JULY 30, 2018

Psalm 118 – A Psalm of David

MATTHEW 21: 33 – 46:
“‘THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED
HAS BECOME THE CORNERSTONE;
THE LORD HAS DONE THIS,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’?
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118:22-24. THE PSALMIST EXPLAINED THAT THE LORD HAD TAKEN THE STONE THAT THE
BUILDERS REJECTED AND HAD MARVELOUSLY MADE IT THE CAPSTONE OF THE NATION.
THEREFORE, THE PEOPLE SHOULD REJOICE. IN THOSE DAYS GREAT EMPIRES EASILY
SET UP AND REMOVED KINGS. PERHAPS THOSE GREAT NATIONS DISCOUNTED ISRAEL
AS A NATION. YET THE LORD TOOK THAT “STONE” AND MADE IT “THE CAPSTONE” OF HIS
RULE ON EARTH. THE IMAGE OF THE STONE MAY HAVE SUGGESTED ITSELF FROM THE
TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION WORK GOING ON IN THE POSTEXILIC COMMUNITY. THE
PSALMIST, PERHAPS THE CONGREGATION’S LEADER, MAY HAVE THOUGHT OF HIS KING
AS THE STONE, FOR IN ISRAEL KINGS OFTEN REPRESENTED THE NATION. CERTAINLY,
IN JESUS’ PARABLE OF THE LANDOWNER AND THE TENANTS HE APPLIED THE PSALM IN
THAT WAY. JESUS IS THE STONE AND THE JEWISH LEADERS, THE BUILDERS OF THE
NATION, HAD REJECTED HIM. BUT GOD MADE HIM THE CAPSTONE. THUS, THE KINGDOM
WOULD BE TAKEN FROM THEM AND GIVEN TO OTHERS. THE FACT THAT THIS PSALM
WAS PROBABLY POPULAR AT THE PASSOVER FESTIVAL MADE JESUS’ USE OF IT ALL
THE MORE FORCEFUL.

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118:25-29. THE PSALMIST PRAYED THEN FOR HIS PEOPLE’S SALVATION AND
PROSPERITY. THE WORDS SAVE US (V. 25) AND BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE
NAME OF THE LORD (V. 26) WERE PROCLAIMED AT JESUS’ TRIUMPHAL ENTRY;
“HOSANNA” TRANSLATES THE HEB. FOR “SAVE”). THE PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT JESUS
WAS THE COMING SAVIOR. IN FACT, THE PHRASE WITH BOUGHS IN HAND (PS. 118:27)
MAY HAVE PROMPTED THEIR PUTTING THE BRANCHES DOWN FOR JESUS (MATT. 21:8).
THE SECOND HALF OF PSALM 118:27, THOUGH DIFFICULT IN THE HEBREW, PROBABLY
REFERS TO THE CUSTOM AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES OF WAVING BRANCHES
BEFORE THE LORD. THEN LATER, WHEN THE PSALM WAS USED IN ALL THE FEASTS,
THIS PART OF VERSE 27 BECAME SIMPLY AN EXPRESSION IN THE HYMN WITHOUT
BOUGHS LITERALLY BEING IN PEOPLE’S HANDS. BUT THE PEOPLE IN JESUS’ DAY KNEW
THAT HE CLAIMED TO BE THE MESSIAH, AND THAT THIS PSALM SPOKE OF THE COMING
ONE. SO, THEY APPROPRIATED ITS MESSAGE FOR THE OCCASION. JESUS IDENTIFIED
HIMSELF AS THE STONE WHO WOULD BRING SALVATION TO THOSE WHO PRAYED TO
HIM, “SAVE US.”

ACTS 4:1-21
THE PRIESTS AND THE CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE GUARD AND THE SADDUCEES CAME
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UP TO PETER AND JOHN WHILE THEY WERE SPEAKING TO THE PEOPLE. THEY WERE
GREATLY DISTURBED BECAUSE THE APOSTLES WERE TEACHING THE PEOPLE,
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PROCLAIMING IN JESUS THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. THEY SEIZED PETER AND
JOHN AND, BECAUSE IT WAS EVENING, THEY PUT THEM IN JAIL UNTIL THE NEXT
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DAY. BUT MANY WHO HEARD THE MESSAGE BELIEVED; SO, THE NUMBER OF MEN
WHO BELIEVED GREW TO ABOUT FIVE THOUSAND.
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THE NEXT DAY THE RULERS, THE ELDERS AND THE TEACHERS OF THE LAW MET IN
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JERUSALEM. ANNAS THE HIGH PRIEST WAS THERE, AND SO WERE CAIAPHAS, JOHN,
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ALEXANDER AND OTHERS OF THE HIGH PRIEST’S FAMILY. THEY HAD PETER AND
JOHN BROUGHT BEFORE THEM AND BEGAN TO QUESTION THEM: “BY WHAT POWER OR
WHAT NAME DID YOU DO THIS?”
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THEN PETER, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, SAID TO THEM: “RULERS AND ELDERS
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OF THE PEOPLE! IF WE ARE BEING CALLED TO ACCOUNT TODAY FOR AN ACT OF
KINDNESS SHOWN TO A MAN WHO WAS LAME AND ARE BEING ASKED HOW HE WAS
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HEALED, THEN KNOW THIS, YOU AND ALL THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL: IT IS BY THE NAME
OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH, WHOM YOU CRUCIFIED BUT WHOM GOD RAISED
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FROM THE DEAD, THAT THIS MAN STANDS BEFORE YOU HEALED. JESUS IS…

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“‘THE STONE YOU BUILDERS REJECTED,

WHICH HAS BECOME THE CORNERSTONE.’
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SALVATION IS FOUND IN NO ONE ELSE, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER
HEAVEN GIVEN TO MANKIND BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED.”
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WHEN THEY SAW THE COURAGE OF PETER AND JOHN AND REALIZED THAT THEY
WERE UNSCHOOLED, ORDINARY MEN, THEY WERE ASTONISHED, AND THEY TOOK
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NOTE THAT THESE MEN HAD BEEN WITH JESUS. BUT SINCE THEY COULD SEE THE
MAN WHO HAD BEEN HEALED STANDING THERE WITH THEM, THERE WAS NOTHING
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THEY COULD SAY. SO THEY ORDERED THEM TO WITHDRAW FROM THE
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SANHEDRIN AND THEN CONFERRED TOGETHER. “WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH
THESE MEN?” THEY ASKED. “EVERYONE LIVING IN JERUSALEM KNOWS THEY HAVE
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PERFORMED A NOTABLE SIGN, AND WE CANNOT DENY IT. BUT TO STOP THIS THING
FROM SPREADING ANY FURTHER AMONG THE PEOPLE, WE MUST WARN THEM TO
SPEAK NO LONGER TO ANYONE IN THIS NAME.”
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THEN THEY CALLED THEM IN AGAIN AND COMMANDED THEM NOT TO SPEAK OR
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TEACH AT ALL IN THE NAME OF JESUS. BUT PETER AND JOHN REPLIED, “WHICH IS
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RIGHT IN GOD’S EYES: TO LISTEN TO YOU, OR TO HIM? YOU BE THE JUDGES! AS FOR
US, WE CANNOT HELP SPEAKING ABOUT WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD.”
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AFTER FURTHER THREATS THEY LET THEM GO. THEY COULD NOT DECIDE HOW TO
PUNISH THEM, BECAUSE ALL THE PEOPLE WERE PRAISING GOD FOR WHAT HAD
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HAPPENED. FOR THE MAN WHO WAS MIRACULOUSLY HEALED WAS OVER FORTY
YEARS OLD.
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CONTEXT FOR PSALM 118:22

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THE IMAGE COMES FROM THE ANCIENT QUARRIES WHERE HIGHLY TRAINED
STONEMASONS CAREFULLY CHOSE THE STONES USED IN CONSTRUCTION. NO STONE
WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE CORNERSTONE BECAUSE THE INTEGRITY OF THE
WHOLE STRUCTURE DEPENDED ON THE CORNERSTONE CONTAINING EXACTLY THE
RIGHT LINES. IF THE CORNERSTONE WAS NOT EXACTLY RIGHT, THE ENTIRE BUILDING
WOULD BE OUT OF LINE. FOR THAT REASON, BUILDERS INSPECTED MANY STONES,
REJECTING EACH ONE UNTIL THEY FOUND THE ONE THEY WANTED. REJECTED STONES
MIGHT BE USED IN OTHER PARTS OF THE BUILDING, BUT THEY WOULD NEVER BECOME
THE CORNERSTONE OR THE CAPSTONE (THE FIRST AND LAST STONES PUT IN PLACE).
WHEN PETER PREACHED TO THE JEWISH LEADERS IN ACTS 4:8–12, HE QUOTED PSALM
118:22 TO SHOW THAT JESUS IS THE REJECTED STONE WHOM GOD MADE TO BE THE
CORNERSTONE OF SALVATION. THEY (THE JEWISH LEADERS) REJECTED HIM, BUT GOD
NOT ONLY ACCEPTED HIM BUT PUT HIM IN THE POSITION OF HIGHEST HONOR.
PETER PRESSED THE POINT HOME WITH THIS POWERFUL CONCLUSION: “SALVATION IS
FOUND IN NO ONE ELSE, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN TO
MEN BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED" (ACTS 4:12).
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ISAIAH 28:16-17:
SO, THIS IS WHAT THE SOVEREIGN LORD SAYS:
“SEE, I LAY A STONE IN ZION, A TESTED STONE,
A PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE FOR A SURE FOUNDATION;
THE ONE WHO RELIES ON IT
WILL NEVER BE STRICKEN WITH PANIC.

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I WILL MAKE JUSTICE THE MEASURING LINE
AND RIGHTEOUSNESS THE PLUMB LINE;
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ZECHARIAH 4:10:
FOR WHO HAS DESPISED THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS? BUT THESE SEVEN WILL BE
GLAD WHEN THEY SEE THE PLUMB LINE IN THE HAND OF ZERUBBABEL—THESE
ARE THE EYES OF THE LORD WHICH RANGE TO AND FRO THROUGHOUT THE EARTH.”
ZERUBBABEL WAS THE GOVERNOR OF A PROVINCE IN JUDAH. HE WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR THE NEW TEMPLE. WHEN HE LAID THE
FOUNDATION, IT STARTED WITH THE CORNERSTONE. THE PLUMB LINE WAS HELD UP TO
MAKE SURE THE FOUNDATION WAS LEVEL.
- WHEN THE FOUNDATION WAS COMPLETED, THE PEOPLE REJOICED.

- WHEN HE HELD UP THE PLUMB LINE, THE SPIRIT OF GOD REJOICED.

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ISAIAH 11:2
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD WILL REST ON HIM,
THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING,
THE SPIRIT OF COUNSEL AND STRENGTH,
THE SPIRIT OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE FEAR OF THE LORD.

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