_{^{"The Chief Cornerstone"}}

Message summary: Today we urge all to come to Christ, the Chief Cornerstone!

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"Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’" (Matthew 21:42).
 

There are two weeks in the Bible that record what happened each day: "Creation Week" and what we call "Holy Week".
 

Creation week is recorded in Genesis 1; the events of Holy Week are recorded in the Gospels which cover the life of Christ, a period of about 33 years. Most of this material deals with the 3½ year period of His ministry. 
 

An astounding 30 of the 89 accumulative chapters in the gospels deal with "Holy Week" the period from Christ's triumphal entry through His resurrection and His post-resurrection appearances as well. Mathematically this means that approximately 33% of the written material in the gospels deals with a mere .05% period of His life! 

In the providence of God we have a much greater portion of material dealing with God's greatest act of mercy in providing our redemption, "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).
 

In seeking to determine what happened each day during Holy Week there are clues in the Bible such as Matthew 21:18 that states, "Early in the morning, as Jesus was on His way back to the city, He was hungry". This is thought by some sources (see link to article below) to introduce what happened on Tuesday. 
 

On this day Jesus answered challenges from religious leaders and shared parables about faith, judgment and God's Kingdom.

One parable was the Parable of the Tenants recorded in Matthew 21:33-46. Here Jesus refers to Himself, “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him".

The parable concludes with this telling statement. "When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew He was talking about them" (v.45).

However, let's rejoice in something Christ called "marvelous". "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone". He is the stone the builders rejected. But He became the Cornerstone! In masonry the cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

Spiritually speaking, Christ and specifically His atoning death is the foundation of God's redemptive plan. 
 

Peter very likely heard this teaching and years later wrote,  "As you come to Him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him" (1 Peter 2:4).
 

Today we urge all to come to Christ, the Chief Cornerstone.

 

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

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