0305 FALLEN ON OR FALLING UPON

FALLING UPON OR FALLEN UPON

Jesus is telling a variation of a story that we have heard him say before in the gospels. But this version is especially dark. A vineyard (the kingdom)  is leased out to tenants (the religious elite), and the owner (God) expects to receive a share of the fruit (faithful followers) at harvest time (the coming of the kingdom). But the tenants (the religious elite) are really messed up in their thinking, and they reject his requests and violate the ones he sends (prophets). At last, the owner of the vineyard (God) decides to send his own son (Jesus), thinking that the best representative of his interests would be treated with due respect. But the tenants (the religious elite) are completely backwards in their logic, and their hearts are somehow set against the owner (God) to the point that they want to kill his son (Jesus) and thus somehow they think they will inherit the vineyard (faithful followers) for themselves.

What is the outcome of this story, in earthly terms? Even the Pharisees knew what Jesus was going to say.

Luke 20:16-18 “He (God) will come and destroy those tenants (the religious elite) and give the vineyard (church) to others (Gentiles).” When they (the religious elite) heard this, they said, “Surely not!” (God would never abandon Israel in favor of Gentiles) But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: “‘The stone (Jesus) that the builders (the religious elite) rejected has become the cornerstone’?

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” This is the twofold warning that I’d like us to reflect on today: Falling on, or being fallen upon.

It’s not the first time that Jesus gave some harsh depictions of the relationship between God and these men who think they know Him. Here in Luke 20, Jesus says, “He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” 

In the last chapter, Jesus had said, “But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’” Luke 19:27

In Matthew, we find this ending: “the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 24:50-51  Another reference to eternal torment, compared to eternal life.

Of course, Jesus is not just making up such hard sayings out of his imagination. There are many in the Bible, both Old Testament and New. But this one is worth focusing on, before we move on: “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

It seems there is no way out of this. Either I fall on the stone, or the stone falls on me. And when that happens, I will either be broken to pieces, or it will crush me. Doesn’t sound like either option is very pleasant. It doesn’t end well for me, does it? Is there a third option, I wonder?

Jesus is saying that He is the chief cornerstone. The builders had rejected Him, saying that He was not square enough. The cornerstone is the one that needs to have perfect right angles, and be perfectly level. If you don’t find a good stone to start with, your building will be out of alignment. So the builders found a stone that they thought was imperfect. They threw it away, on the cross. They stumbled upon the stone, and they will soon be crushed under it.

The confusing passage is about the scribes and the Pharisees in first-century Israel, to be sure. But there is a sense in which it had very much to do with you and me today, as well. We really have just two choices in life: we can repent, or we can be condemned. We can fall upon the Rock and be broken and die to ourselves, or we will have the weight of his judgment fall upon us and crush us in the final judgment.

But the Good News is that the judge of our souls is also the savior of our souls! He has become the chief cornerstone! It turns out, that rejected stone was perfect! And now, we are Christ’s building, all of us stones built into a holy temple to the Lord. Praise God!

But if we miss the cornerstone, then we have no foundation that is worth building upon. We stumble, as did the Pharisees, and we fall on it and are broken to pieces. The other option is that the stone falls on us. In which case, the truths that Jesus taught, the perfection that He demonstrated, and the sacrifice that he made all come down upon us, and our unworthy sinfulness is smashed under the weight.

The time has come to build! You just have to decide on your cornerstone in order to begin. It’s the most important decision of your life. And after.

I think I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I’d rather have that perfect cornerstone than to have anything this world affords today.