tonight, I would like to bring you back to the night of the ultimate rejection. As we are getting ready to seek to meet Jesus at his table through the bread and the cup, I would like to share with you two points about the rejection of Christ.
1. He was rejected because of me.
2. I am accepted because of Him.
Let us go back to the passion week. Jesus entered the city on Sunday, the first day of the week. Nisan 10 in the Jewish calendar.
Six days before Passover, that day was the date the Passover Lambs were selected to be slaughtered for the Passover. Jesus was the Passover Lamb chosen by God to redeem our sins. So that we are accepted by God.
On Sunday, Jesus was very popular. Massive humanity, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, came out and hailed Him as their Messiah. "Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" Mat 21:9
On Monday, there was a display of His power. He went into the temple and just wiped out the criminal businesses conducted there by the priests. He exhibited the immense power of the Righteous Son of God. Yet, in the face of such popularity and power, He knew that he would be on a cross, rejected in four days.
The leaders of Israel hated Him. They hated Him for His popularity. They hated Him for His power. He hated Him for what He had done to their businesses. They’ve wanted Him dead for a long time.
Then on Wednesday, we come to one of the central messianic images in the Bible: Jesus is the rejected stone, the cornerstone, and the judgment stone.
Jesus said to the chief priest and the people’s elders, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from God, and it is marvelous” Matt 21:42
The salvation History in Stone
The metaphor of Christ as the stone rejected by the builders appears first in Psalm 118:22 and has echoes in both Isaiah 28:16 and Zechariah 10:4. Then in all three synoptic gospels, Jesus used this passage to talk about Himself being the rejected cornerstone, and Peter quoted it in his defense of the Gospel and used the stone to explain the salvation history to the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:11). Finally, it appears again in important advances in both Paul and Peter (Eph 2:20; 1 Pet 2:6-7).
What is a cornerstone?
There are several characteristics of a cornerstone in ancient times. The cornerstone was the first stone laid. It was the first stone laid because all the dimensions of the rest of the house were projected off of the sizes of the cornerstone.
Secondly, it had to be the most perfectly cut stone because the cornerstone would be what the house would be. The lines of the cornerstone become the lines of the house. If the cornerstone is not cut at perfectly right angles to the ground, then the house will not be at good right angles. Whatever the cornerstone is, the house is. If there were any lack of integrity in the stone, if it crumbled in any way, the house and the entire house would be compromised and crumbled.
Thirdly, the cornerstone was the most precious stone. It was the most expensive part of the ancient building. It was the most labor-intensive. It was not unusual for a builder to spend a lot of time finding the cornerstone.
Here is a picture of the cornerstone on the western wall of the old Jerusalem. It is huge. It is perfect. It is the most precious stone. The whole wall was built on this stone.
THE REJECTED STONE
The builders rejected the stone, men of power in Israel, the movers, and shakers.
Jesus was rejected and killed.
Jesus was whipped and then mocked that he was 'King of the Jews.’ He was given a crown of thorns and dressed in a purple robe. Jesus then carried the cross to the place of crucifixion at Calvary outside the city.
Jesus was stripped and nailed to the cross naked in shame. Above his head is a sign that says, 'King of the Jews’ in Greek and Aramaic. Two criminals were crucified alongside him. He was crucified among criminals. At noon, darkness was over the land. Jesus called out to His father. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46). Then Jesus breathed his last breath and said, “it is finished.” The salvation is finished. The soldiers checked if Jesus was dead by stabbing him in the side. Blood and water gushed out.
At 3 pm, Jesus' body is taken down and buried on the ninth hour.
He was rejected because of me. Because of my sins, he was nailed on the cross because of me. He died for me.
THE CORNERSTONE
Peter says, “Come to him, to that living Capstone which is the Cornerstone, rejected by men but chosen by God. He was rejected, and we are accepted. ‘Whoever trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices ACCEPTABLE to God through.”
Accepted by God, approved by God. We are built up as a spiritual house. This living temple contains the power of the new creation. It is a counterculture, alternate humanity.
It will grow until the entire earth is filled with the glory of God and is renewed. God’s great vindication of Jesus, the rejected stone, is the resurrection. The stone that was rejected became the cornerstone of a whole new world. The rejected stone has become the cornerstone and brings the presence of the future to us when all your dreams have been connected and your vision has been returned.
He was rejected because of me. So that I am accepted because of Him. Jesus became the cornerstone, the foundation of everything we have.
THE JUDGMENT STONE
But for many, he is the judgment stone.
Listen to this. After quoting from Psalm 118, Jesus said, “And he who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and on whomever, it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” Matt 21:44
This is a crushing statement about judgment. Jesus is not only the cornerstone that gives structure and symmetry to the church, but He is the crushing judgment stone on all those who reject Him. That is drawn from an old rabbinic saying. “If a stone falls on a pot, it will crush it. If a pot falls on a stone, it will shatter the pot.” Two scenarios:
1. The pot falls on the stone
That hostile rejection of Christ and wanted to destroy Christ just like the Jews
2. The stone falls on the pot
The passive rejection of Christ. You seem to have done nothing. Nevertheless, the stone will fall on you.
The results are the same. Whether you fall on Christ or Christ falls on you, the end is the same.
King Nebuchadnezzar learned this lesson in his dream of a colossal statue composed of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay. While he marveled at this sight, “a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them,” and then “the stone that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth” (Dan 2:34-5).
One of the early Christian titles for Christ was the stone. The wordplay is between the word ‘son’ in the parable of the tenants in the vineyard and ‘stone’ in the quotation. In Hebrew, the word son is bēn. And the word for stone is ’eben. These words have entirely different meanings but would have had a similar sound when Jesus spoke to them. The tenants killed the bēn. And the builders rejected the ’eben.
Conclusion
Christ is to you either the cornerstone, or He is the crushing stone. Your faith in Jesus Christ makes all the difference.
Some of us may be yet to put your faith in Christ.
Some of us may have forgotten that you are accepted to the body of Christ. You belong to a new community, the church. The presence of the future is here.
Father, Thank You for loving us enough to send Christ. Thank You for loving us enough to give us the warnings. I pray today there won’t be anybody here who, like these, would turn and walk away, perhaps never to come again. O Lord, I pray that today they’ll be some who would run from the crushing to the cornerstone to be part of that glorious and eternal joy that belongs to those in Your Kingdom. Thank You again for the reality of Scripture that it comes on us with such power and clarity that we know we hear from You. What a privilege. We’ll give You thanks for that in Christ’s name. Amen.
Good Friday, Worship Flow
2022.04.15
7:30 -9:00 pm
7:30 pm Welcome Pastor Brian
7:31 pm Quiet (4 minutes) Worship team
7:35 pm Worship (20 minutes) Worship Team
7:55 pm Prayer (3 minutes) Pastor Kenny
(Children 0-2nd grade will be dismissed at this time)
7:58 pm Corresponding Scripture Reading (10 minutes) Congregation around tables
8:08 pm Sermon (30 minutes) Pastor Brian
Side-by-side translation into Mandarin
Earphone into Cantonese
8:38 pm Response Song (5 minutes) Worship team
8:43 pm Communion (6 minutes) Pastor Dick
Benediction Pastor Dick
8:49 pm Announcement (1 minute) Pastor Brian
8:50 pm Fellowship around the tables (10 minutes)
9:00 pm Service ends
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