2. Memory Text:
“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’? ”
Matthew 21:42,
CHRIST, THE CORNERSTONE
3. In Matthew 20:27, 28,
Jesus said, “ ‘And
whoever desires to
be first among you,
let him be your slave
—just as the Son of
Man did not come to
be served, but to
serve, and to give His life a
ransom for many’ ”
Here’s Jesus, the eternal God,
the One who created all things,
who lived the life of a servant here on earth, ministering to the
needs of the lost, the sick, the needy, many of whom still scorned
Him. Such self-denial, self-abnegation—we can hardly begin to
grasp it!
4. But as incomprehensible as His servanthood is, the marvel goes even
deeper, for He, the eternal God, is now facing the whole purpose of His
coming here: to “ ‘give His life a ransom for many.’ ” This self-denial,
this self-abnegation, will soon climax in a mystery that even “angels
desire to look into” 1 Pet. 1:12 —and that is the Cross.
5. This lesson looks at some of the major events and teachings of Jesus
as He came to Jerusalem, not to be crowned an earthly king, as so many
people had desired and hoped, but to be made “sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him” 2 Cor. 5:21, NKJV.
6. 1. A foreseen coming. Zechariah 9:9; Haggai 2:6-9.
A foreseen coming. Zechariah 9:9; Haggai 2:6-9.
The Desire of all nations. Matthew 21:12-17.
2. Moments of decision.
Either giving fruit or pretending to do. Matthew 21:18-22.
Either falling on the stone or being crushed. Matthew 21:33-46.
Putting on the wedding dress or our own one. Matthew 22:1-15.
Jesus fulfilled some messianic prophecies the previous days to His
crucifixion to make His mission clear. His last messages contained a
strong call to stop formalism and to make eternal life decisions.
7. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold,
your King is coming to you; He is just and
having salvation, lowly and riding on a
donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
(Zechariah 9:9)
“and I will shake all nations, and
they shall come to the Desire of
All Nations, and I will fill this
temple with glory,’ says the Lord
of hosts.” (Haggai 2:7)
When the people returned from Babylon and began to build the new Temple, many
of them cried because they compared it to Solomon’s Temple (Ezra 3:11-13).
God called to prophets—Haggai
and Zechariah—to proclaim the
glorious coming of the Messiah
to His city and His Temple.
Jesus would fill that place with
glory.
The goal of the Temple was to
teach that salvation would
come through Jesus. Now the
Savior was actually stepping on
its atrium.
8. “So the multitudes said, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet
from Nazareth of Galilee.’” (Matthew 21:11)
Jesus acted like the Messiah by sitting on a
donkey, being hailed with branches and
walking on the clothes. He was fulfilling
Zechariah’s prophecy. That was His first step
to the cross.
His followers wanted to rebel against Rome.
The leaders feared that.
The hopes of His followers were frustrated
and the leaders thought their government
was threatened.
Jesus showed himself to Israel as their true
King for the first time. The King of a spiritual
kingdom of grace.
9. “But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that
He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, ‘Hosanna
to the Son of David!’ they were indignant.” (Matthew 21:15)
Jesus took the shameful business of the money
changers away from the Temple. Then He did
“wonderful things” by healing and preaching. The
Desire filled that House with glory—thus fulfilling
Haggai’s prophecy.
The priests were the ones in charge of teaching
the people what the Temple’s rituals meant. Many
of them were afraid of losing their position as
stewards of the temple, so they actually lost the
fulfillment of those rituals, the salvation in Jesus.
They should be the ones rejoicing the most in Jesus
and in His work. Nevertheless, “they were indignant.”
10. “And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found
nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, ‘Let no fruit grow on
you ever again.’ Immediately the fig tree withered away.”
(Matthew 21:19)
A leafy fig tree must have offered big fruits,
although they might not be ripe. On the other
hand, the other trees in the garden that had no
leaves didn’t give false expectations. It was clear
that they had no fruits so they couldn’t disappoint
anyone. (Adapted from SDA Bible Commentary,
on Mark 11:13).
The fig tree symbolized the priests. They had
made the ministry in the Temple unfruitful.
Jesus wanted to awaken the consciences of the
leaders with this and other parables. Only some
of them answered that call (Acts 6:7).
11. “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on
whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” (Matthew 21:44)
Jesus told a parable about a vineyard
[Israel], a family man [God] and some
vinedressers [the leaders]. They killed the
servants that came to harvest [the
prophets] and they also killed his son
[Jesus].
“Now when the chief priests and Pharisees
heard His parables, they perceived that He
was speaking of them.” (Matthew 21:45).
Jesus used an old story related to the
construction of the Temple to introduce
Himself as “the stone which the builders
rejected” (Matthew 21:42).
Then He encouraged them to break their
pride on Him so they wouldn’t be
destroyed at His Coming.
12. “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who
arranged a marriage for his son.” (Matthew 22:2)
God has provided salvation to
everyone through the sacrifice of
Jesus, just like the king in that
parable did.
We can learn from the parable that
salvation is freely offered to
everyone. Nevertheless, the first to
hear the message didn’t want to
accept it.
God won’t force anyone to live
forever with Him unwillingly. Only
those willing to wear the “wedding
dress” (Christ’s righteousness) will
enjoy eternal life.
13. “The Lord God through Christ holds out
His hand all the day long in invitations to
the needy. He will receive all. He
welcomes all. He rejects none. It is His
glory to pardon the chief of sinners. He
will take the prey from the mighty, He
will deliver the captive, He will pluck the
brand from the burning. He will lower
the golden chain of His mercy to the
greatest depths of human wretchedness
and guilt and lift up the debased soul
contaminated with sin. But man must
will to come, and cooperate in the work
of saving his soul by availing himself of
opportunities given him of God. The Lord
forces no one. The spotless wedding robe
of Christ’s righteousness is prepared to
clothe the sinner, but if he refuses it he
must perish.”
E.G.W. (That I may know Him, August 17)
14. Further Thought:
The London newspaper headline read: “Woman dead in flat for three years:
skeleton of Joyce found on sofa with telly still on”
(http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/Oct/09/joyce-vincent-death-mystery-
documentary).
15. Dead for three years in a London
apartment, and no one missed her?
No one called to check on her? How
could this have happened,
especially in an era of almost
limitless communication? When the
story first broke, it made
international news, though people
in London were especially stunned.
How could she have been dead for
so long and no one knew about it?
Yet, without the hope and promise of
the gospel, and of the salvation that
was so costly to provide for us, we
are all doomed to the same oblivion
as the poor London woman.
16. But this situation is worse,
because there will be no
one to find us and even
lament over our demise
three years or even three
billion years after the fact.
The current scientific consensus is that sooner or later the entire
cosmos will peter out and die in what has been called “The Cosmic
Heat Death” or some happy appellation like that. What the Cross tells
us, however, is that this view is wrong; instead of eternal oblivion we
can have the promise of eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth.
With such an incredibly wonderful prospect ever before us, how can
we learn not to allow anyone or anything to stand in the way of our
getting what we have been offered in Jesus?
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