From heaven or from men?â This was a difficult question for the chief priests and elders to answer. If they had said t
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 57 THE HEAVENLY KING BEING TESTED (1) Bible Verses: Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to them, Have you never read in the Scriptures, "The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes''? 21:43 Therefore I say to you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and shall be given to a nation producing its fruit. 21:44 And he who falls on this stone shall be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it shall crush him to powder and scatter him like chaff. AS THE PASSOVER LAMB BEING EXAMINED BEFORE THE PASSOVER In 21:23—22:46 the Lord was tested and examined….During the last week of His life, Christ was examined for six days. Then He was crucified on the day of the Passover. This indicates that He was the real Passover Lamb; the lamb in Exodus 12 was a type. First the Lord was examined by the chief priests and the elders.…These two powers came together to test Christ, who was standing before them as the Passover Lamb to be examined by the children of Israel. These Jewish leaders asked the Lord where He had received His authority and who had given it to Him. The Lord Jesus did not answer them directly, but with another question. In verse 24 we see the Lord’s answer: “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell Me, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?” This was a difficult question for the chief priests and elders to answer. If they had said that John’s baptism was from heaven, the Lord would have asked them why they did not believe him. But because they were afraid of the crowds, who regarded John as a prophet, they did not dare to say that it was from men. [Therefore] the chief priests and elders told the Lord Jesus that they did not know whether John’s baptism was from heaven or from men (v. 27). Their answer was a lie. Verse 27 [indicates] that the Lord knew the Jewish leaders would not tell Him what they knew; hence, neither would He tell them what they asked. They lied to the Lord in saying that they did not know. But the Lord spoke the truth wisely to them, exposing their lie and avoiding their question. In this way, the Lord Jesus passed the first test, and no defect was found in Him. THE PARABLE OF TWO SONS After the Lord Jesus had dealt with the chief priests and elders in such a wise manner, He gave them a parable about a man who had two children (vv. 28-32)….This [parable] indicates that the Jews were the firstborn of God (Exo. 4:22), having the birthright, but due to their unbelief the birthright was shifted to the church, which has become God’s firstborn (Heb. 12:23). Thus, the Lord’s word here implies a shifting of the birthright. In God’s economy the birthright was taken from Israel and given to another people, a people composed of saved sinners and tax collectors. This means that the birthright of God has been transferred from Israel to the church. CHRIST AS THE CORNERSTONE REJECTED BY THE JEWISH BUILDERS In verse 42 the Lord Jesus says, “Have you never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the cornerstone; this was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” The stone here is Christ for God’s building (Isa. 28:16; Zech. 3:9; 1 Pet. 2:4), and the builders are the Jewish leaders, who were supposed to work on God’s building. In this verse the Lord said that the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone (Gk., the head of the corner).
Very few Christians today are clear about God’s building. Although you may have been in Christianity for years and may have heard that Christ was the Son of God, the Savior, the Redeemer, and perhaps even your life, you probably never heard that Christ is also God’s building stone….Today, hardly any Christians have the concept that our Savior is a stone for God’s building. In Acts 4:10 and 11 Peter referred to Jesus Christ of Nazareth as the stone rejected by the builders. Then in verse 12 he said, “And there is no salvation in any other; for neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved.” Christians often use Acts 4:12 in preaching the gospel, but rarely, if ever, do they tell people that Christ is not only the Savior but also the stone. That our Savior is a stone reveals the fact that God’s salvation is for God’s building. The Savior is related to salvation, and the stone is related to building….God’s intention on earth is not simply to have a vineyard—it is to have a building. In the ancient times the nation of Israel was a vineyard; however, today the church is not merely a vineyard, but also a building. The church is a farm that produces materials for God’s building (1 Cor. 3:9). Whatever this farm grows is for the building. In verse 42 the Lord said that the stone, not the Savior, would be rejected by the builders. Eventually, in resurrection, this rejected stone became the cornerstone. This is seen clearly in Acts 4, a chapter dealing with the resurrection of Christ. The cornerstone is the stone that joins the walls. As the cornerstone, Christ connects the Jews and the Gentiles. Through Christ as the cornerstone the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers are brought together as one building for God. Thus, Christ is not only the foundation stone to support the building, but also the cornerstone to join the two main walls. In verse 44 we see that Christ is not only the building stone, but also the stumbling stone. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. In Romans 9:32 Paul says that the Jews “stumbled at the Stone of stumbling.” The Jews that have rejected the Lord Jesus have fallen upon this stone and have been broken to pieces. [The] Lord also says that this stone will fall on certain ones and scatter them as chaff. Thus, the Lord is also a smiting and scattering stone to the Gentiles. Therefore, Christ is a stone to three categories of people: for the believers, He is the building stone; for the rejecting Jews, He is the stumbling stone; and for the Gentiles, He is the smiting stone. If you believe in Him, He will be to you the building stone. If you are a Jew and reject Him and are stumbled by Him, you will experience Him as the stumbling stone and be broken to pieces. If you are an unbelieving Gentile fighting against God, you will know Him one day as the smiting stone, for He will smite you and scatter you like chaff driven by the wind. As a believer, Christ to you is a building stone. But how much building have you actually experienced? Although we are believers and although Christ is the building stone, we may not have very much building. The church is the life-pulse of the kingdom. This means that just as the body dies when the pulse stops, so the kingdom is wholly dependent upon the church. The church, in turn, is completely dependent upon the building. If there is no building, there is no practical church life. The church life is not simply a matter of meeting together or of having a little fellowship. In whatever locality we are, we need to be builded. For this, we must enjoy and experience our Christ as the stone. He is not only the foundation stone that bears us up, but also the cornerstone that joins us together. In Him and through Him we are built together. Apart from such a building the church is vain, and without the church the kingdom has no life. The church is the kingdom life, and the reality of the church is the building. How we need to experience Christ as the building stone! He is the building element, the building life. Christ is life to us not only for victory, but all the more for building. We need to experience Christ as the building stone. Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
