40 Days with Jesus: Two Stones

Communion Meditation

Mark 16:1–8 ESV

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

The stone was rolled away. Whether the angels rolled it away or it rolled away because of an earthquake… all we know Mary and the other women didn’t do it.

Stone was placed there to keep people away from Jesus. It was sealed with a Roman seal to make sure the body wouldn’t be disturbed and rumors started.

Guards were even posted to make sure the stone would stay in place…but impossibly the stone was rolled away.

How? Angels....earthquake....Maybe Jesus did it from the inside. The stone could not keep all that Jesus was in the tomb. The tomb was empty. The stone was rolled away.

2000 years later, there are still stones in people's lives that keep them from encountering Jesus. What is the stone for you? Pain? Depression? Age? Divorce? Cancer? Betrayal? Loneliness? Addiction? Grief?

The reason we gather here today is because stones have no power over Jesus. Jesus is not in the tomb. The stone was rolled away.

So that’s why we gather, that why we worship…the stone is gone and we know HE is RISEN!

Introduction

Last week 3 Parades....explain

This morning....a second stone, an even more important one....a stone that’s really a promise that goes back to before creation and extends to a future beyond time.

We will get to that in a minute but first let me just say this is a fantastic day to be a believer. It’s Easter! It’s the day we get to read about the stone rolled away, guards struck dumb, the Mary’s freaked out, Peter and John racing....

All four of the gospels tell us part of this familiar story. But today we are going to switch it up and go OT. In fact going all the way back to Psalm 118.

Some of you are like what? Did you know that Psalm 118 is the most often quoted Psalm in all of the New Testament? It is the only Psalm quoted by all four Gospel writers. Matthew, Mark and Luke each quote it three times each, while John quotes from it once.

In Luke 13 and Matthew 23, two different times when Jesus wept over Jerusalem and lamented that Israel would not come to him, he quoted from Psalm 118. This Psalm held a special place in the heart of Jesus.

Although Psalm 118 may not traditionally be the first passage of the Bible one thinks about when celebrating Jesus’ victory over sin, death, Satan and hell, it unquestionably is a passage that speaks the Savior’s name and gives cause for Christians to rejoice and be glad in His day!

This Psalm of praise is an ancient song that the people of God have used to rejoice and be glad for centuries. Psalm 118 is a call to worship that demands full engagement on this special day.

Today we will focus on verses 1-2, 14-24. As we read these verses, try to view them through the lens of our Savior who rescued us in victory from the slavery of sin that leads to death.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” …

14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, 16 the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Background

Psalm 118 is known as an Egyptian Hallel Psalm. “Hallel” is the Hebrew word that means “to praise” from which we get the word “Hallelujah!” The reason is it known as an Egyptian praise psalm is because it is one of the psalms that have been sung throughout the centuries as a way to remember how God rescued his people out of slavery in Egypt.

The event of this rescue is known as the Exodus and is a story that has been celebrated over the ages because of God’s great strength, love and goodness he demonstrated on behalf of his people.

It is a story that foreshadowed another rescue of the people of God that we celebrate today known as Easter. Easter is the day the Lord has made for his people to rejoice and be glad in the Exodus from slavery not out of Egypt, but rather, out of sin.

Psalm 118 would be sung after the Passover celebration meal was eaten. After Jesus enjoyed the Last Supper Passover meal with his disciples, it says Jesus and his disciples did something together. “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” Mark 14:26

Many scholars believe the very last song that Jesus sang before he would be arrested, tried, and crucified for the sins of the world was the Egyptian Hallel Psalm 118 that reminded him of the rescue God was about to do on behalf of all people through himself.

The only way Jesus could rejoice and be glad in that day was because he knew salvation for all people was on its way. He was about to demonstrate the meaning of his own name, Jesus, Yeshua, salvation, through his own impending death on the cross.

The Call to Worship The song starts out in verses 1-2 as a call to worship.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 118:1-2

This often times was sung as a call and response song. The levitical priests would call out a verse and the people on their way in to worship at the Temple would respond. It is known as an antiphonal song where two groups sing it back and forth to one another in a call and response kind of cadence.

The beauty of Psalm 118 is that it both has elements that are meant for the individual to give thanks to the Lord as well as for the community to give thanks to the Lord. The Lord has brought salvation individually and communally to his people. Thus, they worship with an individual and corporate understanding of what took place on their behalf.

As the people would have been coming into Jerusalem for Passover, they would have been singing this Psalm back and forth as a way to remember the Exodus rescue. It was a song of hope in and celebration of the goodness of God and the steadfast love that God had shown to his people.

The word for “steadfast love” is a strong and weighty word in the Hebrew called “hesed.” Hesed is a deep and binding love that is formed when a covenant is made between two parties.

God loves his people with that kind of love…love that nothing on earth or in the spiritual realms ever could separate or cause God to violate this kind of covenant love that he has for his people. Hesed is a durable love that is miraculous at its core and depth.

Just imagine the emotions that must have been coursing through Jesus’ mind and body as he sang about the hesed of God that endures forever.

It had to be a reminder of what was at stake as he prepared to go to the cross. It was a covenant love that demanded a deep and enduring, perfect sacrifice once and for all. He would be the perfect sacrificial lamb that would seal the rescue of God’s people forever and through all eternity.

As Jesus and his disciples would have made their way through the verses of Psalm 118, they would eventually sing out verses 14-16.

“14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, 16 the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!” Psalm 118:14-16

The Psalm Sings His Name

Twice he would have sung the word “salvation” at this part of the song. Salvation. Yeshua. Jesus. He and his friends would have sung his own name.

He knew he was about to save his friends and the rest of humanity from their sins.

He was about to open the door the greatest exodus ever realized. He knew what was on the horizon while his disciples sang of what was passed down from their history. What an impactful stanza: both history and future were sung without them realizing the full effect of God’s hesed for them.

As far as the disciples knew, they simply were singing the same song Moses sang after leading the Israelites through the Red Sea to their rescue.

“The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him…Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power, your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.” Exodus 15:2, 6

Jesus and his disciples were singing the song that had been sung by their ancestors for generations. What memories it must have conjured as they connected with their past? What thoughts must they have stirred as Jesus prepared for what was in his near future? And how powerful must have verse 17 been for Jesus as he sang about what he soon would experience?

“I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.” Psalm 118:17

This is the most powerful verse of the entire song. It was the verse written on the wall in Martin Luther’s study. Luther wrote, “This is the psalm that I love,…for it has often served me well and has helped me out of grave troubles, when neither emperors, kings, wise men, clever men, nor saints could have helped me.”

Jesus is about to fulfill verse 17 as his death will not be permanent. It will happen according to the scriptures and prophecies. But death will not be the end of the story. He will live. He will rise again.

Death will not hold Jesus down. He will be resurrected by the power of God. The deeds of the Lord will be recounted and told for generations. This is the gospel. This is what we celebrate on this day. It is the day the Lord has made. It is worth rejoicing and being glad because Jesus did not die as a final act of courage.

Jesus died and then rose again that would enable the salvation for all humanity that his name proclaimed. His power over death gives us hope in our afflictions and suffering. Our afflictions will not end in death for eternity.

Any death we face will be overcome by the power of Jesus, Yeshua, our salvation. Thus, we do not grieve in our afflictions as those who have no hope. We have hope in the power of Christ that lives within us!

That is what verse 18 ultimately means for the Christ-follower. “The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.” Psalm 118:18

In other words, death is not the final verdict for our existence. We find hope in overcoming death because of our covenant love that we have with God through his son Jesus. Such hope in our Savior causes us to worship. This is what the next verses of the song lead us to do.

Our Response

“19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.” Psalm 118:19-21

Worship is the natural response of those who have been rescued. The rescuer is the one worthy of such worship. As this song has been sung by God’s people through the ages, the imagery is of the people of God coming into the Temple through the Temple gates to gather and give praise to God. Only those who have been made righteous by the sacrifices acceptable to God could enter and worship with such thanksgiving.

Because the Passover lambs had been killed at the time of this festival celebration, their blood sacrifice made the entrance way open to those who had come to worship with these sacrifices of thanksgiving.

When Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away our sin, laid down his life once and for all, those who put their faith, hope and trust in him always would be welcome to worship the Lord with thanksgiving. From that point on our worship and thanks for what God did on our behalf could be lived out in our daily lives.

As Matthew Henry once said, “Thanksgiving is good, but thank-living is better.” When Jesus laid down his life as a sin sacrifice once and for all, he did indeed become our salvation as verse 21 mentions. Yes, he has become our Yeshua, our salvation.

Our Foundation

The song then moves on to voice one of the great metaphors of who Jesus is not only for our lives to be built upon, but also for the Kingdom of God to be established.

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” Psalm 118:22-23

A cornerstone is the most important stone of a building project. This is the stone that all the other stones are built around and built upon. Once the cornerstone is set in place, all the remaining parts of the building project can move forward until completion.

In the context of this Psalm, the cornerstone originally referred to Israel as the primary focal point. For Israel, too, had been rejected by the other nations that surrounded her and who were building the great and powerful empires throughout the ages.

God had other plans, He was going to make Israel the focal point of his Kingdom that would expand to all people in all places for all time.

Jesus would be the focal point of this foundation God was building. He would send Jesus to be born as a Jew with a Messianic lineage from King David just as the prophets foretold. Jesus would be rejected by the Jews and their leaders, but God would make him the Savior of all people and the one they would worship.

Before this salvation and worship would take place, rejection leading to crucifixion would come first. Psalm 118:22 alludes to Jesus’ death and resurrection.

We can say this with full confidence because Jesus said it himself. His words are recorded in Matthew 21. Jesus had just finished telling a parable about farmers that were leased a vineyard to tend.

They were to tend the vineyard and harvest the grapes before then giving the owner of the field his share of the profits when the time came due. The owner sent his servants at harvest time to collect the profits, but those who were working the field beat up and eventually killed the servants. We pick up the parable being told by Jesus about himself in verse 37.

“Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:“‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.” Matthew 21:37-45

In this parable, Jesus was quoting Psalm 118:22-23 and relating himself as the fulfillment not only of the parable, but also of the metaphor of the cornerstone.

He was making a bold statement and the religious leaders knew it. When Jesus sang this part of the song after the Lord’s Supper, perhaps he flashed back to this moment in his own mind. It was a significant lyric in a song that would continue to be referenced even after the resurrection and ascension.

Psalm 118:22 was such a meaningful lyric and metaphor in the life of the Apostle Peter that he used it in his sermon before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4.

After Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension, Peter and John were headed to the Temple to pray. On their way they healed a crippled beggar and were arrested for this action.

The religious leaders asked them by what name they did such things. Peter launches into a short, yet powerful, response where he ends up quoting these cornerstone words from Psalm 118.

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:8-12

Peter refers to Jesus not only as the rejected stone who has become the cornerstone, but also as the author of salvation. Again, Jesus’ name demonstrates what he is: salvation, Yeshua.

Nobody but Jesus can save us. Salvation is found in no other name and nobody else.

Jesus is the Savior.

Jesus is the Messiah.

Jesus is the Lord.

And as Psalm 118:24 reminds all who have sung it throughout the ages and especially on this Easter Sunday: “This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

Conclusion

We worship him today with hearts that are rejoicing and lives full of gladness because he has saved us from our sins and rescued us for himself.

Because he lives today we can face tomorrow and move forward from all our pain and regrets of yesterday.

Because of his shed blood on the cross and his glorious resurrection over death, we can approach God and worship him in spirit and in truth.

As Peter also reminds us in his letter: 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:4-10

Friends, this is the day that the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Because He is risen; He is risen, indeed.