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In Psalm 118 the
writer -- probably King David
-- celebrates deliverance from his
enemies:
All the nations surrounded me, but in the name
of the LORD I cut them off...I was pushed back and
about to fall, but the LORD helped me...I will not die
but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done...The stone the builders
rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it
is marvelous in our eyes. (Psalm 118:10, 13, 17, 22-23, NIV)
God made the one rejected by others the
"capstone," giving him the place of greatest importance and
highest honor as ruler over Israel and the surrounding nations.
Centuries later, Jesus quoted from this Psalm in his confrontation with
hostile Jewish leaders (Matthew 21:33-46):
"Listen to another parable: There was a
landowner (= God) who planted a vineyard (= the Kingdom of
God, see verse 43). He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it
and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers
(= chief priests, Pharisees, and other Jewish leaders; see verse
46) and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached,
he sent his servants (= the prophets, see 23:29-35) to
the tenants to collect
his fruit.
"But the tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another,
and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them (= more
prophets), more than the first time, and the tenants treated them
the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them (= Jesus,
the Son of God and Messiah). 'They will respect my son,' he
said.
"But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is
the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' So they took
him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Note that the
leaders want God's Kingdom (the "vineyard") but reject
Jesus who brings it.
"Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do
to those tenants?"
"He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and
he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share
of the crop at harvest time."
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The
stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. The Lord has done
this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? (quoting Psalm 118:22-23)
"Therefore I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from
you and given to a people who will produce its fruit (= the Church,
disciples of Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles). He who falls on this
stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be
crushed."
When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew
he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they
were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a
prophet.
Eventually, these leaders did succeed in arresting
Jesus and having him crucified. However, God undid their evil deed by raising Jesus from the
dead and exalting him to the highest place
as King of kings and Lord of lords, the Savior of the world. As Peter announced on Pentecost:
God has raised
this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to
the right hand of God,...God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord
and Christ. (Acts
2:32-33,
36)
Later, by the power of Jesus, Peter and John healed a lame
man by the Temple gate. When they were arrested and put on trial by
the same leaders who killed Jesus, Peter stood and boldly proclaimed what God had
done:
Know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is
by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God
raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. [Jesus] is "the stone you
builders rejected, which has become the capstone" (referring to Psalm 118:22). Salvation is found
in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men, by
which we must be saved. (Acts 4:10-12; compare 1 Peter
2:4-8)
Reflect...
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Reflect on the metaphor
used in these biblical texts:
What is a "capstone"? What kinds of stones do builders reject as
"capstones"?
Why?
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In the texts quoted above, how do
Jesus and Peter apply this metaphor? In what specific ways
is Jesus the
"capstone"?
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Read Psalm 118:26-27. Do these
words remind you of another event in Jesus' life? (See Matthew
21.)
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