No one likes to be rejected. Being told that you don’t fit the mold, that you aren’t wanted, or that you aren’t good enough is a uniquely painful human experience. Yet the entire foundation of the Christian faith rests on a Savior who was ultimately and violently rejected by the religious leaders of His day.
In Matthew 21, Jesus tells a devastating parable about a group of wicked tenant farmers who murder the landowner’s son in order to steal his inheritance. The religious leaders listening immediately knew Jesus was talking about them. They were the wicked tenants, and Jesus was the Son they were plotting to kill.
But Jesus didn’t end the story in defeat. He looked at them and quoted Psalm 118: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
In ancient construction, the cornerstone was the first and most critical stone laid. It determined the position, stability, and structure of the entire building. Jesus unveiled that their rejection of Him wasn’t going to derail God’s plan. In fact, it was going to be the very foundation of it. God specializes in taking what the world rejects and using it to build something eternal. This week, we are asking ourselves the tough question: Are we building our lives around our own blueprints, or are we aligning everything with the true Cornerstone?