THE STORY OF THE STONE
Jack Davis
Jesus beheld them, and said, “What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” Lk. 20:17-18
Our dear Lord was quoting this from the Old Testament, I enjoy reading it from its context, “I will praise thee for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Ps. 118:21-24.
Oh, what a day is about to dawn! Shall we not be glad, and rejoice in it? I marvel in the Lord’s doings. It is of greatest importance, and our destiny is determined by our attitude toward these marvelous facts. Jesus Christ was the center of divine design before the foundation of the world. All God’s building plan is in Christ. He is the point of reference, the focal point of all spiritual construction, it must all line up with Him.
In the first eight verses of Luke twenty, we have recorded that as Jesus taught the gospel, He is questioned as to who gave Him the authority by which He worked. Jesus then answered them with a question they couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. He followed this with a parable that prophesied of their attitude, and actions toward him and the purposes of God. He foretells of God’s beloved Son being offered for reverence but was going to be refused. It is God that tells history in advance. His-tory, the story of the stone foretells of His exhalation following His humiliation. It tells of the divine election, and human rejection.
“THIS IS THE STONE”
When the high priest and his people questioned Peter and John as to what power and what name they had made the lame man to walk, he identified the “Stone” and His rejecters. He said, “This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner” Acts 4:11. Although religions builders discount, try to discredit God’s record of our beloved Lord. We know that he was chose of God and precious, and have tasted that He is gracious, for we have come unto him as unto a living stone, and believed on Him whom God has laid in Zion as the Chief Corner Stone – I Peter 2:2-10. By faith in Him and His redemptive work on the cross, we have gladly received Him as the Rock of our Salvation. We have become people of God that has obtained mercy.
The story of the stone not only tells of Jesus’ rejection but also His resurrection, being raised to reign.
THE SMITTEN STONE
When the children of Israel in the wilderness thought they were going to die of thirst; God told Moses to take the rod He had given him and SMITE THE ROCK In Horeb. When He did the water flowed out to refresh the people - Ex. 17:6. What a picture of the blessings of the Spirit of God coming to humanity on the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He was smitten by the wrath of divine judgment on behalf of our sin.
Later when the children of Israel needed water, God told Moses to speak to the rock, but instead he smote it twice and God corrected him for it – Num. 20:8-12. In His humiliation, Jesus as the smitten stone was indeed an rock of offense and stone of stumbling. In prophecy He is spoken of as saying, “smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered Zec. 13:7. “I gave my back to the emitters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair” Isa. 50:6. “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” Isa. 53:3-6.
“Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken.” The truly broken in spirit, and contrite in heart, fall dependently upon Him in faith and are saved, being justified Psa. 51:17 & Isa. 66:2. Spiritual construction has begun for those on the rock. It is to continue with gold silver and precious stone, growing and sowing to the Spirit and not to the flesh. These are dependant upon God to give the increase.
THE SMITING STONE
“But on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to power.” These are those whom having rejected the stone and will bear the brunt of divine judgment. Psalm two foretells of Jesus exaltation, and enthronement. Consider verse nine, “Thou shall break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Consider Isa. 9:6-7 in this connection.
The king of Babylon dreamed of a great image which gave a preview of succeeding governments which established world influence in their allotted time. That dream being interrupted was shown to point ultimately to the universal reign of Jesus Christ as King of kings.
“Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, her belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and become like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” Dan. 2:31-35.
“He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet” I Cor. 15:25-27.
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is certain, and interpretation thereof sure” Dan. 2:44-45.
