Tag: cornerstone

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Psalms Devotionals

My gate. My righteousness.

Psalms

Father, you have opened up to me the gates of righteousness.

Jesus is my gate (John 10:9). He is my righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30)

And now through him, I have access to you. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

So now, Father, I enter into our presence with thanksgiving, because you have answered me and become my salvation. (Psalm 118:19-21)

The stone that the builders rejected and put on a cross has now become the cornerstone of your church, Father. (Psalm 118:22, Acts 4:10-12, Ephesians 2:19-22)

This is from you, Father, and it is wondrous in our sight. This is the day you have made. I will rejoice, and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:23-24)

You are good, Lord. Your steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 118:1)

In Jesus’ name, amen.

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John John 19 Luke Luke 23 Mark Mark 15 Matthew Matthew 27

What has been written

The gospels

The interaction between Pilate and the chief priests is very interesting. Pilate put up the “charge” against Jesus, calling him the “King of the Jews.”

The priests immediately went up to Pilate, asking him to change it to, “He claimed to be king of the Jews.” But Pilate simply replied, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:21-22)

It strikes me that many people take the same kind of attitude toward Jesus that the Jews did.

They don’t want to recognize Jesus as their king. They don’t want to admit that he’s God’s Son. They don’t want to admit he’s the only way of salvation.

So they complain to Christians saying, “He just claimed to be the king. He just claimed that he was God’s Son. He just claimed that he’s the only way. But don’t go telling us that he really is all these things. We don’t believe it.”

But unlike Pilate, we have a higher authority than ourselves to point to. And we simply have to say, “What God has written in his Word, he has written. You cannot change what he has said. Nor can you convince him to change his mind.

What he has said is fixed for all eternity. And all your unbelief will not change it.”

People won’t like to hear that. The chief priests certainly didn’t. But the question is not whether you like it or not. The question is whether it’s true.

And the question is whether you will bend your heart to that truth or attempt to bend the truth to what you want to believe.

But if you try to do the latter, it’s not the truth that will shatter, but you.

Jesus said of himself,

Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone (that is, Jesus) the builders (the chief priests and other religious leaders) rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’…

He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed. (Matthew 21:42, 44)

The chief priests rejected Jesus, and as a result their whole world was shattered. Jerusalem was conquered, their temple destroyed, and worse, they will find themselves condemned before God on judgment day.

The same will happen to anyone who rejects Christ. What God has written is written.

The only question is, “What will you do with what he has said?”

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Luke Luke 20 Mark Mark 12 Matthew Matthew 21

Parable of the tenants: When we reject Jesus

The gospels

After nailing the leaders for their unbelief, he then told a parable warning them of what would happen if they didn’t repent.

And the start of it is very similar to Isaiah 5 in which God describes a vineyard that he planted, the vineyard representing Israel and Judah.

And in both cases, we see that the owner does not receive the fruit he deserves from the vineyard. The one difference is that Jesus places the blame specifically on the tenants who were put in charge of the vineyard.

The tenants, of course, were these very leaders that had rejected Jesus, and all those that had come before them.

They had been put in charge of the spiritual welfare of Israel that they might bear spiritual fruit for God. But instead, they became corrupted and failed in the charge they had been given.

Why? They failed to honor God, instead focusing on themselves. They focused on money, power, and the praise of man.

Is it any wonder that Israel failed to produce fruit when its very leaders failed in their responsibilities?

And so God sent his servants. Throughout Israel’s history, he sent prophet after prophet to warn and admonish the people. But time and again, the leaders of Israel rejected the prophets, beating and/or killing them.

Finally, God sent his Son. But now the leaders planned to kill the Son, hoping to take what rightfully belonged to him.

When Jesus asked the people what would happen to such people, the people replied,

[The owner] will bring those wretches to a wretched end…and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time. (Matthew 21:41)

Nevertheless, the people were astonished that such horrible people could exist, saying, “May this never be!” (Luke 20:16)

Jesus answered,

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’?

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.

He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed. (Matthew 21:42-44)

What was Jesus saying? He was saying that he is the one on whom everything rests. He is the cornerstone (probably a better translation than “capstone” here) of everything.

The cornerstone was always laid down first when constructing a building, and everything was built around it.

In the same way, Jesus is the one we are to build our lives and his kingdom around.

But the Jewish leaders rejected him, and so the kingdom of God would be given to those the leaders despised, the tax collectors, prostitutes, and the Gentiles who would turn to Jesus and embrace him as Savior.

The leaders, meanwhile, would be judged and lose everything.

How about you? How are you building your life? Are you building it on money? Possessions? Power? The things of this world? Or are you building it around Jesus? Is he the chief cornerstone of your life?

God has given you your life. You and all you have ultimately belong to him, and he will demand that you produce fruit in your life for his kingdom.

But you cannot produce fruit if you are living for yourself. And if you reject him who is the cornerstone, you, like the Jewish leaders will lose everything and be judged.

Who are you living for?

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Ezekiel

A fragile thing to lean on

Ezekiel

I find it kind of ironic that despite having subjected Israel to slavery for years, the Egyptians became the people that Israel turned to in order to deliver them from the Babylonians. But that’s exactly what they did.

During the siege of Jerusalem, the Egyptians came to the aid of the Israelites, marching out against the Babylonian army and giving them some temporary relief.

But it didn’t last long. Babylon eventually vanquished the Egyptian army and then came right back against the Israelites until Jerusalem finally fell.

In this passage, God tells Egypt that like a crocodile being pulled out of a river and then left out in the desert to die, so Egypt would fall to the Babylonians.

The reason? There were several, but one was that Israel had tried turning to the Egyptians for help rather than to God.

So God told the Pharaoh,

You have been a staff of reed for the house of Israel.

When they grasped you with their hands, you splintered and you tore open their shoulders; when they leaned on you, you broke and their backs were wrenched.

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I will bring a sword against you and kill your men and their animals.

Egypt will become a desolate wasteland…

Egypt will no longer be a source of confidence for the people of Israel but will be a reminder of their sin in turning to her for help.” (Ezekiel 29:6–9, 16)

The Egyptians had thought of themselves as being strong and powerful.

In his pride, the Pharaoh Hophra made himself to be as God, saying,

The Nile is mine; I made it. (Ezekiel 29:9)

In fact, Hophra had taken the title of “He Who is strong-armed.”

But God said of him,

Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. It has not been bound up for healing or put in a splint so as to become strong enough to hold a sword.

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt.

I will break both his arms, the good arm as well as the broken one, and make the sword fall from his hand. (Ezekiel 30:21–22)

Egypt also put their confidence in their alliances and treaties with other nations, and in their gods to protect them.

But God told them,

The allies of Egypt will fall and her proud strength will fail… I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis. (Ezekiel 30:6, 13)

In chapter 31, God warned the Egyptians that the Assyrians had once been proud of their own strength and beauty as well. That they had made their own alliances to protect themselves.

But despite this, they had fallen to the Babylonians. And God said, “If they fell, and they were greater than you, what makes you think you will stand?”

Finally, in chapter 32, God told Egypt that they would be like all the other evil nations that had stood up in their pride, only to be cast down into hell.

What can we learn from all of this?

What are you leaning on in your life?

Are you leaning on all the people around you to support you? Are you leaning on your own strength? Are you leaning on the gods of this earth—money, power, and possessions?

They are all fragile things to lean on.

People will let you down. Your strength will eventually fail. Money, power, and possessions will all pass away.

And when everything is gone, what will you have left to lean on?

There is only one thing, one person, that is reliable enough to lean on, and that is Christ.

While everything else around us fails, Jesus never fails. And he is the rock that you can build your life upon without fear of having it all shatter.

As Isaiah said of Him,

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed. (Isaiah 28:16)

Who are you putting your trust in?