How Marvelous It Is!

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

How Marvelous It Is!

Date: Sep. 30, 2015

Passage

Matthew 21:33-46 (ESV)

33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 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. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 21:42

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’?

First, the rebellious Jewish elders (33-41). As the time for him to be glorified drew near, Jesus' exchanges with the Jewish elders became sharper and sharper. Their time was just about up, after which they would be judged severely. In 70 AD, Jerusalem was totally destroyed, including the temple. God was about to establish a new order.

Second, how marvelous it is! (42-45) Like the stone that "became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth" (Da 2:35), Jesus is both the corner and the capstone, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Whether by active opposition or passive apathy, those who reject him to the last will be totally ruined.

Third, the kingdom given to others (43). When we lose our "first love", the Lord disciplines us so that we are not lost with the world. But as with the Jewish elders and the nation of Israel, if we break faith, and fail to preach the Gospel, the Lord himself will remove our "lampstand", just as happened in Ephesus (Rev 2:5).

Prayer: Lord, grant that we may remain faithful throughout our lives, preaching the gospel fully, both with and without words. For Jesus' sake we pray. Amen.

One Word: "If we endure, we will also reign with him" (2Ti 2

Complacent or Victorious?

Revelation 3:1-13

Key Verse: 3:5

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

Today's Question

How is Christ exalted?

See answer and references