Matthew 21:42, commentary and pictures

The stone is Christ, rejected by Israel's priests, rulers and builders yet made by God the foundation and head of the whole building of salvation. Spoken right after the parable of the vineyard, it exposed those unfaithful stewards who beat God's messengers and killed His Son, and they knew it condemned themselves. Because of that rejection the kingdom with its blessings and work would be taken from unfruitful Israel and given to another people bringing forth its fruits. Whoever falls on the stone in impenitence will be broken, and on whom it falls in judgment will be crushed to powder, yet those broken by it in repentance find mercy and cleansing. The warning reaches beyond that generation to the church today, which has received great light and must bear corresponding fruit lest its trust also be removed and given to others.

Stone, Builders, and Cornerstone

The stone is Christ Himself, rejected by men yet made by God the chief stone of the building, the head of the corner, the cornerstone and foundation of the whole building on which builders must build. His rejection and exaltation fulfill prophecy, for the slain heir is Christ and the stone points to Him as the One foretold by the prophets to come as Messiah. Those who reject Him cannot prevent God from making Him central, for alongside the unfaithful husbandmen the rejected stone stands to show two responses to truth, with some receiving it and working with God while others resist Christ and face judgment.

The builders are Israel's leaders — the chief priests, Pharisees, scribes, rulers and elders, the proud religious leaders entrusted with God's vineyard. They are the Jewish leaders who rejected Him as Messiah and Saviour and Light of the world and truth, rejected His authority, turned the people from Him, and through envy and jealousy plotted His death. Jesus fastened guilt for rejecting Him upon them as a vivid picture of their condition and peril, yet they hardened their hearts against conviction and determined to carry out their purpose to kill the heir.

His becoming the cornerstone is the Lord's doing and is marvelous in its working, fulfilling God's purpose despite rejection and exposing the leaders' rejection while leading into judgment. Rejection did not and cannot defeat God, but His purpose is fulfilled in exalting the One rejected, so that their rejection does not defeat Him but exalts Him. His exaltation is marvelous to behold, and it warns that pride and hypocritical self-importance can lead people to reject Christ.

As cornerstone He is the originator and foundation of the Jewish system, economy and temple and of the whole plan of salvation, the one to whom its sacrificial services pointed. He is the foundation of the Jewish system and temple, and the cornerstone of the Jewish economy and of the whole plan of salvation. The stone rejected by the builders represents Jesus, whom Israel's priests and rulers were about to reject and kill, and the prophecy warns the leaders of the danger of rejecting Him.

Parable Setting and Confrontation

Jesus asked the question about the rejected stone immediately after telling the parable of the vineyard, in which husbandmen entrusted with the vineyard beat the servants sent for fruit and killed the beloved son and heir to seize the inheritance for themselves. The hearers themselves gave the sentence on that story, answering that the lord of the vineyard would miserably destroy those wicked men and let out the vineyard to other husbandmen who would render him the fruits in their season. That self-pronounced verdict set the ground for the verse, which identifies Jesus as the stone and the son rejected by the husbandmen, yet made living power and foundation by God, so that rejection does not undo His purpose.

In that setting the verse applies the prophecy of the rejected stone, long declared by the prophets of how the Messiah would come, directly to the priests and elders. It exposes their true religious character and their past and future history as unfaithful stewards who sought their own glory instead of serving God and advancing His work, who occupied the vineyard without returning fruit, shamefully treated God's messengers with contempt, injustice and cruelty, appropriated entrusted goods and resources, and were about to reject and kill the Son after refusing His authority despite His teaching and example. The parable thus lays open the chosen people's breach of trust, and the verse warns that God will not continue to bless those who persist in sin, exalt themselves, and misrepresent Him.

The application was so plain that the leaders perceived He spoke of them and knew the parable pointed them out as the very ones whose sentence they themselves had pronounced. Jesus fastened guilt upon them for rejecting Him and plotting His death, drew from them their own condemnation, and carried them along with striking figures and questions for decision until they condemned the very course they were pursuing. He spoke solemnly and regretfully after they had unwittingly pronounced their own doom, showing that receiving Him as God's Sent One would have changed their future and averted their doom. Rejecting Him was the decisive choice between obedience leading to life and disobedience leading to death, bringing condemnation and separation from God.

Instead of repenting they hardened their hearts against conviction, understanding the vivid picture of their condition and peril yet determining to carry out their purpose to kill the heir. They were filled with hatred, anger, mortification and madness, and would without further delay have laid hands on Him to silence His voice so He would no longer annoy them, even taking up stones to cast at Him. They were restrained only because they feared the people, and again and again He would have been killed, but heavenly angels attended Him and guarded His human life by the power of God until His day of work was ended and the case of the Jews as a nation was decided. The verse stands in a chapter that tells of the triumphal entry journey to Jerusalem and is powerful to study and understand. In it the barren fig tree warns those who profess to serve God and have their names on the church books yet bear no fruit to the glory of God, while the despised and rejected Christ will be crowned and seated upon His throne.

Kingdom Taken and Given

The verse pronounces God's sentence that the kingdom of God with its entrusted work, blessings, privileges and national advantages would be taken from unbelieving, unfaithful and unfruitful Israel and its leaders and given to another nation, to other husbandmen, to a people bringing forth its fruits. It identifies the rejected stone made head of the corner by the Lord's doing as Christ, and joins that exaltation to the judgment on those who rejected Him, showing that their rejection cannot prevent God from making Him central. In the parable's application the unfaithful husbandmen are the Jewish people as a whole and their leaders, who had received God's word and blessings but failed in duty, and the verse sets beside them the two responses to truth, some receiving it and working with God while others resist Christ and face judgment.

Israel had been richly blessed and entrusted with a purpose requiring obedience and fruit, but forfeited blessing and brought ruin on itself by failing to fulfill that purpose. The people treated His messengers cruelly and the rulers refused His authority, rejecting the Son despite His teaching, example, and life of truth and piety, determining to kill Him and thereby making themselves responsible for His crucifixion. Receiving Him as God's Sent One would have changed their future, but rejecting Him was the decisive choice between obedience leading to life and disobedience leading to death, leading to judgment.

That rejection came after marvelous, long, patient forbearance reached its limit. They were lifted up in selfish pride, exalted self and misrepresented Him, provoked Him by dishonesty, intrigue, theft and robbery, mingled His precepts with their prayers and teachings, put the knowledge of God from them, persisted in sin, and broke trust as those entrusted with light. God will not continue to bless or sustain those who so persist, but forgives the repentant and removes favor from those who continue in wrongdoing.

The taking away had already commenced and would end in fearful severity. Darkness would come upon them, with condemnation and separation from God, and the glory of the Jewish city and temple would be broken and scattered in destruction of their temple and city and dispersion of the nation. In the destruction of Jerusalem more than one million perished, following the rejection and crucifixion of Christ, and the stone that secures those who build on Him becomes ruin to those who reject Him, falling upon them in judgment at last.

What Israel rejected was not destroyed, for God preserved it and established it beyond human power to harm. He carries out His purpose through a faithful remnant, to whom the covenant promises are fulfilled. The rejected vine represents Christ and the work God continued after Israel cast Him away, its branches remaining within reach where new grafts could be joined to it.

Broken and Crushed by Stone

Whoever in unbelief falls against the stone will be broken and bruised, and whomever the stone falls upon in judgment will be ground to powder and crushed. The stone is Christ, rejected by the builders, and the warning stands as God's sentence after marvelous, long, patient forbearance reached its limit. That forbearance was provoked by selfish pride, dishonesty, intrigue, theft, robbery, mingling His precepts with prayers and teachings, and putting the knowledge of God from them, and by abuse of God's servants and murder of His Son, the abuse and condemnation of Him by the leaders entrusted with the vineyard. With that rejection the kingdom with its work is taken from the unfaithful and given to another nation, to other husbandmen, to a people bringing forth its fruits, and the rejection and exaltation fulfill the prophets' words of a work marvelous in its working. The image was familiar to the priests from the prophets, and its application exposes their guilt and makes their judgment more severe because of failure to return fruit for mercy and entrusted privilege.

For a time the Stone remains passive under contempt, then becomes a living power. Those who fall upon it are broken, their hearts cleansed by God's mercy and forgiveness from inherited and cultivated wrong. Those who refuse this brokenness face judgment when the Stone falls upon them. Had the rulers received Him as God's Sent One their future would have been different, but their rejection of the Son fixed their course.

Though He humbly endured abuse and rejection during His earthly mission and patiently bore sinners' abuse, He will rise in life and power above those who despised Him. His resurrection declares Him the Son of God with power, and at His second coming His greatness will be recognized before the universe. The stone that secures those who build on Him becomes a cause of ruin to those who reject Him, falling upon them in punishment. That judgment fell in the breaking and scattering of the glory of the Jewish city and temple in their destruction following the rejection and crucifixion of Christ, and in the final judgment He will likewise bring destruction to those who reject God's grace, not to the Jews only but to all who refuse it.

Christ is the only safe foundation securing those who build on Him, and the only safety is to build on the right foundation. Rejecting the Son makes Him a stumbling block and rock of offense. Hopes and plans resting on untested foundations will soon collapse, hopes built on anything else will fail, and bring doom and ruin. The fate of the unbelieving Jews, including the destruction of their city and temple, thus warns and awaits all who remain impenitent and refuse Him as Redeemer.

Warning to Church Today

The parable of the vineyard and the rejected stone apply not only to the Jewish nation but also to the church in the present generation. The church has received great privileges, blessings and light from God and is expected to give corresponding returns. Responsibility for His work is not limited to priests and rulers, for God gives talents to each person, great or small, and their faithful use brings the fruit He expects from His vineyard.

God will not continue to bless or sustain those who persist in sin, exalt themselves and misrepresent Him while withholding the service and fruit He claims. The church is beloved, but it cannot claim His favor while persisting in sin, exalting self or misleading others. He forgives the repentant, yet He removes responsibility and favor from unfaithful leaders and people who misuse what He entrusted and gives it to others who will represent Him faithfully. That rejection of His instruction brings judgment in proportion to the light received and refused.

The church today is warned not to follow the steps of the wicked husbandmen by separating from God in the same way. Professing Christians who are stirred to anger when the claims of the law of God are kept before them, who hate the light of the pure doctrines Christ enforced and continue warfare against God and His truth, reject God by rejecting His truth. The sacred trust committed to them will then be taken from them and given to others, as the blessings and privileges abused by the former husbandmen were taken from them and given to the Gentiles. Pride and hypocritical self-importance can lead people to reject Christ in this way. The same warning applies to those who misuse entrusted means for self-gratification, whose self-exalting course hinders God's work rather than following Christ's example.

The fate of the unbelieving Jews, including the destruction of their city and temple, warns all impenitent people who refuse Christ as Redeemer. That judgment will fall not only on the Jews but on all who refuse God's grace, Jews and all others alike. To them Christ becomes a stumbling block and rock of offense, bringing doom and ruin and crushing judgment. The only safety is to build on the right foundation, for hopes and plans resting on untested foundations will soon collapse. The rejected stone thus sets two responses to truth: some receive it and work with God, while others resist Christ and face judgment.