Pentecost 18
– Series A – Proper 22 (October 8, 2017)
“The
Cornerstone” (Matthew 21:33-46)
INI
Unless you are looking for it, you might miss
seeing a cornerstone in a modern building … that is, if the building even has
one. In days gone by, brick and mortar
buildings had a stone that was placed first.
The angles of the walls that meet at that corner must line up with that
initial stone, so it was a significant part – if not the chief part – of the
foundation. Today, cornerstones are not
always the first stone laid. They are
often decorative, with the year the building was built engraved into it and
other important information about the building, such as who the builder was,
what organization or business ordered the structure to be built, and so
forth. In some Lutheran churches, you
may find a cornerstone with the initials “U.A.C.” etched on it. That stands for “Unaltered Augsburg
Confession” and displays the fact that the congregation confesses the Augsburg
Confession of 1530 before Philip Melanchthon altered it. He softened some of the language about the
Lord’s Supper about 10 years later to appeal to Christians who denied the real
presence of the Body and Blood of the Lord in Holy Communion. As a professor in Wittenberg and friend and
colleague of Luther, Melanchthon was a key figure in the Reformation, but altering the Augsburg Confession was not one of his brighter moments.
It’s also possible that a cornerstone such as the
one described in our text today could refer to a large decorative stone placed
at the top of a corner where two walls meet.
It gives the corner a beautiful, finishing flourish. This meaning of the word “cornerstone” would also make sense in our text today, since it has the potential to do some damage when
it falls on someone. A cornerstone at
the bottom of the building isn’t going to travel very far. And it certainly won’t crush anyone. Maybe a toe or two, if even that much.
Jesus quotes from Psalm 118 after telling the
Parable of the Wicked Tenants. “The
stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Now, why would you reject a stone from being
a cornerstone? Maybe it’s not
substantial enough. It’s not made out of
lasting, durable material, but will crumble under pressure. Maybe it’s not square enough. Its edges are uneven. It would be difficult to align the other
stones with it after it’s set in place.
Maybe it’s not beautiful enough for its nature as a decorative part of
the building. A cornerstone must be
perfectly suited for its task.
Jesus was referring to himself as the
cornerstone that was rejected by the “builders” of Israel, the chief priests
and experts in the law and other leaders of the people of Israel. He was rejected, even though he was perfectly
suited for his task. He was substantial
enough … True God in the flesh … “of one substance with the Father” as we
confess in the Creed. He did not crumble under pressure when Satan tempted him and tried to divert him from his mission as the Messiah. He was perfectly
aligned with his Father’s will as he perfectly obeyed the Law and willingly
came to serve humanity as our Savior.
He did not appear to be beautiful to those who saw him, though, as the
prophet Isaiah said, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and
no beauty that we should desire him” (Is. 53:2). He came in all humility, not appearing gloriously
as the Son and inheritor of the One who planted the vineyard, but rather as the
son of an insignificant virgin from a remote village.
Yet he was rejected by the very ones
he came to serve. Israel was the
vineyard that God planted. It was all
the Lord’s doing. He chose them as his
own special people. They did not choose
him. The Lord built a fence around his
vineyard for protection, a winepress for provision, and a tower from which to
peer for approaching enemies. In other
words, God gave them the Torah to guide them in all truth. He gave them the priesthood to intercede and
offer sacrifices. He gave them the
prophets to call them back to the Lord when they would rebel. But the people of Israel notoriously rejected
the Lord’s Word given through the prophets and put many of them to death. As Isaiah said, “For the vineyard of the Lord
of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice,
but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, and outcry!” (Is. 5:7). The prophets preached against the unfaithfulness
of the people, and the people responded with injustice, bloodshed, and unrighteousness.
The prophet Zechariah the son of
Jehoiada was stoned to death in the temple court by command of King Joash. According to tradition and possibly referenced
in Hebrews 11:37, Isaiah was sawn in half.
In the time of Elijah, the wicked queen Jezebel had many unnamed prophets
put to death. And of course, there was John
the Baptist, beheaded while imprisoned for publicly condemning Herod’s adultery (Matt. 14:1-12).
Yes, God planted Israel as his
vineyard. But when he came looking for
fruit, there was none. Nothing. The trees were barren. There was no fruit produced. No faith. Instead, there was the rotten fruit of
unbelief, demonstrated in injustice, bloodshed, and unrighteousness. And the chief priests and the leaders to whom
Jesus was speaking were about to demonstrate the same. In just a few days after Jesus told this
parable, they would kill the Son of God.
They “threw him out of the vineyard,” outside the walls of Jerusalem, as
an outcast, as a criminal. They handed
him over to the Romans who had the authority to crucify him. And in so doing, they failed to receive the
Son’s inheritance … an honored place in the kingdom of God. This would be taken away from them and given
to a people producing fruit … those with true faith and true fruits of
faith. The very people whom Jesus came
to save rejected him. And Jesus said,
“The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on
anyone, it will crush him.” There is
judgment awaiting those who reject the Cornerstone.
“This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in
our eyes.” God is the one who planted
the vineyard, Israel. He chose
them. Yet they stubbornly rejected God’s
will for them. At the same time, God is
the one who knew that the rejection of his Son would mean the salvation of the
world. It involved plenty of injustice, bloodshed,
and unrighteousness. Christ’s blood was
shed for us. All our injustices and unrighteous
thoughts, words, and deeds were placed upon him. The cornerstone himself was crushed for our
iniquities (Is. 53:5).
By baptism and faith, God plants you in his
vineyard. He places you as a stone in
his building, the Church. Yet we often
reject God’s will for our lives, too. We
don’t align ourselves with the Cornerstone.
When you fall on the Cornerstone in repentance, you are broken to
pieces. But the Lord puts you back
together again. In Christ Jesus, you are
made whole again. Your sins are
forgiven. You are put back into
alignment with Cornerstone. This stone will
not crush you. But he does promise to
crush all your enemies under him, your enemies of sin, death, and the
devil. They were crushed when another
familiar stone was rolled away, the one that tried to keep Jesus in the tomb. Those enemies still pester us and hinder us
in this life and will continue to do so until Jesus returns in glory. But because Jesus has won the victory for you
in his death and resurrection, you can see those enemies not as giant boulders
ready to bowl you over, but as tiny little pebbles being tossed at you, a mere
annoyance that we can walk right past because we are aligned with the
Cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in
our eyes. Aligned with the Cornerstone,
we can hold him high, decorating our lives with his beauty and truth. We can stand on the firm foundation of the
Word of God. We will receive the inheritance
of our Lord Jesus, not as something we have earned, but as something that is
freely given to us … living eternally in the presence of God, seeing Jesus face
to face. And won’t that be marvelous in
our eyes?
INI
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