The Rejected Stone — September 17 [Description]Overview of the Passages:Matthew 21:42-46, Mark 12:10-12, and Luke 20:17-19 all recount the same moment in Jesus’ ministry, each highlighting His confrontation with the religious leaders using the metaphor of the “stone the builders rejected.” Here’s the key breakdown:- Jesus quotes Psalms 118:22: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”- This is a bold claim: He is that cornerstone—rejected by the religious leaders but chosen by God to be the foundation of salvation.- The Jewish leaders realize Jesus is referring to them as the rejecting “builders.” They’re offended and want to arrest Him—but they don’t, fearing the public’s reaction.These passages are a powerful reminder that human rejection doesn’t cancel divine purpose, and they challenge readers to ask: Am I building my life around the Cornerstone—or rejecting Him like the builders did?Brief and Specific Overview of the Passage:This passage contrasts two responses to Christ: for those who believe, He is a secure and tested foundation—a place of rest, safety, and strength. For those who reject Him, He becomes a stumbling block that ultimately leads to destruction. Drawing from Isaiah and 1Peter, the text explains that Christ is the cornerstone chosen by God—a “tried stone” who has withstood every test and can carry the burdens of all humanity. Believers become “living stones,” built on Him through faith and obedience. But for those who reject Him, especially through disobedience or self-righteousness, He becomes a rock of offense. The Jewish rejection of Jesus is used as a warning for every generation: despising God’s mercy leads not only to temporal ruin but eternal loss. 365D 260

Bible discovery 365D 260

Matthew 21:42-46 365D 260.1

42 Jesus said to them, “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’? 365D 260.2

43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 365D 260.3

44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” 365D 260.4

45 Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they ^[h]knew perceived that He was speaking of them. 365D 260.5

46 But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet. 365D 260.6

Mark 12:10-12 365D 260.7

10 Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 365D 260.8

11 This was the Lord ’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?” 365D 260.9

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. 365D 260.10

Luke 20:17-19 365D 260.11

17 Then He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone’? 365D 260.12

18 Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” 365D 260.13

19 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they ^{[d]M were afraid—for} feared the people—for they knew He had spoken this parable against them. 365D 260.14

Spirit of Prophecy Reading 365D 260

The Desire of Ages pp.598-600: 365D 260.15

“Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.” Carried down in prophetic vision to the first advent, the prophet is shown that Christ is to bear trials and tests of which the treatment of the chief cornerstone in the temple of Solomon was symbolic. “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” Isaiah 8:13-15; 28:16. 365D 260.16

In infinite wisdom, God chose the foundation stone, and laid it Himself. He called it “a sure foundation.” The entire world may lay upon it their burdens and griefs; it can endure them all. With perfect safety they may build upon it. Christ is a “tried stone.” Those who trust in Him, He never disappoints. He has borne every test. He has endured the pressure of Adam’s guilt, and the guilt of his posterity, and has come off more than conqueror of the powers of evil. He has borne the burdens cast upon Him by every repenting sinner. In Christ the guilty heart has found relief. He is the sure foundation. All who make Him their dependence rest in perfect security. 365D 260.17

“To them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,” Christ is a rock of offense. But “the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.” Like the rejected stone, Christ in His earthly mission had borne neglect and abuse. He was “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: ... He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.” Isaiah 53:3. But the time was near when He would be glorified. By the resurrection from the dead He would be declared “the Son of God with power.” Romans 1:4. At His second coming He would be revealed as Lord of heaven and earth. Those who were now about to crucify Him would recognize His greatness. Before the universe the rejected stone would become the head of the corner. 365D 260.18

And on “whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” The people who rejected Christ were soon to see their city and their nation destroyed. Their glory would be broken, and scattered as the dust before the wind. And what was it that destroyed the Jews? It was the rock which, had they built upon it, would have been their security. It was the goodness of God despised, the righteousness spurned, the mercy slighted. Men set themselves in opposition to God, and all that would have been their salvation was turned to their destruction. All that God ordained unto life they found to be unto death. In the Jews’ crucifixion of Christ was involved the destruction of Jerusalem. The blood shed upon Calvary was the weight that sank them to ruin for this world and for the world to come. So it will be in the great final day, when judgment shall fall upon the rejecters of God’s grace. Christ, their rock of offense, will then appear to them as an avenging mountain. The glory of His countenance, which to the righteous is life, will be to the wicked a consuming fire. Because of love rejected, grace despised, the sinner will be destroyed. 365D 260.19

By many illustrations and repeated warnings, Jesus showed what would be the result to the Jews of rejecting the Son of God. In these words He was addressing all in every age who refuse to receive Him as their Redeemer. Every warning is for them. The desecrated temple, the disobedient son, the false husbandmen, the contemptuous builders, have their counterpart in the experience of every sinner. Unless he repent, the doom which they foreshadowed will be his. 365D 260.20