Recapitulation
When the religious leaders challenged Jesus authority to
teach in the temple, He refused to answer directly but He gave them an indirect
answer in three parables, the first of which we examined in our last study—the
Tale of Two Sons. It was obvious that
Jesus was pointing out that Israel was like the son that initially promised to
do the father’s will and work in the vineyard but, in the end, did not do
it. The most troubling inference from
this parable was that there was another ‘son’ that had initially rejected doing
the will of the father but later changed his mind and actually worked in the
vineyard. Furthermore, Jesus
specifically identified this other ‘son’ with those who repented at the
preaching of John the Baptist (and Jesus) and included among them were what the
leaders considered the dregs of society: tax-collectors and prostitutes. The
supernatural nature of the message of heaven was the only thing that could have
done this.
The Unjust Sharecroppers
In this next parable, we will examine, Jesus goes even
further in His analogy. In Matthew
21:33-41 Jesus told a riveting tale of injustice about sharecroppers who refused
to pay the owner his rightful share of the crops from his leased vineyard; they
went on to assault and kill the owner’s messengers and even the owner’s son in
a futile attempt to steal the estate for themselves. Just as David had responded to Nathan’s
parable of the stolen sheep, the spellbound listeners here unwittingly declared
that the owner should have the sharecroppers executed and the estate leased to
more amenable tenants not realizing they had just condemned themselves.
The Rejected Stone in Psalm 118
Jesus proceeded to explain the parable by quoting from Psalm
118 which refers to an event popularized in a Jewish story about the temple
capstone. Many commentators have
wrestled with how Jesus’ explanation helps us understand the parable of the
sharecroppers.
The Jewish story referred to in Psalm 118 spoke of a huge
limestone block quarried some distance from Solomon’s temple construction site to
maintain a spirit of silence at the holy site.
Being the first block quarried, it was sent to the jobsite so that the
quarrying below it might continue. But
as with each stone quarried, it had been planned from the beginning to have a
specific place in the construction of the temple. As it had come before the builders were ready
for it, it had been set aside. As time
went by weeds and construction debris covered this stone while the walls
climbed higher and higher. Finally, the
time came for the capstone to be installed and the builders sent to the quarry
for it but the quarry sent back saying it had already come. The builders were quite chagrined to find the
soiled but perfect capstone among the construction debris. But they cleaned it and laid it in place at
the head of the corner which firmly locked the rest of the temple walls into
place. This story had been passed on from generation to generation to speak of
the hidden purpose God has for each one of us.
Psalm 118 is the earliest mention of this stone in Scripture. Matthew quotes from this praise psalm
numerous times all regarding the Messiah coming to Jerusalem. It is in this Psalm that the cry of ‘Hosanna’
and ‘Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord’ also come from. Notice that in both passages, many
translations say “cornerstone” but the notes tell you that the Hebrew for Psalm
118 and the Greek for Matthew 21 have “head of the corner” leading some other
translations to say “capstone.” This
latter translation fits better with the Jewish story while “cornerstone” fits
better with our western building concept of the need to get the first course
and the cornerstone laid perfectly straight in order to determine the rest of
the stones. But the “head of the corner”
was also important both to secure the wall and to be the visible glory of the temple.
Jesus quotes from Psalm 118 but His explanation has puzzled
commentators. He says “therefore” to let
us know that this passage from Psalms is a prophecy of the Messiah that spells
doom to those who reject Him and His message.
Peter’s Explanation of the Rejected Stone
Peter helps us immensely by giving his interpretation in
Acts 4:10-12 just a few months after healing a lame man at the gates of the
temple. He says to the religious leaders
demanding Peter’s authority for healing near the temple, beginning in 4:10: “Let it be known to all of you and to all
the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you
crucified, Whom God raised from the dead—by Him this man is standing before you
well. This Jesus is the stone that was
rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone (or head of the corner). And there is salvation in no
one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we
must be saved.” So, Peter says “the
builders” refers to the religious leaders, and the “rejected stone” is Jesus
Christ; the rejection culminated in His crucifixion, and His being made the “head of the corner” in His resurrection.
Jesus’ Marvelous Explanation
With that, Jesus’ explanation makes more sense. Notice Jesus refers to the Psalmist’s
exclamation that this is the Lord’s doing and it is “marvelous in our
eyes.” In our last study, we alluded to
the glory of God that is evident not only in creation but in the Word of God
and in Jesus Christ. In Romans 1, Paul
says, we have exchanged the glory of God for idols—created things and even
man-created things. Later in 2
Corinthians 4, Paul says that God caused the light of His glory to shine in the
darkness so that we could see. This is
why we can see the glory of the rejected Stone becoming the Head of the corner
and it is “marvelous in our eyes.”
This explanation of Peter also helps us to see why Jesus
used this illustration to explain the parable of the sharecroppers. The sharecroppers who kill the son of the
owner of the vineyard are the builders who rejected the stone who are also the
religious leaders who rejected their Messiah and would crucify Him in a few
days.
The religious leaders’ own response to the parable shows the
justice in the owner executing the sharecroppers and giving the lease to others
as well as to the glory of finding the perfect head of the corner among the
pile of rejected construction debris and the coming judgement of this
generation of God’s own people who reject their Messiah and crucify Him only to
have Him rise from the dead. This is
marvelous indeed! 2 Thessalonians 1:10 speaks to this so well. Paul says when Jesus
returns to be glorified in His saints at the judgment of the world He will be
marveled at by all who believe.
There are those who can accept the crucifixion of Jesus but
will deny to their last breath His resurrection. But there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved!
Today Christianity is the most persecuted and vilified religion on
earth. It has been suggested that this
is because of Christian exclusivity and intolerance. But many false religion’s intolerance and
exclusivity is far more threatening even on a temporal level. The real reason for the persecution of
Christians is spiritual blindness that has gripped the hearts of many that only
the light of the gospel can penetrate.
Jesus gave those words of explanation just a couple of days
before they were fulfilled. Unwittingly,
the religious leaders made possible the sacrifice of the sinless lamb of God
Who would rise again the third day. The
high priest Caiaphas thought this would save their nation from the Romans (John
11:49), but it would actually provide a means to save the world from an
eternity apart from God. Marvelous!
© 2018 Eric Thimell
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