PT-1 "The Explanation" (Matt. 21:42)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/18/2023 6:46 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Reference: PT-1 “The Explanation”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 21:42

 

            Message of the verse:  “42 Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?” 

 

            As we first look at this verse one could conclude that it does not have any place in the parable that Jesus is speaking to the Jewish leaders.  However the Lord was using a familiar passage from the Old Testament to reinforce the parable’s point, and in doing so He changed metaphors.  MacArthur writes “In a sarcastic query He asked the self-appointed authorities of the Old Testament, “Did you never read in the Scriptures?” and then cited the well-known words of Psalm 118:22).”         

 

            Jesus is quoting the same psalm from which were taken the acclamations of the multitude in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when He was hailed by the multitude in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when He was hailed by the messianic title, Son of David see in Matt. 21:9.  It was in fact for His accepting that messianic praise that Jesus was rebuked by the Pharisees (Luke 19:39).  Now, from the same section of the psalm, Jesus reminded the religious leaders of the stone which the builder rejected that because the chief cornerstone.

 

            One may ask “What exactly is a corner stone?”  MacArthur writes A cornerstone was the most basic and essential part of a building, from which the proper placement and alignment of every other part was determined.  If the cornerstone was imperfectly cut or placed, the symmetry and stability of the entire building would be adversely affected.  Sometimes the builders rejected a number of stones before the right one was selected.  In this account, one such rejected stone eventually became the chief corner stone.”

 

            It is fair that for years that Israel had been the stone which the empire builders of the world had rejected as insignificant and despised fit only for exploiting and then discarding.  But in the Lord’s divine plan, Israel was chosen to be the chief corner stone in redemptive history of the world, the nation through which salvation would come.

 

            This is something that I had not put together before, and am thankful for the explanation that MacArthur gives for this verse.  Lord willing we will continue on in this section tomorrow.

 

7/18/2023 7:12 AM