Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
(Matthew 21:42)
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
(Matthew 21:42)
In today's Gospel Jesus is talking to the chief priests and elders, the very same people who want to get rid of him, when He quotes what would be to them, a very well known Psalm: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22-23). In this passage the word cornerstone can be translated as keystone. I'm not sure if you are a builder, but in the event you are not, let me give you an explanation of what a keystone is. A keystone is a central wedge-shaped stone of an arch that locks its parts together.
Think of a Roman Archway. Two columns of carefully selected stones are built, edging towards each other. Close to where they will meet, a triangular-ish shaped stone is placed in the middle and balances the two sides of the arches against each other. The triangular-ish shaped stone is the keystone. If you removed that stone, the entire archway would fall down.
This is how I think of Jesus in my life. From one perspective, he seems to be just another stone in the building - made of the same stuff as the rest of me. Yet, He is more central than any other "stone". If He is removed, the entire building (me!) will collapse.
To get back to the passage, Jesus refers to himself as a stone that was rejected by the builders. If you think of it in literal terms - someone building an archway is delivered a load of stones and discovers one that doesn't look like the others, being inexperienced, he decides it is useless and discards it. Jesus was different, He didn't fit the image that people had of a king coming to save the Jewish people, so the leaders of the day set him aside, wanted to discard him. I wonder how many times in our lives we come across God and decide that it doesn't look like He will fit, so we set him to the side, or discard him - in our family, in our choice of vocation, or over scheduling our lives.
Before placing the keystone/cornerstone that is Jesus in our lives we may feel that the stone is the wrong shape, wrong color, too difficult or too demanding. The fact is we will never know how it actually fits until we put the stone in place. When we do we will find that allowing God to be the rock on which everything else rests is actually freeing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
Please share with us your thoughts about these readings by posting a comment.
Think of a Roman Archway. Two columns of carefully selected stones are built, edging towards each other. Close to where they will meet, a triangular-ish shaped stone is placed in the middle and balances the two sides of the arches against each other. The triangular-ish shaped stone is the keystone. If you removed that stone, the entire archway would fall down.This is how I think of Jesus in my life. From one perspective, he seems to be just another stone in the building - made of the same stuff as the rest of me. Yet, He is more central than any other "stone". If He is removed, the entire building (me!) will collapse.
To get back to the passage, Jesus refers to himself as a stone that was rejected by the builders. If you think of it in literal terms - someone building an archway is delivered a load of stones and discovers one that doesn't look like the others, being inexperienced, he decides it is useless and discards it. Jesus was different, He didn't fit the image that people had of a king coming to save the Jewish people, so the leaders of the day set him aside, wanted to discard him. I wonder how many times in our lives we come across God and decide that it doesn't look like He will fit, so we set him to the side, or discard him - in our family, in our choice of vocation, or over scheduling our lives.
Before placing the keystone/cornerstone that is Jesus in our lives we may feel that the stone is the wrong shape, wrong color, too difficult or too demanding. The fact is we will never know how it actually fits until we put the stone in place. When we do we will find that allowing God to be the rock on which everything else rests is actually freeing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
Please share with us your thoughts about these readings by posting a comment.
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