Break or Be Broken
Scripture: Luke 20:17-18
17 Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean?
‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ 18 Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”
Observations:
Just before He went to the cross, Jesus made one last effort to challenge the religious leaders' hard-hearted rejection of His role as the Messiah by denouncing them in His final parable which portrayed them as the wicked tenant farmers who murdered the heir to the estate. Jesus' pointed remarks got their attention just enough to quote Psalm 118 as a means of implying that their rejection of Him was equivolent to the builder's rejection of the cornerstone (the most important piece of a building's foundation). Coincidentally, Jesus' quotation was a Psalm which was commonly used in celebration of the anticipated coming Messiah. His interpretation of the Psalm quoted in this passage portrays the negative effects on those who opposed Him "they will be broken to pieces, and be crushed" (vs. 18). According to Jesus, the rejection of The Word of God (the Messiah) is a rejection of God that will break all who oppose it.
Application:
Just like Jesus' audience had the opportunity then to embrace or reject Him as the Messiah, we are all confronted with the same choices. Jesus, who was the embodiment of God's Word (John 1:1), was the ultimate communication of God to His people, who mostly rejected it. God has also spoken to us today through His Word that confronts us with our sin and offers us the light of truth that can save us. But do we really allow it to do what it was sent to accomplish in our lives? "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right." (2 Timothy 3:16) Or do we offer it lip service? A refusal to allow God's Word to confront our sin and bring the correction that we need is no less of a rejection of Christ than the Pharisees were guilty of. Conscious opposition to God's Word (breaking God's commands) either through stubborn refusal or by simple neglect will always break us rather than us breaking God. We always have the choice to either allow God's Word to break us or be broken by it.
Prayer:
Father, we ask You to humble us today and to correct us, teach us, and show us the areas of our lives where we are in opposition to You. Please break us of our own stubborn ways and continue to transform us into the image of Your Son today. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
17 Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean?
‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ 18 Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”
Observations:
Just before He went to the cross, Jesus made one last effort to challenge the religious leaders' hard-hearted rejection of His role as the Messiah by denouncing them in His final parable which portrayed them as the wicked tenant farmers who murdered the heir to the estate. Jesus' pointed remarks got their attention just enough to quote Psalm 118 as a means of implying that their rejection of Him was equivolent to the builder's rejection of the cornerstone (the most important piece of a building's foundation). Coincidentally, Jesus' quotation was a Psalm which was commonly used in celebration of the anticipated coming Messiah. His interpretation of the Psalm quoted in this passage portrays the negative effects on those who opposed Him "they will be broken to pieces, and be crushed" (vs. 18). According to Jesus, the rejection of The Word of God (the Messiah) is a rejection of God that will break all who oppose it.
Application:
Just like Jesus' audience had the opportunity then to embrace or reject Him as the Messiah, we are all confronted with the same choices. Jesus, who was the embodiment of God's Word (John 1:1), was the ultimate communication of God to His people, who mostly rejected it. God has also spoken to us today through His Word that confronts us with our sin and offers us the light of truth that can save us. But do we really allow it to do what it was sent to accomplish in our lives? "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right." (2 Timothy 3:16) Or do we offer it lip service? A refusal to allow God's Word to confront our sin and bring the correction that we need is no less of a rejection of Christ than the Pharisees were guilty of. Conscious opposition to God's Word (breaking God's commands) either through stubborn refusal or by simple neglect will always break us rather than us breaking God. We always have the choice to either allow God's Word to break us or be broken by it.
Prayer:
Father, we ask You to humble us today and to correct us, teach us, and show us the areas of our lives where we are in opposition to You. Please break us of our own stubborn ways and continue to transform us into the image of Your Son today. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
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