Foretaste of the Sermon to Come, Sunday 10-8
A little nibble of the Revised Common Lectionary
Sunday’s scriptures are Is 5:1–7, Phil 3:4b–14, Mt 21:33–46
Sometimes I feel a little sorry for the Chief Priests and the Pharisees and am very grateful I am not like them. I am a Christian and have full access to all that Jesus is saying to these hard hearted people who do not seem to have a clue what Jesus is saying.
I mean, Jesus has spelled out very carefully for them who he is by using scriptural terms they are well familiar with. He alludes to Isaiah 5, so the Pharisees know that when he is talking about the vineyard he is really talking about Israel. He quotes Psalm 118, a song praising God for his steadfast love for Israel, for Israel’s rescue from exile and from their enemies. “I thank you that you have answered me and become my salvation,” Israel says in the words of the psalmist. “The stone the builders have rejected has become the cornerstone[1]…This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes…This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it…Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD…O give thanks to the LORD for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” This psalm was beloved of Israel and is full of verses near and dear to Christians hearts too.
But Jesus takes the verse about the cornerstone and drops it on the Pharisees’ heads! And lest we 21st century Christians think it’s not about us, we too trip all over it and are broken to pieces ourselves. The Pharisees love the Law. Truly. That’s why I feel sorry for them because they are just trying to be good Pharisees and trying to help their congregations be good Jews. What they cannot see, though, and what Jesus is trying to tell them, is that the Law will be their undoing. In their sin, they will never be able to keep the Law to the degree it needs to be kept, which is perfectly. They are going to kill the cornerstone that is the key to their salvation, and they will be crushed when this cornerstone falls on them. And we Christians, too, are crushed through the ages by the Law which is a mirror showing us our sin. We are broken to pieces when we understand that it’s our sin that crucified Jesus. And even though it is our undoing, we still love the Law, working hard for our self-justification.
The first word Jesus speaks when he’s telling this parable to the Pharisees is “Hear” or “Listen” depending on your Bible’s translation. The Word does its work on the Pharisees and they understand that Jesus’ parable is about them, precisely because he uses scripture like Isaiah 5 and Psalm 118. By the same token, all subsequent readers and hearers of this Word are to understand that the parable is about us. God created a garden paradise for us to share with him, and we have not been able to keep his Law ever since the first people failed to keep it. Jesus took on human flesh in order to restore us to eternal paradise with God, and in thanks we put him on the cross. And then what does Jesus do to return the favor, but take our sins into himself and infuse us with his righteousness.
I wish the Pharisees could have had a little more patience to get the rest of the story. Or, like Isaiah heard when he received his commission in chapter 6, maybe the LORD hardened their hearts so he could complete his story in Christ. They had the meta-narrative of creation, the formation of Israel, the seemingly endless cycle of God’s judgement and forgiveness throughout the Hebrew scriptures that they knew and loved so well. But they couldn’t see that Jesus is the cornerstone, the one holding up Creation and being the conduit to our Triune God. When the cornerstone falls, it crushes everyone underneath it and those not crushed fall over it and are broken to bits. But the rest of the story is the resurrection of the cornerstone, and the restoration of humanity to its righteous walk with God through Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God!
[1] Cornerstone — An architectural term used in the NT as a metaphor for Christ (Matt. 21:42; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:4–8). The NT usage of this term (Gk. akrogōniaɩ́os; kephalḗ gōnɩ́as) comes from the OT (Heb. rōʾš pinnâ; Ps. 118:22; Isa. 8:14; 28:16–17). “Cornerstone” may refer to: (1) the stone in a new building laid first with great care and ceremony so as to ensure a straight and level foundation; (2) the interlocking cornerstones that join and strengthen two connecting walls; (3) the capstone at the top corner of a wall; or (4) the keystone of an arched door or gateway, the center and topmost stone that joins the two sides and supports the arch itself (the most important stone in which the name of the city, the ruler, and builder were often carved).
Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible, Bibliography. R. J. McKelvey, “Christ the Cornerstone,” NTS 8 (1961/62): 352–59.
