64: The Cornerstone (Luke 19:45-20:19)

A henpecked husband was advised by a psychiatrist to assert himself. "You don't have to let your wife bully you," he said. "Go home and show her you're the boss."

The husband decided to take the doctor's advice. He went home, slammed the door, shook his fist in his wife's face, and growled, "From now on you're taking orders from me. I want my supper right now, and when you get it on the table, go upstairs and lay out my clothes. Tonight I am going out with the boys. You are going to stay at home where you belong. Another thing, you know who is going to tie my bow tie?"

"I certainly do," said his wife calmly. "The undertaker.”

Sometimes we get a little too big for our britches.

One day I was getting on Joshua who (3 or 4 years old), and he looked up at me with his big eyes and said, “You’re not the boss. [Oh really?] Jesus is!”

Sometimes we need a friendly reminder that we AREN’T the Boss…Jesus is.

Today’s teaching will make that crystal clear. The Bible uses a symbolic term to clarify His position of authority - CORNERSTONE. In a world built with steel, concrete, & wood, most of us aren’t familiar with that term. A cornerstone was often a large stone, but always an important stone - binding two walls together to strengthen them. The Bible often uses this symbol for rulers or leaders (Ps. 118:22; 144:12; Isa. 19:13; Zech. 10:4). Toward the end of today’s teaching, this is what Jesus calls Himself - the cornerstone (v.17). Richard Lenski writes that Jesus is “the one who governs every angle…in the great spiritual temple of God, the new covenant.”

Is Jesus the Cornerstone of your life - the authority of your life - the One who governs your life? Like it or not there’s…

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING …and you’re NOT him.

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING

PRAY

A couple of weeks ago we talked about Jesus weeping over Jerusalem because He knew the city would reject Him as their King. It’s then that Dr. Luke fast-fowards to Jesus entering the Temple where things get chippy quickly.

Luke 19:45-46 (NET)

45 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling things there,46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of robbers!”

This is very different than most people’s view of ‘meek & mild’ Jesus. Jesus marches into what most scholars think this is the Court of the Gentiles, and begins to drive people out. The other 2 synoptics, Matthew & Mark, tell us that Jesus overturned the tables of seats of the money changers (Matt. 21:12, Mk. 11:15) as well.

Jesus quotes from Is. 56:7 where God calls the temple 'a house of prayer [not just for Jews, but] for all peoples/nations’ (Mark 11:17). The Jerusalem Temple was a place where Jews & Gentiles could both come pray to the ONE TRUE GOD. But how could Gentile people pray in a 1st century mix between Walmart & a petting zoo? The smells, sounds, & traffic were DISTRACTIONS that wouldn’t let people seek God in a serious way. Further, the high priest and his family were charging extra to exchange Greek & Roman currencies for the temple’s half-shekel temple tax.

Instead, of a house of prayer, Jesus calls the temple a den of robbers

These leaders weren’t leading people to live righteous. They were ripping people off IN GOD’s TEMPLE!

Warren W. Wiersbe “Instead of praying FOR the people, the priests were preying ON the people!”

And you can just imagine how popular Jesus was among the guys he called out as ‘the den of robbers’! That included the high priest & many in the Sanhedrin - the judicial ruling body. Knowing that many prominent people were upset with Jesus, one might expect Jesus to stay far way, but instead of running, Jesus is LARGE and in charge, acting like He owns the place.

Luke 19:47-48 (NET)

47 Jesus was teaching daily in the temple courts. The chief priests and the experts in the law and the prominent leaders among the people were seeking to assassinate him, 48 but they could not find a way to do it, for all the people hung on his words.

Notice the 2 different responses to Jesus: 1. Some sat at His feet. 2) Others wanted His head.

Jesus had exposed their intentions and now they wanted Him DEAD. His very Presence was an offense. But at least for now, there was NOTHING they could do about it!

This is an incredible fulfillment of Mal. 3:1–2.

Malachi 3:1–2 (NET)

1 “I am about to send my messenger, who will clear the way before me. Indeed, the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you long for, is certainly coming,” says the Lord who rules over all. 2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.

The Lord had come to His temple…and “from here to the end of chapter 21 the temple is Jesus’ pulpit."

Luke 20:1–8 (NET)

1 Now one day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the experts in the law with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us: By what authority are you doing these things? Or who it is who gave you this authority?”

Jesus had no rabbinical pedigree. He wasn’t trained by well-established rabbis. He wasn’t part of the Sanhedrin - the Jewish ruling body. So just WHO gave Him the authority to take over the temple?

But Jesus answered that questions with a question. John’s baptism - HEAVENLY authority or HUMAN authority? The brightest & best are stumped, “If we say HEAVEN He will claim the same; but if we say it was only a man CLAIMING authority from heaven…the people might stone us.”…so they plead the 5th - ‘We can’t say as either one will get us in trouble.’

[Explain the rest] 3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven or from people?”5 So they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From people,’ all the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they replied that they did not know where it came from. 8 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by whose authority I do these things.”

But then Jesus makes it PERFECTLY CLEAR whose authority He claims to have by telling a story. It went like this: A man owned a vineyard and leased it for some tenant farmers as he went off on a journey. When it was time to harvest the grapes, the owner sent a servant to bring him his portion of the crop. But instead, the tenants beat the servant and sent him back empty handed. The owner sent another servant. They beat him & treated him poorly & sent him home empty handed. He sent a third servant. They wounded him badly and sent him back empty handed.

Luke 20:13–19 (NET)

13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my one dear son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir; let’s kill him so the inheritance will be ours!’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they said, “May this never happen!”

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING They reject the King…they reject the Kingdom.

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING

The New Testament writers, including Luke’s sequel - Acts - warned the unbelieving Jews that they had been judged and the message was going out to the Gentiles instead. Thus Gentiles & believing Jews would be given the privilege to take care of God’s work.

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING

17 But Jesus looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Imagine the stonemasons carefully examining the raw materials in order to select only the best stones for their building. One stone doesn’t match their idea of what is worthy and so they consign it to the reject pile…but THAT stone, the one they rejected - is the most important piece - the cornerstone!

John MacArthur writes: “For those who will not have Jesus as Deliverer, He becomes Destroyer.”

This is an incredible claim! That God’s judgment falls on those who reject Jesus as the Cornerstone!

19 Then the experts in the law and the chief priests wanted to arrest him that very hour, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

You know what amazes me? How many people REALLY expect believe they can’t reject the Cornerstone…or at least dilute His claims….and then expect to make it into the Kingdom of God!

I have a couple of friends who have walked away from the faith in the last couple of years. They have their own version of ‘Build-a-bear Jesus’ - the cuddly Jesus who loves everyone & teaches great stuff about loving people. Interestingly - according to them - Jesus would never claim He is the only way to God and would certainly NEVER judge someone guilty for taking a different road to God. WHERE do they Get that from? How dare we quote Jesus from the gospels when we LIKE what He says & then DISCOUNT

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KINGBIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING and you’re not him.

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING

BIG TRUTH: No Kingdom without a KING

I hope you’ll continue reading the Gospel of John these week through chapter 15. Read the ancient text and consider the claims of Jesus.

If Jesus were to clean the distractions that keep you from seeking God fully, what might that be & what should you do about it?