The Cornerstone.
In Sunday’s Gospel, the Parable of the Tenants, Christ speaks of the Cornerstone as being rejected by the builders. Leading up to his recitation of earlier Scriptures, He tells the Parable of the Tenants.
First, we see the landowner send his servants out to collect from the tenants; we see the tenants cruelly murder the servants. Then we see the landowner send his son to do the task the servants were incapable of performing. The landowner thinks surely the tenants would respect his beloved son. After all, the servants were loyal and trusted and Good, but the man’s son held his heart in a dear way.
But the son too was murdered.
This Parable was obviously meant to mirror the treatment of Jesus and the Lord’s feeling toward Him as His Son, but what stands out is Jesus’ words in verse 42:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes
What exactly is the Cornerstone?
The stone of importance, the cornerstone, the stone that looks similar to others but has something different about the it, even to the casual observer, to anyone nearby, the cornerstone would certainly feel different.
The cornerstone is built upon other stones at the base of the building and then more stones are piled on top of it, and yet, despite the greatness of the stones that come after, none quite match the distinction of the cornerstone.
Although no other stone will be quite as spectacular as the cornerstone, all of the stones that make up that one building will be joined, solid, spectacular, historically significant simply by being part of a building worthy of a cornerstone.
The cornerstone is often hollowed out to contain significant documents or remembrances of the times, something to pass on to future generations so that when it is opened, future generations too can share the glory of bygone days.
The cornerstone is often engraved with something of importance, a date, a name of a rich donor, something,
So How Could Jesus be The Cornerestone?
Jesus is the Cornerstone, the Rock, solid, strong, dependable. He looked the same as other Jews but there was something different, so different in fact that even those near Him felt different.
Jesus words built upon the Scriptures of those lay down before Him and then inspired countless more believers to speak and write and pray even more based on His words, and yet, no matter how many come after, nor how great they are, none will quite meet His distinction.
Although Believers will never match the greatness of Jesus, they are called to live a life that makes them stand out from the rest, to be joined in one solid, spectacular, historically significant building of the Lord’s Kingdom.
And a place inside of Jesus was hollowed out but not for precious documents or things to glorify the accomplishments of man. Jesus allowed a portion of Himself to be hollowed out to hold our sin. From the mighty mortal sin to the teeny tiny venial sin, Jesus, the Cornerstone, saw them all even those of future generations and then He took them all inside as He hung on that Cross, not for the glory of man, but for the salvation of man.
Jesus, our Cornerstone, provided a Salvation He did not want locked away, hidden from sight, forgotten until an appointed time, but a Salvation to be shared and displayed and praised.
And His heart is engraved, not with a date or a rich donor, but with Your Name. He became the Cornerstone for You. He wants you to give Him your sin and to go out into the world and look different, feel different, be different for others. He wants you to become the miner who chips away at himself until less of the person he was shows and more of the person Jesus is shows. He wants you to be solid, spectacular, historically significant by helping others build on His cornerstone.
Even if that means being rejected. Even if that means others fail to understand. Jesus, in the Parable of the Tenants, shows He too felt this rejection, abandonment and hurt.
Being abandoned does hurt. Being rejected does hurt. Being told you’re not good enough does hurt.
Even if you’re part human, part God. Jesus, the human being, understands.
It’s human to want to be Loved and accepted; when we are rejected, we are surprised and hurt and saddened.
But if we build on Jesus as our Cornerstone, rejection and abandonment is not the end of our story.
In fact, it may be
the very beginning!
God Bless…
