#DailyDevotion Jesus Is The Rejected Chief Cornerstone
Psalm 118 21(Inside:) I thank You, for You have answered me and have become my Deliverer.
Having passed through the Gate of Righteousness in the Tabernacle/Temple area, David gives thanks because his prayers have been heard and He has become his Deliverer. I do find it interesting that this Psalm gets intensely Messianic at this point. The following verses are quoted often in the New Testament, by Jesus, by His apostles and some parts are shouted out by the people to Jesus.
22The Stone the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. 23The LORD has done this, and we think it is wonderful.
When Jesus tells the parable of the wicked tenants in Matthew 21 and Mark 12 Jesus brings this passage out as an interpretive key. Jesus is the Stone the builders rejected. The builders here being the rulers of Israel. They rejected Him outright before Pilate when they said, “We have no king but Caesar.” Stone in Hebrew here is Eben (from whence we get Ebenezer). Jacob anointed a stone at Bethel and said this pillar will be God’s house. It is where the LORD affirmed His covenant with Abraham to Jacob. The LORD wrote His commandments on stone.
He Himself is the Stone, the Rock, Israel’s leaders, the builders rejected. Peter testifies as such in Acts 4 when on trial and again in 1 Peter 2. In 1 Peter 2 Jesus is the living stone upon which God’s Temple is built. This refers back to Genesis when Jacob anoints the stone and says it will be God’s house. We are the living stones set to Jesus, the chief cornerstone in God’s Temple. The LORD, God the Father, has done this and we do indeed think it is wonderful.
24The LORD made this day; let us rejoice and be glad in Him. 25O LORD, please save. Lord, please give us success. 26Blessed is He Who comes in the LORD’s name. We bless You in the LORD’s temple. 27The LORD is God, and He gives us light. March in festive procession with branches up to the horns of the altar.
Here we see the fulfillment of this passage as Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The crowds, the children were shouting, “Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the LORD’s name.” The LORD certainly made this day in which He came in our human flesh to establish His kingdom on earth. The foundation was not laid down by might but by humility. Jesus humbled Himself to suffer and die to answer the prayers of those singing praise on that day. He hosannaed them by His death on the cross and His victory over death and the grave. Jesus is the LORD who is God. He is our Light and our Life. Jesus came in the LORD’s name to save us and for that He deserves every blessing and thanksgiving.
28You are my God, and I thank You; My God, I honor You highly. 29Thank the LORD because He is good and merciful forever!
Jesus is our God and we indeed should thank Him and honor Him highly. We do this first by believing who He is and what He has done for us. We do it by confessing who He is and what He has done for us. We honor, thank and praise Him by living lives worthy of Him. The Pslam closes as it begins, “Thank the LORD because He is good and merciful forever!” Indeed, thank the LORD Jesus Christ for He is God and is merciful forever.
Heavenly Father, we do give You thanks and praise for sending Jesus to be the Stone the builders rejected, that through this rejection He would become for us the chief cornerstone of our salvation and we would through faith in Him become living stones of Your holy Temple. Preserve us in this faith unto life everlasting. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.