In last week’s article, we noted the rejection of Jesus by the Gadarenes and the people of Nazareth. The rejection of Christ continues today in our world, and when people reject Jesus, they reject the only hope they have of being saved. Our hearts break when we consider these decisions. We need to pray for open hearts and open minds for the gospel to change people. And we need to be prepared to teach the gospel to all we can.
In Matthew 21:33-45 we read of the parable of the winepress. Note, “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” (It is obvious that as Jesus told this parable, he was thinking about what would happen to Him at the cross).
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
The stone which the builders rejected became the cornerstone of the whole building. When a house is being built, the cornerstone is the key stone. It must be placed perfectly, or the whole house may be out of alignment.
Jesus is the cornerstone of the church. He died for the church. When people become Christians, they are a part of the metaphorical building – the church. BUILD YOUR LIFE UPON HIM, AND STRIVE FOR OBEDIENCE DAILY. HE IS WORTH FOLLOWING.
In Luke 4:28-29 we read “When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.” When you preach and teach, some will turn away in anger, indifference, and hatred.
THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND RULERS – In Luke 23:18-25 But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.
The “religious leaders,” should have known Scripture well enough to see Jesus as the Messiah. But they were entrenched in their positions of leadership and doing things their way. What a tragedy – their view of Messiah is one who would come and restore Israel to its “proper place” as God’s people. YET . . . that is not what Jesus came to do. He did not conquer Rome and drive the invaders out. He came to save the Jews, but also the Romans and every other person who heard the gospel. He died on the cross so that all have a chance to be saved from sin and to live with God throughout eternity.
The chief priest and rulers saw him as a threat. HOW DO YOU AND I SEE JESUS?
Finally, look at the JEWISH NATION. In John 1:11-12 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.In John 5:41-47 Jesus said, “I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
Most of the Jewish nation rejected Jesus as Messiah. It wasn’t until Pentecost when the Jews saw what they had done. They had killed Messiah – and they thought it was over. But with Jesus’ resurrection, the gospel was spread throughout the world. The first group responded on the day of Pentecost to the gospel in Acts 2, and as we follow through the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament, we see many becoming Christians. Further, these disciples of Jesus were willing to die for the cause of Christ.
Brother and sisters, our brothers and sisters in the first century willing died for Jesus. If persecution came in this country – whose side would we be on? If we would be on the Lord side – OUR FAITH MUST BE STRONG, OUR LOVE FOR HIM SHOULD BE DEVOUT AND UNYIELDING! WHAT HAS YOUR COMMITMENT TO CHRIST COST YOU?
