JESUS IS THE CORNERSTONE
April 2, 2006 - Lent 5 - Luke 20:9-29
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Dear Friends in the name of our Savior:
Each of us turns to many different people for all kinds of advice during our lifetime. When we don’t feel well, we go to the doctor and seek his or her advice. It is the same with any other ailment we might have. If we can’t see, we go to the eye doctor or the dentist for our teeth and so forth. Sometimes, beyond that, we ask other people for advice and direction in our life. Sometimes, we might trust in our own advice or wisdom or strength. Yet, we realize that if we do that too often, we see that we may forget God’s wisdom and strength and knowledge. The Lord reminds us that Jesus himself is the cornerstone of the Christian church, the cornerstone of our Christian faith, and he also becomes the cornerstone of our life. The wisdom Jesus has surpasses all the wisdom of this world, surpasses all of the advice that others might give us.
In Acts we are told the words of the Apostles when they preached those first sermons after Pentecost. They reminded the people of the importance of Christ and Christ alone: "Christ is ’the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:11,12). That is divine wisdom, the knowledge of God who is our cornerstone.
We consider the words of this parable, the words of Jesus. As we consider the fact that:
JESUS IS THE CORNERSTONE. As we look at it and hear him teaching, we realize that:
I. Some spurn God’s Word,
II. Some reject God’s love,
III. Finally God’s judgment will come.
I. SOME SPURN GOD’S WORD
Once again, Jesus is getting closer to the day of crucifixion on Good Friday. In fact this is Tuesday of Holy Week. So we have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Maundy Thursday in the Upper Room and on Good Friday Jesus is put to death. He comes back to life on Easter Sunday. As he gets closer to that day of crucifixion, the enemies of Jesus are anxious to see him out of the picture. Jesus still has much to teach them, and he wants the crowd to realize the advice they had been getting was not good. "So Jesus went on to tell the people this parable: ’A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.’" It was a common practice. The owner of the land provided work for those who needed work as he rented out his property. The owner went away for a long time. He had lots of patience, and he waited for the vineyard to produce its fruit.
Then we are told what happens: "At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard." The time for the harvest had arrived and then the time for the payment. They would get a certain share of the crop and the owner would get another portion. The servant went to gather that portion. He went to speak the words of the owner. It was fair and what they agreed on. "But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed." The tenants spurned the servant, sent him away with no payment. The owner is patient. So "he sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed." The second servant received the same reception and rejection by the tenants. They mistreated this servant very badly. In the original, the word "beat" gives the idea that they plucked the skin from him, pulled it off.
"He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out." The owner sent three servants and all received the same reaction. The tenants spurned the word of the owner. They had no time and no use for him and what he had to say. They had no use for the agreement that they had made.
This sounds similar to today. People seek advice from all sorts of experts and authorities; but when it comes to the authority of Scripture, the world has little for what God’s word says. There are many today who feel that God’s word is too confining. There are many today who feel that God’s word has no relevance to today since it was written thousands of years ago. What use can it be for us in our modern day and age? Worst of all, there are some churches that throw out the true meaning of God’s word. They spurn what it says. Instead, they put in their own teachings and their own doctrines and their own philosophies and ideas. The Lord says in Proverbs written by Solomon who was the wisest man and trusted in the Lord: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline" (Proverbs 1:7). The unbelievers are those who are fools and despise and spurn God’s Word. Like these tenants, they have no use or time for it.
But we, by God’s grace, have come to know and believe that God’s word reveals to us that Jesus is the cornerstone. When we need a direction for our path in this life, we have it in God’s word. When we need hope in a hopeless situation, we have it in God’s word. When we realize we cannot save ourselves and deserve nothing but eternal punishment, we have God’s eternal light revealed to us in his word. Paul says in Romans: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (Romans 1:16). God’s word for the believer is his power and is our power that has changed our lives so that now we can enter heaven rather than languish in the depths of eternal punishment.
God’s word is the power that is revealed to us that Jesus is our cornerstone. Even though some spurn God’s Word and even though some reject God’s love, it doesn’t change the truth in Scripture.
II. SOME REJECT GOD’S LOVE
Our parable continues with rejection. We thought it was bad that the tenants beat up the servants and sent them back. They were spurning what was offered them. They had been given land to work, and the Lord blessed it by producing a crop. The owner was at his wits’ end. He even says, "What shall I do?" What next? But then he does something that we probably wouldn’t do, but something he did. "I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him." He thought maybe the son would be respected more than the servants. He thought they would respect the son, because of the father. We can see the parallel, can’t we, as we hear this? "I will send my son, whom I love." God sent his Son, whom he loved.
Then we hear the reaction of the tenants: "But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ’This is the heir.’" They realized the importance that they should respect him. But then with faulty reasoning, they said: "Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." They thought if they got the son out of the way, the owner would have to give them the son’s inheritance. They did just that, didn’t they? "So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him." The tenants rejected the love the father had for his son. They rejected the love that the owner was showing these tenants by giving them another chance.
Then Jesus asked the question: "What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?" Jesus wants them to think about that, and we are going to think about that, "What will he do?"
How sad it is when people reject God’s love. People are saved purely out of God’s grace. God brings believers into his kingdom by his grace. When they are lost, they are lost on their own accord, because they rejected God’s love. We have these examples in Scripture. There is Pharaoh who hardens his heart until finally the Lord hardens it, because there is no more hope. Here Jesus, the very Son of God, in the midst of his people is rejected. The Gospel of John tells us: "He was in this world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him" (John 1:10,11). They rejected him. Today, people still reject the teachings of Jesus. People still reject the truth of Scripture. We see it often attacked on every side.
But again, not everyone does. For us who are believers, God has caused his powerful word to work in our hearts. By grace we are able to see and believe and know once again that Jesus Christ is our cornerstone, the foundation on which we build. Paul says in Corinthians: "But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:10b,11). Jesus Christ is the cornerstone; and if the person builds on that, then the building is strong.
Jesus is our cornerstone. Some spurn the word that reveals it and some reject the love of God, which is the cornerstone himself. God’s judgment will come.
III. GOD’S JUDGMENT WILL COME
Jesus goes on to answer the question, "What will the owner of the vineyard do to them?" Jesus tells them in case they didn’t know. The answer should have been obvious, but it wasn’t to them. Jesus says, "He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others." That makes sense. Listen to the reaction of the people: "When the people heard this, they said, ’May this never be!" For some odd reason they thought the tenants shouldn’t be put to death, and the vineyard shouldn’t be given to anyone else. In that crowd who was listening to Jesus were those who rejected Jesus as the cornerstone and were those who spurned his word. So he gets down to the nitty-gritty, doesn’t he?
Jesus continues by quoting from Psalm 118: "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ’The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." Jesus wanted them to explain to him what was meant by the words in this Psalm. This stone, and we know Jesus as the cornerstone was now rejected, is still the cornerstone. Jesus goes on to explain this Psalm. "Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." The original says, "ground to powder."
There were many at this time that stumbled against the cornerstone. There were many who looked at Jesus and were crushed by what he had to say. The crowd said, "May this never be." We see who was there and who is upset by these words. We are told: "The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them." That cornerstone and rock did make an effect. God’s law had crushed them, had broken to pieces their grand ideas of power and authority. The church leaders did not seize him to put him to death immediately because they were afraid of the people. Jesus also had a few more days left before the divinely appointed time of his crucifixion.
So the Lord warns us. He says judgment will come and judgment does come. Final judgment comes especially on the Last Day. God’s law, even though it points out our sins and crushes us because of our sinfulness, cannot be changed. It says that we are sinners. It reminds us that we cannot put our trust or confidence in anyone but God alone. If not, what happens? Jeremiah says: "This is what the LORD says: ’Cursed is the one who trust in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD" (Jeremiah 17:5). This is what happens when we trust in ourselves or all the experts and all the advice in this world. Our hearts will turn away from God. Then God’s judgment comes and we are cursed. Of course, Jesus wants us to turn towards him. So Scripture says God’s judgment comes. It is going to judge those who are evil, wicked unbelievers.
But God’s judgment is also a judgment of mercy for the believers. Paul writes in Timothy: "Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ’The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ’Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness’" (2 Timothy 2:19). We see on one hand God’s judgment coming upon those who turn away from God and turn to themselves. Then we see God’s judgment of mercy for those whom he has turned back toward himself. Jesus is our cornerstone.
It is easy for us to look back and see the entire fulfillment of Scripture. It was hard here, wasn’t it? Jesus stands there and describes himself as the cornerstone and says he, as the owner, would put to death the evil tenants. Their answer was, "May this never be." May this thing never happen to us. Their eyes were blinded. They were spurning God’s word. In a few days they would even reject God’s love as they cried for Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross. Then God’s judgment would come, this judgment against the unbelievers. God’s judgment would come also as a judgment that he placed on his Son to take away our sins, a judgment and blessing of mercy because he is our cornerstone.
Peter writes: "For in Scripture it says: ’See I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame" (1 Peter 2:6). There are all kinds of advice around us, all kinds of experts. Still today the only true expert is Christ. He gives us the absolute certain truth written in Scripture for us. As we trust in Jesus, our cornerstone, we will never, ever put to shame. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
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Lent 5 readings: JEREMIAH 31:31-34; HEBREWS 5:7-9; JOHN 12:20-33
