The Stone the Builders Rejected

Psalm 118 contains a verse that Jesus Himself would later use to describe what was happening to Him:

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”

The picture is simple. Builders would examine stones and decide which ones belonged in the structure and which ones did not. A stone could be rejected because it didn't seem useful or important.

But the stone they rejected could turn out to be the most important stone of all.

Jesus used this picture when speaking to religious leaders who were rejecting Him. They thought they knew what God's Messiah should look like. They had their expectations, their traditions, and their understanding of Scripture.

But they didn't recognize the One standing before them.

The stone they rejected would become the cornerstone.

They Were Looking for the Wrong Kind of King

By the time Jesus came, God's people were longing for deliverance. They were living under Roman rule and waiting for the promised Messiah.

They knew the Old Testament promises about a coming King.

They knew God had promised David that his throne would have an everlasting kingdom.

They knew the prophets had spoken of a Savior.

But many expected Jesus to look like the kind of king they understood.

They wanted someone who would conquer Rome.

Jesus came to conquer sin.

They wanted political freedom.

Jesus came to bring freedom that reaches far deeper.

They wanted a kingdom they could see.

Jesus came proclaiming the kingdom of God.

The problem wasn't that Jesus failed to be the King.

The problem was that He was a different kind of King than many were willing to receive.

The King Who Came Humbly

Zechariah had already given Israel another glimpse of the coming King:

“Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey.”
Zechariah 9:9

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, He fulfilled these words.

He didn't arrive on a war horse surrounded by soldiers.

He rode on a donkey.

He came humbly.

And yet the crowds cried out:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

For a moment, they recognized something.

But recognition can be shallow when we want Jesus to fit our expectations.

Some welcomed Him because they hoped He would become the kind of king they wanted.

Others would soon reject Him.

The same city that celebrated His arrival would soon witness His crucifixion.

The King had come, but He wasn't the King they expected.

A Cornerstone

A cornerstone was foundational. It helped establish the structure and alignment of a building.

Jesus used this imagery because He wasn't simply another teacher, prophet, or religious leader.

He was the foundation.

Everything was pointing toward Him.

The promises were pointing toward Him.

The sacrifices were pointing toward Him.

The prophecies were pointing toward Him.

The law, the prophets, the stories, and the promises were all preparing God's people for the Messiah.

And now the Messiah had come.

But He was rejected.

Isaiah had already warned that this would happen.

“He is despised and rejected by men.” Isaiah 53:3

What we studied last week in Isaiah 53 now connects beautifully with Psalm 118.

The rejected Servant.

The rejected Stone.

The suffering Savior.

The coming King.

These aren't separate stories.

They are echoes of the same Person.

Jesus.

The Stone Becomes the Cornerstone

There is something powerful about the wording of Psalm 118.

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.”

The rejection wasn't the end of the story.

The cross wasn't the end.

The grave wasn't the end.

Jesus was rejected, crucified, and buried.

But He rose again.

The One they rejected became the cornerstone.

What looked like defeat became victory.

What looked like the end became the beginning of something new.

And Peter later preached about this very truth after the resurrection:

“This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’” Acts 4:11

The disciples understood what the religious leaders had missed.

Jesus was the stone.

Jesus was the Messiah.

Jesus was the One Scripture had been pointing toward all along.

The King They Didn't Recognize

One of the saddest parts of Jesus' story is that some of the people who knew Scripture best failed to recognize the One Scripture was describing.

They had the words.

They knew the prophecies.

They studied the law.

And yet they missed Jesus.

That should cause us to pause.

It is possible to know about God and still miss what He is doing.

It is possible to know Scripture and still resist the One Scripture reveals.

It is possible to become so attached to our expectations that we fail to recognize Jesus when He doesn't fit them.

The religious leaders weren't necessarily looking for the wrong thing. They were looking for the Messiah.

They simply weren't willing to receive Him on His terms.

And perhaps that is a question worth asking ourselves.

Are we willing to follow Jesus as He is, or only as we want Him to be?

When Jesus Doesn't Look Like We Expected

Sometimes we can do the same thing.

We pray for God to move, but we already have an idea of what His answer should look like.

We ask Him to lead us, but we want Him to lead us down the road we've already chosen.

We ask for His will, but secretly hope His will looks exactly like ours.

And when it doesn't, we can become disappointed.

But Jesus doesn't change to fit our expectations.

He is still King.

He is still Lord.

And He is still worthy of our surrender even when we don't understand what He is doing.

The people in Jesus' day wanted a King who would change their circumstances.

Jesus came to change their hearts.

And He still does that today.

The King Is Worth Following

Jesus never promised that following Him would mean getting everything we want.

He called people to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him.

That is not always the message we want to hear.

But it is the message that leads to life.

The rejected Stone became the cornerstone.

The suffering Servant became the risen King.

The One who was mocked was given the name above every name.

Philippians 2:8–11 tells us that Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And because of His obedience, God highly exalted Him.

The cross and the crown belong to the same King.

Jesus did not have to choose between suffering and reigning.

His suffering was part of the path to His victory.

From Rejection to Redemption

When we look back over this series, the picture continues to come together.

In Eden, God promised that the serpent would be crushed.

On the mountain, God provided a substitute.

In Egypt, the blood of the lamb brought deliverance.

In the wilderness, the people looked and lived.

Isaiah told us about the Servant who would be wounded for our sin.

The prophets told us about the Child who would come and the King who would reign.

And now Psalm 118 shows us the Stone that would be rejected but would become the cornerstone.

Every path keeps leading us to Jesus.

He wasn't an afterthought.

He wasn't a surprise.

He was the fulfillment.

What If We Miss Him?

The story of the rejected Stone isn't just about the people who lived two thousand years ago.

It asks something of us, too.

Have we recognized Jesus for who He really is?

Not simply a good teacher.

Not simply a man in history.

Not simply someone we talk about at church.

He is the King.

He is the cornerstone.

He is the Savior.

And He is worthy of more than admiration.

He is worthy of surrender.

Sometimes Jesus may ask us to trust Him when we don't understand. Sometimes following Him will require us to lay down our plans, our pride, our comfort, or our expectations.

But the King who asks us to follow Him is the same King who gave Himself for us.

He isn't asking us to trust a stranger.

He has already shown us His love.

The Echo Continues

Psalm 118 gives us another piece of the picture.

The stone was rejected.

But God wasn't finished with the stone.

Jesus was rejected.

But God wasn't finished with Jesus.

The cross looked like defeat.

The tomb looked like the end.

But on the third day, everything changed.

The rejected Stone became the cornerstone.

And the King they didn't recognize became the risen King we worship today.

The echoes have been building throughout Scripture, and now we are almost at the end of our journey.

We've seen promises.

We've seen pictures.

We've seen sacrifices.

We've seen prophecies.

And all of them have been pointing toward the same Person.

Jesus.

The King who came.

The Savior who suffered.

The Stone who was rejected.

The Cornerstone who now stands forever.

Reflection

Take some time today to read Psalm 118:22–24 and ask yourself: Have I ever tried to make Jesus fit my expectations?

Are there areas of my life where I want Him to be my Savior, but struggle to let Him be my King?

Ask God to give you eyes to see Jesus clearly and a heart willing to follow Him, even when His ways don't look like what you expected.

The people of Jesus' day had to decide what they would do with the Stone standing before them.

So do we.