And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
The rejected stone is Christ, refused by the builders and leaders yet made the head of the corner, and the warning was spoken to the chief priests and Pharisees at the close of the parable of the vineyard after they rejected the evidence of His mission. Whoever falls upon Him will be broken, but upon whomever He falls will be ground to powder, making judgment unavoidable and more terrible for those upon whom the stone falls. To fall and be broken is to surrender self and self-righteousness, repent of sin with childlike humility, confess helplessness, and trust His forgiving love and righteousness as the only hope and new birth. To refuse that breaking is to remain impenitent and self-righteous, keep sins charged in the record, and at last be separated from God and crushed under His wrath in the destruction foreshadowed at Jerusalem and completed at the final judgment. For that failure the kingdom was taken from the unfaithful nation that bore no fruit and given to those who would bring forth its fruits, a warning that now presses upon the church to bear fruit before Christ's coming.
Stone and Parable Setting
The stone is Christ, the stone rejected by the builders and leaders that became the head of the corner. That figure was familiar to the priests, and was later applied by Peter to Jesus whom the leaders rejected and crucified. Those who oppose Him are broken, those who stumble over Him are broken, and those on whom judgment falls are crushed and destroyed. The warning addressed the priests who rejected Him and pronounced the doom of those who refused God's claim, with the kingdom to be taken from them and given to a people producing its fruits.
The verse was spoken to the chief priests and Pharisees at the close of the parable of the vineyard as rebuke and final warning. That warning followed their rejection of the evidence of His divine mission and their corruption of the temple's sacred service. It stands in the account of Christ's journey to Jerusalem at His triumphal entry, a powerful chapter to be studied and understood. That same chapter includes the pretentious, fruitless fig tree, which shows professors with names on the church books but no fruit in their lives to the glory of God. The chapter points to Christ as the Man despised and rejected who will be crowned and seated upon His throne.
The parables exposed the guilt of the leaders, and they recognized He spoke of them. They unwittingly pronounced their own doom by answering that the lord of the vineyard would miserably destroy those wicked men and let out his vineyard to other husbandmen who would render fruit in their season. Christ thus made the scribes and Pharisees pronounce judgment against themselves and condemn their own course, applying the Word to their hearts and showing before the people that they were the ones He was describing. In anger and mortification they desired to lay hands on Him and silence His voice so He would no longer annoy them, but were held back by fear of the people. Again and again enraged truth led them even to take up stones to kill the Redeemer, yet His human life was kept by the power of God through attending heavenly angels until the case of the Jews as a nation was decided and His day of work was ended.
In the parable the husbandmen are the unfaithful stewards who withheld the vineyard's fruit, rejected God's messengers with contempt, injustice and cruelty, and killed the Son. The priests and teachers who turned the nation away from Christ bear responsibility for rejecting Him and for the results that followed. The verse is connected with Israel not receiving Jesus in the manner foretold by prophecy, while a Roman centurion showed faith and appreciation beyond that of Israel. It does not there further explain the breaking or grinding imagery.
Kingdom Taken From Israel
The verse pronounces sentence on the Jewish nation for failing to fulfill God's purpose, for the unfaithful nation that cherished itself as heaven's favorites would forfeit blessing and bring ruin upon itself, and the kingdom would be taken from those who rejected it and given to a people bringing forth its fruits. The rejected stone become the head of the corner brings that sentence, for those who reject him bring ruin on themselves, and when the stone falls on them they are crushed. In the vineyard parable the leaders recognize themselves in the wicked husbandmen and unwittingly pronounce their own doom by answering that the lord would miserably destroy those wicked men and let the vineyard to others who would render fruit. God's purpose is nevertheless carried forward through a faithful remnant to whom the covenant promises will be fulfilled, and He continues to gather the vineyard's fruit.
The taking away of national privileges had already commenced and would end in the destruction of temple and city and in the dispersion of the nation. To fall on the stone and be broken, and to have it fall and grind to powder, means the just punishment soon to fall on the unfaithful stewards who rejected and mistreated God's messengers and were now rejecting His Son. That judgment applied to the unbelieving Jews and remains for all who stay impenitent and refuse Christ, and when the stone falls their glory is broken and scattered like dust. Christ would have averted the doom if the people had received Him, but envy and jealousy made them implacable and left their souls in midnight darkness. The foretold doom came upon Jerusalem when more than one million perished in its siege.
The punishment to fall would be all the more terrible because great mercy and love were returned with contempt, injustice and cruelty to servants, killing the heir, condemning the innocent Son by false witnesses before Pilate's tribunal though declared innocent, and delivering Him to a Satan-inspired mob. Those who resist Him will be broken, while the wrath they defy will fall on them like a rock and grind them to powder, which is to understand the wrath of the Lamb, condemnation, separation from God, and destruction for rejecting Christ the Light. The rejected vine is bruised and trampled, but its removal and planting beyond the wall show that human opposition cannot destroy it or put its source within reach, and its branches remain available for grafting.
Two Fates Contrasted
Whoever falls upon the stone is broken, but the stone falling upon a person grinds to powder, and the second fate is the more severe and unavoidable judgment upon rejection. To fall against the stone brings bruising and breaking, while to have the stone fall upon one brings crushing to powder as divine punishment and destruction for rejecting the stone. The stone is Christ rejected by the builders, and those who reject Him are broken while those upon whom it falls are destroyed, for the husbandmen who rejected and killed the son lose the kingdom of God which is given to a people bringing forth its fruits. The parables exposed the guilt of the leaders and they knew the words were spoken against them, so rejection of the stone brings destruction.
The verse sets before every person two choices with Christ the Rock: to fall now and be broken, or to refuse and face the Rock falling in judgment. Falling on the Rock means humbling self before God and letting self be broken without waiting for a future time, by seeing mistakes, confessing sin, putting away what hinders His work, clearing the King's highway, dying to self in an agonizing struggle, and letting Jesus take possession of the heart to pardon transgression, heal every difficulty and wound, and join hearts together. The break must be complete and remain broken under the melting, softening power of the Holy Spirit, giving up selfishness and one's own ways and ambitious projects, no longer letting self have the supremacy, changing one's ways for God's ways and making God's ways one's choice, coming out of self and accepting Jesus Christ as complete Saviour with decided, firm, whole-hearted surrender to follow the narrow path of holiness that leads to perfect freedom in Christ. The humble in heart receive Jesus' care and protection and He will not leave them to perish by the hands of the wicked.
If Satan holds the mind and a person refuses, the Rock will fall, which is to come to the judgment with sins unconfessed, having no part in God's kingdom and failing to receive everlasting life when Christ soon comes in the clouds of heaven to reward every one according as his works have been. Two things are set before people, change of body, soul and spirit in this life or loss of the soul forever after, for submitting to Christ in confession and repentance now is for present and eternal good and the only hope of gaining life that lasts as long as the life of God, while refusing to confess and repent leaves no hope of that life. Those who will not submit will be crushed in judgment and lose the soul, while everyone who comes to Christ in submission will be received and not cast out. Life and death are set before each one in this choice, calling for prompt and decided action with no delay, because delay is dangerous.
Falling Broken in Repentance
To fall on the Rock, Christ Jesus, and be broken is to surrender self and give up self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, self-esteem, self-exaltation and pride, to come with childlike humility, to repent of sin, to confess need and helplessness, and to trust His forgiving love, grace and righteousness. It is conversion and the new birth, the sinner's only hope and safety, in which the heart of stone is replaced by a heart of flesh with true sorrow for sin and cleansing through Christ's blood and justification by faith. Those who think themselves whole or are content with their own goodness cannot benefit from His grace and righteousness, and few are willing to undergo this change, while those joined to Him by faith and obedience become living stones on the secure foundation that stands when trials come, and those relying on their own efforts without connection to Him will collapse and fall.
That breaking means seeing mistakes and oneself as God sees, heeding reproof and the light and evidence given, stopping excuses, subterfuge and strange devisings to avoid confession, laying self on the altar of sacrifice, burying self and letting Christ occupy the throne of the heart, and being renewed in knowledge and true holiness to receive Christ's righteousness instead of self-righteousness. It means humbling the heart when God touches it, confessing open and secret sins fully to God and to those mistreated, forsaking them forever, bringing past wrongs to remembrance to be acknowledged and repented of, making restitution and reconciliation, clearing the King's highway, and beginning a new life yoked to Christ. It means renouncing companionship with Satan, breaking away from the enemy who is the accuser of the brethren, telling him to depart, confessing the sin of heeding his suggestions, listening to him no longer, resisting the tempter so he flees, drawing near to God so He will draw near, cutting dependence on business and human sources, surrendering ambitious projects and enmity and hatred toward a brother, confessing wrong and wicked feelings and unjust suppositions, and letting the Holy Spirit reveal sin and burn away wicked things. This brokenness clears the moral atmosphere around the soul, brings power with discernment of the right way, softens and subdues in humility and repentance to clear the way for a brother's return to fellowship, and is necessary to be free in the Lord and a complete overcomer, for hatred and a cruel spirit cannot be carried into heaven.
The breaking must be complete and remain broken under the melting, softening power of the Holy Spirit, and it must be done now without waiting, before it is forever too late to right wrongs, by seeing peril as Satan plays the game of life for the soul, yielding so a transforming work is wrought, dying to self in an agonizing death struggle, putting away what hinders God's work, and letting Jesus take possession of the heart to pardon transgression and heal every difficulty and wound. Those who refuse to fall keep questioning, excusing, and giving credence to suggestions of unbelief instead of gathering up the rays of light already received and fighting the good fight of faith, and they gather unbelief that shuts out light until light cannot be distinguished from darkness. They will never have greater light and evidence, will decide on the other side as Judas did in selling the Lord, will fall at last and never overcome, will fall into the ditch with those they mislead and be left as Korah, Dathan and Abiram were left to lie down in darkness, and what they heard will condemn them at the judgment unless the blood of the Lamb and the testimony are on the right side.
Elder Smith's confession and repentance showed his falling on the Rock and being broken, a breaking that led to humility and acknowledgment, weeping in repentance, confessing a wrong spirit and the harm done by it, accepting correction and God's message as from God, asking forgiveness for burdens brought on others, and resolving to support God's work, bringing joy and removal of barriers so the Lord Jesus could work with him and make Himself known to him. By contrast Judas refused to surrender and repent, so his hardened heart led him to betray Christ and ruin himself, though Christ's efforts to awaken his conscience were meant to bring him to repentance and pardon, for forgiveness requires repentance.
The call to fall and be broken applies to ministers and mouthpieces for God appointed to minister in word and doctrine, gospel workers, teachers and fathers training youth, husbands and wives, those in responsible positions, the harsh-spirited and hard-hearted, those holding hereditary and cultivated tendencies, self-gratification and apostasy, and all who have been under the leavening influence of those separated from God. It specifically warns Dr. Kellogg to humble himself, acknowledge his wrong course, renounce alliance with Satan and join himself to Christ, or the Rock's judgment will destroy him along with his pretensions. Without that broken experience of softening and sanctifying through Christ's grace, overcoming ardent temperament, strong, hard, unbecoming, unchristian language and excuse-making, receiving meekness and lowliness of heart, a cleansed fountain, the controlling influence of the Spirit, and a new life with Jesus formed within, none can control his own spirit, judge righteously and unselfishly, manage any religious interest on correct principles, do acceptable work for God as a faithful shepherd, or safely teach, and financial embarrassment must continue until the breaking takes place.
Life Given to Broken
To fall on Christ the Stone is to have the heart broken and cleansed by God's mercy and forgiveness from inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong. The heart of stone is exchanged for a heart of flesh as self-sufficiency and self-exaltation give way to felt helplessness, need of a Saviour, true sorrow for sin, and cleansing through Christ's blood received by faith and justification by faith.
Those who so fall and are broken are gathered by Christ with everlasting arms to His bosom in the sure work for eternal life, becoming holy and pure with love in the heart. They willingly break all to pieces in full consecration, bow to the cross of Calvary, draw near to God believing He loves and draws near, and press together unitedly in a testimony heaven harmonizes with to reach hearts on the borders of the eternal world with the Lord at the door. They are not bruised but are comforted, healed of the wounds and bruises Satan made, filled with the oil of gladness and rejoicing, gathered in Jesus' arms and bound up with Him. Turning square about, yielding up the will and surrendering all to God as the only hope, they join their weakness to Christ's strength, their ignorance to His wisdom, their unworthiness to His merit, their spiritual weakness to His enduring might, and their poverty to His boundless wealth, so He uses them to His glory and gives the spirit of peace, clearing the moral atmosphere. They cease regarding self as a precious article to be handled with care lest it be broken, have their lives hidden with Christ in God, and stand firm, rooted and grounded and established in present truth, while everything that can be shaken is shaken so only what cannot be shaken remains. This softening of heart is a good thing to hope for in one beginning to yield, belonging with greater faith bringing greater power from God. Self is subdued and melted until God holds the heart in the furnace till the dross is consumed, for no one enters the portals of the city of God by accumulated deeds of legal obedience but simply by lifting and bearing the Redeemer's cross and putting faith in His blood and in the righteousness of Him who died, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God; as soon as the heart is worked by this heaven-born principle of faith, love is kindled toward the Author of redemption, whereas works of selfishness bind the soul in bands of steel until justice and mercy and the love of God can make no impression, but when renewed by the love of God and of Christ the natural heart is wrought with grateful, benevolent, devoted affection and intensity of desire.
Jesus then fashions the broken character after His own likeness as the potter shapes clay, preparing and shaping the person as a vessel unto honor. Falling on the Rock uproots and tears pharisaism and self-righteousness to pieces by seeing that there is nothing righteous in self and having a dread of sin, giving up fashioning self after a mold of human imagination and keeping Christ before the mind daily, and then Christ molds and fashions the broken one into a vessel of honor, while turning thoughts and feelings against one another leaves one a vessel of dishonor giving God no chance. The one turned from a dangerous life and character and broken in self is remade into a new person, becomes Christ's disciple reflecting His works and love, and gives life to Him in gratitude, self-denial, work and suffering, humbled and remade by Him rather than left with sin and self-sufficiency unchanged.
Hearts thus broken can see and understand truth and discern rightly, bringing Scripture knowledge and the principles of truth for this time from a merely theoretical hold with the fingertips in the outer court into the inner sanctuary of the soul under the control of the Spirit of God, so that knowledge and interpretation can be trusted. They see what is sacred in the past history that made this people earnest, determined missionary workers. Unbroken hearts do not see and understand what is truth but accept what pleases their ideas, flatter vanity and esteem, follow human inventions and selfish theories, turn aside from justice, mercy and the love of God, becloud spiritual discernment till blind and stumbling without discerning what they stumbled over, misapply Christ's warnings to vindicate a condemned course, remove the pillars of faith and manufacture another foundation than that laid, and cannot be entrusted with God's sacred work, with the same darkness remaining wherever they go. Turning from a ray of light for fear it will require accepting an unwanted position turns that light into darkness, so that if in error one will honestly assert error to be truth. Those framing little differences in interpretation, staking faith on suppositions and false theories, yielding to hurt and alienation from brethren behind walls of separation while thinking they follow the true path, and holding from natural stubbornness and pride of opinion to human suppositions and philosophy in resistance of light, must fall on the Rock and be broken by surrendering those ideas, or remain where the Jews were in blindness and unbelief of the sanctifying truth.
Brokenness submits to Christ and receives His daily converting power on the heart, joining divine power to the human race to encourage the poor, sin-sick, discouraged soul to reach up for a higher life. Those feeling whole and looking down on weaker souls as less perfect must fall upon Christ the Rock and be broken, humbled, subdued and softened, giving up exclusiveness, self, pride and contempt for souls seen as weak and foolish, receiving more of Christ's spirit and much less of self with a mellowing spirit, changed into His likeness with love and sympathy to help rather than leave them to struggle alone. Every member falling on Christ Jesus and broken of self lets Jesus fashion the character after His own likeness, curing gloomy thoughts and discouragement through faith, work and prayer, bringing continual growth and heavenly peace, removing harshness and envy, so that discord and strife die a natural death for lack of fuel to feed upon.
When one falls upon Christ and is broken, bringing the mind into captivity to the will of Christ with life changed from glory to glory, there is personal experience of His power that others recognize as the power of truth upon the heart, fitting one to speak the words God gives and to place a high estimate upon humanity purchased by the Saviour's precious blood, presenting not Babylon's cup of doctrines of error but the cup full of the truths of redemption. This humble openness to change lets the Holy Spirit renew mind, soul and body, changing cherished natural tendencies, habits and practices in genuine conversion and new heart power over evil influences that controlled mind and will, even for one who has known the Lord. It is necessary to receive the blessing of heaven, clearly seeing that one's course hindered God's work and confessing errors rather than justifying self, for no lie is of the truth and no misstatement to shield self cleanses wrong; it is the new birth Christ set before Nicodemus, without which one coming to judgment will not be acquitted whatever position held or good deeds done. Coming to God with a heart broken in repentance and confession is true conversion begun in earnest without delay to work out salvation with fear and trembling; without it experience stays sickly and spiritually lifeless, zeal chilled by formality, worldly ambition, pride and love of self, feeling only occasionally stirred and baptismal vows unkept, while those who fall receive spiritual life, reveal the fruits of the Spirit, become partakers of the divine nature, escape the corruption in the world through lust, and alone are granted eternal life and preparation for the Bridegroom's coming.
Stone Falling in Judgment
To have the stone fall and grind to powder is condemnation, separation from God, and destruction for rejecting Christ the Light of the world. Disobedience in withholding the fruit owed to God and treating His Son with contempt leads to eternal death, and persisting in sin and misrepresenting God brings terrible judgment with withdrawal of favor rather than repentance. Christ is a rock of offense to those who reject Him through disobedience, and His glory will be life to the righteous but consuming fire to those who reject grace. Christ, rejected and crucified, was raised and declared the Son of God with power, and will return as Lord of heaven and earth.
The stone's fall first foreshadowed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, brought about by rejecting the goodness, righteousness and mercy of God offered in Christ. Their glory would be broken and scattered like dust when city and temple were destroyed. The same warning applies to the final judgment.
The judgment falls not only on the Jews who rejected the Son of God but on the whole world and on all who refuse God's gracious benefits and remain impenitent and refuse Christ as Redeemer. One group receives the truth and works with God, while the other stubbornly resists it. To those who reject Him, Christ becomes a rock of offense and like a mountain falling upon them that crushes them completely, and safety comes only from building on the right foundation, Christ, since hopes built on untested foundations will collapse and bring down what is built on them.
Refusing to be broken leaves only the alternative that the Rock falls and grinds to powder, meaning to be found wanting in sincerity, love to Christ and brotherly kindness when motives, character and life accounts are weighed by the Judge who never mistakes, with no respectable sinners passed by in that reckoning. Unless the proud heart is humbled, with self dying through accepting reproof, confessing sin and thorough reform of character, sins remain charged in the books of record and will be opened as fearful histories of unconfessed, unblotted sins at the judgment, when thoughts of the heart as well as actions are revealed, heaping up wrath against the day of wrath. God's pure eyes see every sin of selfishness, covetousness, envy, falsehood, theft, sensuality and other sins, and a witness records them, so mere knowledge of Bible doctrines and ability to defend them with texts brings no growth in the divine life without brokenness. Refusing correction while hearts remain hard and selfish leaves judgment to reveal the harm done to the Lord's work, and those not broken by falling on the Rock will be left to come up in the second resurrection and remain outside the city of God among dogs and sorcerers and adulterers and those who love and make a lie, without the wedding garment and too late to make wrongs right.
To refuse to fall and be broken is to cling to self and self-righteousness instead of laying self on the altar of sacrifice, burying self and letting Christ occupy the throne of the heart to be renewed in knowledge and true holiness and receive His righteousness. Such refusal brings clouds and darkness enveloping the soul and blind groping for the wall without finding it, leaving the person spiritually blind, dangerous to the church, spreading harm, scattering seeds of darkness and unsettling the confidence of others in truths God wants His people to have. Those who give heed to seducing spirits by framing little differences in interpretation, staking faith on suppositions and false theories, yielding to hurt and alienation from brethren behind walls of separation while thinking they follow the true path, and holding from natural stubbornness and pride of opinion to human suppositions and philosophy in resistance of light, must surrender those ideas or be left where the Jews were, in blindness and unbelief of the truth which sanctifies the soul. Those who reject mercy without repenting reach the limit of forbearance and He turns away from them, and they persist until mercy is no longer recognized.
Escape comes only by stopping all deception, working as for eternity, and letting the heart break before God in repentance now, for continuing in deception and an unchristian course brings the crushing destruction of the falling stone.
Present Call and Warning
The vineyard lesson reaches beyond the Jewish nation to the church in the present generation before the second coming, which has received great privileges and blessings from God and is expected to bear corresponding fruit. Israel's proud and hypocritical rejection of its Saviour brought loss of the kingdom, and the same influences that led to that rejection stand as warning to the church now. The husbandmen stand condemned for withholding the vineyard's fruit and rejecting Christ, and the priests and teachers who turned the nation away from Him bear responsibility for rejecting Him and for the results that followed.
Those who feel themselves whole and look down on weaker souls as less perfect must fall upon Christ the Rock and be broken. Those who measure themselves against others and cling to self-exaltation, pride, and Laodicean contentment must be humbled, confess wrongs, recognize need of God, see that the Laodicean message applies to themselves, and make decided changes in attitude before God and before His people. Falling on the Rock is being humbled, subdued and softened by the daily converting power of God, giving up exclusiveness, self, pride and contempt for souls seen as weak and foolish, and submitting to Christ so as to receive His spirit, be changed into His likeness, and gain love and sympathy to help poor, sin-sick, discouraged souls reach up for a higher life instead of leaving them to struggle alone. Falling on Christ Jesus means yielding to the Holy Spirit's working and permitting the old nature to be broken up, for a heart that has not fallen on Him remains proud of its supposed wholeness and feels no need of union with Christ. Without this breaking, even those who regard truth, advocate truth, and are attracted to believers degenerate in service into mere form like the foolish virgins destitute of the Holy Spirit, with chilled zeal, formality, ambition and selfishness and no oil to feed the lamp, and unready when crisis reveals character.
Mere knowledge of Bible doctrines and ability to defend them with texts does not replace being broken, and without it there is no growth in the divine life. Profession without repentance and confession, merely hearing truth and being stirred at times, occasional stirrings of feeling, and partial awakening and surface work are not enough; true conversion is shown by fruits of the Spirit in the life. Falling on the Rock and being broken means self dies through humbling the heart before God when light comes exposing dangers, errors and wrongs, accepting reproof, confessing sin fully, clearing the way for God in thorough reform of character, with humility, contrite repentance, dependence on God, trust, earnest repentance, fervent prayer, and a transformed life while there is still time. Those who instead defend themselves, make plausible excuses, bind together in self-justification, try to make wrongdoing appear blameless, and refuse to repent and be humbled resist the call, remain under guilt and despair, and are left to the other half of the sentence, having the stone fall on them and grind them to powder under the wrath of God when judgment comes.
When the Holy Spirit presses divine truth home to the heart, souls fall on the Rock and are broken. Without the Spirit's aid even a clear presentation of Scripture, preaching of the Word, human education and skill, and knowledge of Scripture cannot bring this result, awaken conscience, or transform life. Falling on the Rock means coming to Jesus in living faith and being broken of self-reliance, heeding His invitation and seeking the water of life from Him, receiving divine enlightenment and the Spirit's work that empties self so fully that a vacuum remains to be supplied by the Holy Spirit working with saving power; this new spiritual experience, new heart, and emptying of self is the only hope. Hearing truth alone is not enough, for unless the Spirit brings it home no one falls and is broken, and those who do not fall and yield when the Spirit moves, but continue in deception, remain unchanged in a fault-finding spirit that seeks spot and stain in others.
The rejected stone is Christ, refused by the builders and leaders yet made the head of the corner, and the warning was spoken to the chief priests and Pharisees at the close of the parable of the vineyard after they rejected the evidence of His mission. Whoever falls upon Him will be broken, but upon whomever He falls will be ground to powder, making judgment unavoidable and more terrible for those upon whom the stone falls. To fall and be broken is to surrender self and self-righteousness, repent of sin with childlike humility, confess helplessness, and trust His forgiving love and righteousness as the only hope and new birth. To refuse that breaking is to remain impenitent and self-righteous, keep sins charged in the record, and at last be separated from God and crushed under His wrath in the destruction foreshadowed at Jerusalem and completed at the final judgment. For that failure the kingdom was taken from the unfaithful nation that bore no fruit and given to those who would bring forth its fruits, a warning that now presses upon the church to bear fruit before Christ's coming.
Stone and Parable Setting
The stone is Christ, the stone rejected by the builders and leaders that became the head of the corner. That figure was familiar to the priests, and was later applied by Peter to Jesus whom the leaders rejected and crucified. Those who oppose Him are broken, those who stumble over Him are broken, and those on whom judgment falls are crushed and destroyed. The warning addressed the priests who rejected Him and pronounced the doom of those who refused God's claim, with the kingdom to be taken from them and given to a people producing its fruits.
The verse was spoken to the chief priests and Pharisees at the close of the parable of the vineyard as rebuke and final warning. That warning followed their rejection of the evidence of His divine mission and their corruption of the temple's sacred service. It stands in the account of Christ's journey to Jerusalem at His triumphal entry, a powerful chapter to be studied and understood. That same chapter includes the pretentious, fruitless fig tree, which shows professors with names on the church books but no fruit in their lives to the glory of God. The chapter points to Christ as the Man despised and rejected who will be crowned and seated upon His throne.
The parables exposed the guilt of the leaders, and they recognized He spoke of them. They unwittingly pronounced their own doom by answering that the lord of the vineyard would miserably destroy those wicked men and let out his vineyard to other husbandmen who would render fruit in their season. Christ thus made the scribes and Pharisees pronounce judgment against themselves and condemn their own course, applying the Word to their hearts and showing before the people that they were the ones He was describing. In anger and mortification they desired to lay hands on Him and silence His voice so He would no longer annoy them, but were held back by fear of the people. Again and again enraged truth led them even to take up stones to kill the Redeemer, yet His human life was kept by the power of God through attending heavenly angels until the case of the Jews as a nation was decided and His day of work was ended.
In the parable the husbandmen are the unfaithful stewards who withheld the vineyard's fruit, rejected God's messengers with contempt, injustice and cruelty, and killed the Son. The priests and teachers who turned the nation away from Christ bear responsibility for rejecting Him and for the results that followed. The verse is connected with Israel not receiving Jesus in the manner foretold by prophecy, while a Roman centurion showed faith and appreciation beyond that of Israel. It does not there further explain the breaking or grinding imagery.
Kingdom Taken From Israel
The verse pronounces sentence on the Jewish nation for failing to fulfill God's purpose, for the unfaithful nation that cherished itself as heaven's favorites would forfeit blessing and bring ruin upon itself, and the kingdom would be taken from those who rejected it and given to a people bringing forth its fruits. The rejected stone become the head of the corner brings that sentence, for those who reject him bring ruin on themselves, and when the stone falls on them they are crushed. In the vineyard parable the leaders recognize themselves in the wicked husbandmen and unwittingly pronounce their own doom by answering that the lord would miserably destroy those wicked men and let the vineyard to others who would render fruit. God's purpose is nevertheless carried forward through a faithful remnant to whom the covenant promises will be fulfilled, and He continues to gather the vineyard's fruit.
The taking away of national privileges had already commenced and would end in the destruction of temple and city and in the dispersion of the nation. To fall on the stone and be broken, and to have it fall and grind to powder, means the just punishment soon to fall on the unfaithful stewards who rejected and mistreated God's messengers and were now rejecting His Son. That judgment applied to the unbelieving Jews and remains for all who stay impenitent and refuse Christ, and when the stone falls their glory is broken and scattered like dust. Christ would have averted the doom if the people had received Him, but envy and jealousy made them implacable and left their souls in midnight darkness. The foretold doom came upon Jerusalem when more than one million perished in its siege.
The punishment to fall would be all the more terrible because great mercy and love were returned with contempt, injustice and cruelty to servants, killing the heir, condemning the innocent Son by false witnesses before Pilate's tribunal though declared innocent, and delivering Him to a Satan-inspired mob. Those who resist Him will be broken, while the wrath they defy will fall on them like a rock and grind them to powder, which is to understand the wrath of the Lamb, condemnation, separation from God, and destruction for rejecting Christ the Light. The rejected vine is bruised and trampled, but its removal and planting beyond the wall show that human opposition cannot destroy it or put its source within reach, and its branches remain available for grafting.
Two Fates Contrasted
Whoever falls upon the stone is broken, but the stone falling upon a person grinds to powder, and the second fate is the more severe and unavoidable judgment upon rejection. To fall against the stone brings bruising and breaking, while to have the stone fall upon one brings crushing to powder as divine punishment and destruction for rejecting the stone. The stone is Christ rejected by the builders, and those who reject Him are broken while those upon whom it falls are destroyed, for the husbandmen who rejected and killed the son lose the kingdom of God which is given to a people bringing forth its fruits. The parables exposed the guilt of the leaders and they knew the words were spoken against them, so rejection of the stone brings destruction.
The verse sets before every person two choices with Christ the Rock: to fall now and be broken, or to refuse and face the Rock falling in judgment. Falling on the Rock means humbling self before God and letting self be broken without waiting for a future time, by seeing mistakes, confessing sin, putting away what hinders His work, clearing the King's highway, dying to self in an agonizing struggle, and letting Jesus take possession of the heart to pardon transgression, heal every difficulty and wound, and join hearts together. The break must be complete and remain broken under the melting, softening power of the Holy Spirit, giving up selfishness and one's own ways and ambitious projects, no longer letting self have the supremacy, changing one's ways for God's ways and making God's ways one's choice, coming out of self and accepting Jesus Christ as complete Saviour with decided, firm, whole-hearted surrender to follow the narrow path of holiness that leads to perfect freedom in Christ. The humble in heart receive Jesus' care and protection and He will not leave them to perish by the hands of the wicked.
If Satan holds the mind and a person refuses, the Rock will fall, which is to come to the judgment with sins unconfessed, having no part in God's kingdom and failing to receive everlasting life when Christ soon comes in the clouds of heaven to reward every one according as his works have been. Two things are set before people, change of body, soul and spirit in this life or loss of the soul forever after, for submitting to Christ in confession and repentance now is for present and eternal good and the only hope of gaining life that lasts as long as the life of God, while refusing to confess and repent leaves no hope of that life. Those who will not submit will be crushed in judgment and lose the soul, while everyone who comes to Christ in submission will be received and not cast out. Life and death are set before each one in this choice, calling for prompt and decided action with no delay, because delay is dangerous.
Falling Broken in Repentance
To fall on the Rock, Christ Jesus, and be broken is to surrender self and give up self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, self-esteem, self-exaltation and pride, to come with childlike humility, to repent of sin, to confess need and helplessness, and to trust His forgiving love, grace and righteousness. It is conversion and the new birth, the sinner's only hope and safety, in which the heart of stone is replaced by a heart of flesh with true sorrow for sin and cleansing through Christ's blood and justification by faith. Those who think themselves whole or are content with their own goodness cannot benefit from His grace and righteousness, and few are willing to undergo this change, while those joined to Him by faith and obedience become living stones on the secure foundation that stands when trials come, and those relying on their own efforts without connection to Him will collapse and fall.
That breaking means seeing mistakes and oneself as God sees, heeding reproof and the light and evidence given, stopping excuses, subterfuge and strange devisings to avoid confession, laying self on the altar of sacrifice, burying self and letting Christ occupy the throne of the heart, and being renewed in knowledge and true holiness to receive Christ's righteousness instead of self-righteousness. It means humbling the heart when God touches it, confessing open and secret sins fully to God and to those mistreated, forsaking them forever, bringing past wrongs to remembrance to be acknowledged and repented of, making restitution and reconciliation, clearing the King's highway, and beginning a new life yoked to Christ. It means renouncing companionship with Satan, breaking away from the enemy who is the accuser of the brethren, telling him to depart, confessing the sin of heeding his suggestions, listening to him no longer, resisting the tempter so he flees, drawing near to God so He will draw near, cutting dependence on business and human sources, surrendering ambitious projects and enmity and hatred toward a brother, confessing wrong and wicked feelings and unjust suppositions, and letting the Holy Spirit reveal sin and burn away wicked things. This brokenness clears the moral atmosphere around the soul, brings power with discernment of the right way, softens and subdues in humility and repentance to clear the way for a brother's return to fellowship, and is necessary to be free in the Lord and a complete overcomer, for hatred and a cruel spirit cannot be carried into heaven.
The breaking must be complete and remain broken under the melting, softening power of the Holy Spirit, and it must be done now without waiting, before it is forever too late to right wrongs, by seeing peril as Satan plays the game of life for the soul, yielding so a transforming work is wrought, dying to self in an agonizing death struggle, putting away what hinders God's work, and letting Jesus take possession of the heart to pardon transgression and heal every difficulty and wound. Those who refuse to fall keep questioning, excusing, and giving credence to suggestions of unbelief instead of gathering up the rays of light already received and fighting the good fight of faith, and they gather unbelief that shuts out light until light cannot be distinguished from darkness. They will never have greater light and evidence, will decide on the other side as Judas did in selling the Lord, will fall at last and never overcome, will fall into the ditch with those they mislead and be left as Korah, Dathan and Abiram were left to lie down in darkness, and what they heard will condemn them at the judgment unless the blood of the Lamb and the testimony are on the right side.
Elder Smith's confession and repentance showed his falling on the Rock and being broken, a breaking that led to humility and acknowledgment, weeping in repentance, confessing a wrong spirit and the harm done by it, accepting correction and God's message as from God, asking forgiveness for burdens brought on others, and resolving to support God's work, bringing joy and removal of barriers so the Lord Jesus could work with him and make Himself known to him. By contrast Judas refused to surrender and repent, so his hardened heart led him to betray Christ and ruin himself, though Christ's efforts to awaken his conscience were meant to bring him to repentance and pardon, for forgiveness requires repentance.
The call to fall and be broken applies to ministers and mouthpieces for God appointed to minister in word and doctrine, gospel workers, teachers and fathers training youth, husbands and wives, those in responsible positions, the harsh-spirited and hard-hearted, those holding hereditary and cultivated tendencies, self-gratification and apostasy, and all who have been under the leavening influence of those separated from God. It specifically warns Dr. Kellogg to humble himself, acknowledge his wrong course, renounce alliance with Satan and join himself to Christ, or the Rock's judgment will destroy him along with his pretensions. Without that broken experience of softening and sanctifying through Christ's grace, overcoming ardent temperament, strong, hard, unbecoming, unchristian language and excuse-making, receiving meekness and lowliness of heart, a cleansed fountain, the controlling influence of the Spirit, and a new life with Jesus formed within, none can control his own spirit, judge righteously and unselfishly, manage any religious interest on correct principles, do acceptable work for God as a faithful shepherd, or safely teach, and financial embarrassment must continue until the breaking takes place.
Life Given to Broken
To fall on Christ the Stone is to have the heart broken and cleansed by God's mercy and forgiveness from inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong. The heart of stone is exchanged for a heart of flesh as self-sufficiency and self-exaltation give way to felt helplessness, need of a Saviour, true sorrow for sin, and cleansing through Christ's blood received by faith and justification by faith.
Those who so fall and are broken are gathered by Christ with everlasting arms to His bosom in the sure work for eternal life, becoming holy and pure with love in the heart. They willingly break all to pieces in full consecration, bow to the cross of Calvary, draw near to God believing He loves and draws near, and press together unitedly in a testimony heaven harmonizes with to reach hearts on the borders of the eternal world with the Lord at the door. They are not bruised but are comforted, healed of the wounds and bruises Satan made, filled with the oil of gladness and rejoicing, gathered in Jesus' arms and bound up with Him. Turning square about, yielding up the will and surrendering all to God as the only hope, they join their weakness to Christ's strength, their ignorance to His wisdom, their unworthiness to His merit, their spiritual weakness to His enduring might, and their poverty to His boundless wealth, so He uses them to His glory and gives the spirit of peace, clearing the moral atmosphere. They cease regarding self as a precious article to be handled with care lest it be broken, have their lives hidden with Christ in God, and stand firm, rooted and grounded and established in present truth, while everything that can be shaken is shaken so only what cannot be shaken remains. This softening of heart is a good thing to hope for in one beginning to yield, belonging with greater faith bringing greater power from God. Self is subdued and melted until God holds the heart in the furnace till the dross is consumed, for no one enters the portals of the city of God by accumulated deeds of legal obedience but simply by lifting and bearing the Redeemer's cross and putting faith in His blood and in the righteousness of Him who died, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God; as soon as the heart is worked by this heaven-born principle of faith, love is kindled toward the Author of redemption, whereas works of selfishness bind the soul in bands of steel until justice and mercy and the love of God can make no impression, but when renewed by the love of God and of Christ the natural heart is wrought with grateful, benevolent, devoted affection and intensity of desire.
Jesus then fashions the broken character after His own likeness as the potter shapes clay, preparing and shaping the person as a vessel unto honor. Falling on the Rock uproots and tears pharisaism and self-righteousness to pieces by seeing that there is nothing righteous in self and having a dread of sin, giving up fashioning self after a mold of human imagination and keeping Christ before the mind daily, and then Christ molds and fashions the broken one into a vessel of honor, while turning thoughts and feelings against one another leaves one a vessel of dishonor giving God no chance. The one turned from a dangerous life and character and broken in self is remade into a new person, becomes Christ's disciple reflecting His works and love, and gives life to Him in gratitude, self-denial, work and suffering, humbled and remade by Him rather than left with sin and self-sufficiency unchanged.
Hearts thus broken can see and understand truth and discern rightly, bringing Scripture knowledge and the principles of truth for this time from a merely theoretical hold with the fingertips in the outer court into the inner sanctuary of the soul under the control of the Spirit of God, so that knowledge and interpretation can be trusted. They see what is sacred in the past history that made this people earnest, determined missionary workers. Unbroken hearts do not see and understand what is truth but accept what pleases their ideas, flatter vanity and esteem, follow human inventions and selfish theories, turn aside from justice, mercy and the love of God, becloud spiritual discernment till blind and stumbling without discerning what they stumbled over, misapply Christ's warnings to vindicate a condemned course, remove the pillars of faith and manufacture another foundation than that laid, and cannot be entrusted with God's sacred work, with the same darkness remaining wherever they go. Turning from a ray of light for fear it will require accepting an unwanted position turns that light into darkness, so that if in error one will honestly assert error to be truth. Those framing little differences in interpretation, staking faith on suppositions and false theories, yielding to hurt and alienation from brethren behind walls of separation while thinking they follow the true path, and holding from natural stubbornness and pride of opinion to human suppositions and philosophy in resistance of light, must fall on the Rock and be broken by surrendering those ideas, or remain where the Jews were in blindness and unbelief of the sanctifying truth.
Brokenness submits to Christ and receives His daily converting power on the heart, joining divine power to the human race to encourage the poor, sin-sick, discouraged soul to reach up for a higher life. Those feeling whole and looking down on weaker souls as less perfect must fall upon Christ the Rock and be broken, humbled, subdued and softened, giving up exclusiveness, self, pride and contempt for souls seen as weak and foolish, receiving more of Christ's spirit and much less of self with a mellowing spirit, changed into His likeness with love and sympathy to help rather than leave them to struggle alone. Every member falling on Christ Jesus and broken of self lets Jesus fashion the character after His own likeness, curing gloomy thoughts and discouragement through faith, work and prayer, bringing continual growth and heavenly peace, removing harshness and envy, so that discord and strife die a natural death for lack of fuel to feed upon.
When one falls upon Christ and is broken, bringing the mind into captivity to the will of Christ with life changed from glory to glory, there is personal experience of His power that others recognize as the power of truth upon the heart, fitting one to speak the words God gives and to place a high estimate upon humanity purchased by the Saviour's precious blood, presenting not Babylon's cup of doctrines of error but the cup full of the truths of redemption. This humble openness to change lets the Holy Spirit renew mind, soul and body, changing cherished natural tendencies, habits and practices in genuine conversion and new heart power over evil influences that controlled mind and will, even for one who has known the Lord. It is necessary to receive the blessing of heaven, clearly seeing that one's course hindered God's work and confessing errors rather than justifying self, for no lie is of the truth and no misstatement to shield self cleanses wrong; it is the new birth Christ set before Nicodemus, without which one coming to judgment will not be acquitted whatever position held or good deeds done. Coming to God with a heart broken in repentance and confession is true conversion begun in earnest without delay to work out salvation with fear and trembling; without it experience stays sickly and spiritually lifeless, zeal chilled by formality, worldly ambition, pride and love of self, feeling only occasionally stirred and baptismal vows unkept, while those who fall receive spiritual life, reveal the fruits of the Spirit, become partakers of the divine nature, escape the corruption in the world through lust, and alone are granted eternal life and preparation for the Bridegroom's coming.
Stone Falling in Judgment
To have the stone fall and grind to powder is condemnation, separation from God, and destruction for rejecting Christ the Light of the world. Disobedience in withholding the fruit owed to God and treating His Son with contempt leads to eternal death, and persisting in sin and misrepresenting God brings terrible judgment with withdrawal of favor rather than repentance. Christ is a rock of offense to those who reject Him through disobedience, and His glory will be life to the righteous but consuming fire to those who reject grace. Christ, rejected and crucified, was raised and declared the Son of God with power, and will return as Lord of heaven and earth.
The stone's fall first foreshadowed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, brought about by rejecting the goodness, righteousness and mercy of God offered in Christ. Their glory would be broken and scattered like dust when city and temple were destroyed. The same warning applies to the final judgment.
The judgment falls not only on the Jews who rejected the Son of God but on the whole world and on all who refuse God's gracious benefits and remain impenitent and refuse Christ as Redeemer. One group receives the truth and works with God, while the other stubbornly resists it. To those who reject Him, Christ becomes a rock of offense and like a mountain falling upon them that crushes them completely, and safety comes only from building on the right foundation, Christ, since hopes built on untested foundations will collapse and bring down what is built on them.
Refusing to be broken leaves only the alternative that the Rock falls and grinds to powder, meaning to be found wanting in sincerity, love to Christ and brotherly kindness when motives, character and life accounts are weighed by the Judge who never mistakes, with no respectable sinners passed by in that reckoning. Unless the proud heart is humbled, with self dying through accepting reproof, confessing sin and thorough reform of character, sins remain charged in the books of record and will be opened as fearful histories of unconfessed, unblotted sins at the judgment, when thoughts of the heart as well as actions are revealed, heaping up wrath against the day of wrath. God's pure eyes see every sin of selfishness, covetousness, envy, falsehood, theft, sensuality and other sins, and a witness records them, so mere knowledge of Bible doctrines and ability to defend them with texts brings no growth in the divine life without brokenness. Refusing correction while hearts remain hard and selfish leaves judgment to reveal the harm done to the Lord's work, and those not broken by falling on the Rock will be left to come up in the second resurrection and remain outside the city of God among dogs and sorcerers and adulterers and those who love and make a lie, without the wedding garment and too late to make wrongs right.
To refuse to fall and be broken is to cling to self and self-righteousness instead of laying self on the altar of sacrifice, burying self and letting Christ occupy the throne of the heart to be renewed in knowledge and true holiness and receive His righteousness. Such refusal brings clouds and darkness enveloping the soul and blind groping for the wall without finding it, leaving the person spiritually blind, dangerous to the church, spreading harm, scattering seeds of darkness and unsettling the confidence of others in truths God wants His people to have. Those who give heed to seducing spirits by framing little differences in interpretation, staking faith on suppositions and false theories, yielding to hurt and alienation from brethren behind walls of separation while thinking they follow the true path, and holding from natural stubbornness and pride of opinion to human suppositions and philosophy in resistance of light, must surrender those ideas or be left where the Jews were, in blindness and unbelief of the truth which sanctifies the soul. Those who reject mercy without repenting reach the limit of forbearance and He turns away from them, and they persist until mercy is no longer recognized.
Escape comes only by stopping all deception, working as for eternity, and letting the heart break before God in repentance now, for continuing in deception and an unchristian course brings the crushing destruction of the falling stone.
Present Call and Warning
The vineyard lesson reaches beyond the Jewish nation to the church in the present generation before the second coming, which has received great privileges and blessings from God and is expected to bear corresponding fruit. Israel's proud and hypocritical rejection of its Saviour brought loss of the kingdom, and the same influences that led to that rejection stand as warning to the church now. The husbandmen stand condemned for withholding the vineyard's fruit and rejecting Christ, and the priests and teachers who turned the nation away from Him bear responsibility for rejecting Him and for the results that followed.
Those who feel themselves whole and look down on weaker souls as less perfect must fall upon Christ the Rock and be broken. Those who measure themselves against others and cling to self-exaltation, pride, and Laodicean contentment must be humbled, confess wrongs, recognize need of God, see that the Laodicean message applies to themselves, and make decided changes in attitude before God and before His people. Falling on the Rock is being humbled, subdued and softened by the daily converting power of God, giving up exclusiveness, self, pride and contempt for souls seen as weak and foolish, and submitting to Christ so as to receive His spirit, be changed into His likeness, and gain love and sympathy to help poor, sin-sick, discouraged souls reach up for a higher life instead of leaving them to struggle alone. Falling on Christ Jesus means yielding to the Holy Spirit's working and permitting the old nature to be broken up, for a heart that has not fallen on Him remains proud of its supposed wholeness and feels no need of union with Christ. Without this breaking, even those who regard truth, advocate truth, and are attracted to believers degenerate in service into mere form like the foolish virgins destitute of the Holy Spirit, with chilled zeal, formality, ambition and selfishness and no oil to feed the lamp, and unready when crisis reveals character.
Mere knowledge of Bible doctrines and ability to defend them with texts does not replace being broken, and without it there is no growth in the divine life. Profession without repentance and confession, merely hearing truth and being stirred at times, occasional stirrings of feeling, and partial awakening and surface work are not enough; true conversion is shown by fruits of the Spirit in the life. Falling on the Rock and being broken means self dies through humbling the heart before God when light comes exposing dangers, errors and wrongs, accepting reproof, confessing sin fully, clearing the way for God in thorough reform of character, with humility, contrite repentance, dependence on God, trust, earnest repentance, fervent prayer, and a transformed life while there is still time. Those who instead defend themselves, make plausible excuses, bind together in self-justification, try to make wrongdoing appear blameless, and refuse to repent and be humbled resist the call, remain under guilt and despair, and are left to the other half of the sentence, having the stone fall on them and grind them to powder under the wrath of God when judgment comes.
When the Holy Spirit presses divine truth home to the heart, souls fall on the Rock and are broken. Without the Spirit's aid even a clear presentation of Scripture, preaching of the Word, human education and skill, and knowledge of Scripture cannot bring this result, awaken conscience, or transform life. Falling on the Rock means coming to Jesus in living faith and being broken of self-reliance, heeding His invitation and seeking the water of life from Him, receiving divine enlightenment and the Spirit's work that empties self so fully that a vacuum remains to be supplied by the Holy Spirit working with saving power; this new spiritual experience, new heart, and emptying of self is the only hope. Hearing truth alone is not enough, for unless the Spirit brings it home no one falls and is broken, and those who do not fall and yield when the Spirit moves, but continue in deception, remain unchanged in a fault-finding spirit that seeks spot and stain in others.