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Temple Cleansed Again
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they had pronounced their own condemnation. As the vinedressers
were to return to the owner a due proportion of the vineyard’s fruits,
so God’s people were to honor Him by a life that reflected their
sacred privileges. But as the vinedressers had killed the servants
whom the owner sent to them for fruit, so the Jews had put to death
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the prophets whom God sent to call them to repentance.
Up to that point no one could question the parable’s application,
and in what followed it was just as clear. In the beloved son whom
the vineyard’s owner finally sent to his disobedient servants, and
whom they seized and killed, the priests and rulers saw a distinct
picture of Jesus and His approaching fate. The punishment inflicted
on the ungrateful vinedressers portrayed the doom of those who
would put Christ to death.
The Strange Stone That Prefigured Christ
Looking at them with pity, the Savior continued, “Have you
never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes?’
“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from
you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls
on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind
him to powder.”
The Jews had often repeated this prophecy in the synagogues,
applying it to the coming Messiah. Christ was the Cornerstone of
the Jewish system and of the whole plan of salvation. The Jewish
builders were now rejecting this Foundation Stone. By every means
in His power, the Savior tried to make plain the nature of the deed
they were about to do. His warnings would seal their doom if they
failed to bring them to repentance. He intended to show them God’s
justice in withdrawing their national privileges, which would end
not only in the destruction of their temple and their city, but in the
scattering of the nation among the Gentiles.