The Cornerstone
Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: The Cornerstone
Keyword:
“cornerstone”
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Passage: Mark 12:1-12*
1. Then He began to speak to them [the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders – Mark 11:27] in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.
2. "Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.
3. "And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
4. "Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.
5. "And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.
6. "Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
7. "But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
8. "So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.
9. "Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.
10. "Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
11. This was the LORD'S doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
12. And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.
Questions
1. The cornerstone in building is the first stone that sets the boundaries for all other stones. If you were going to build a small hut, what size cornerstone would you need? If you were going to build a cathedral, what size would you need?
2. As you work out in your mind the dimensions of stones you would need to build certain structures, what sort of cornerstone best supports a life? What sort of cornerstone best supports a church?
Practical help
The rulers of Jesus’ day would have been familiar with Isaiah 28:16.
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.
Obviously here is a warning not to throw away Jesus too quickly. And for believers, when we think of what we are doing day by day, we should consider our actions in light of this cornerstone. In other words, the life and words of Jesus should be foundational to our way of thinking about life and result in actions that honor Him.
Peter, standing up on the day of Pentecost, boldly declared to the people who had crucified Jesus "This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone." (Acts 4:11). Remember that Peter was there in the Temple that day when Jesus told his parable to the Jewish leaders.
Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Ephesus “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Jesus as a cornerstone becomes either a person’s foundation for living or the unbreakable impediment in their way. If you need to know more, click here.
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*"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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