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Living Stones

Pastor Jeremy Schultz
May 22, 2011

If we were to think of the most popular metaphors that the Bible uses to describe Jesus, we'd have a quite a list. Without question, we'd think of Jesus as The Bread of Life, The Alpha and The Omega, The True Vine and of course, The Good Shepherd. But Peter, among the closest of our Lord's disciples uses none of these when describing Him. Rather, Peter's favorite thing to call Jesus is The Cornerstone.

In our day and age, we don't think much about cornerstones because most of our houses don't have one. We have poured concrete foundations and studded walls. But in 1st century Israel, the primary building material was stone. And the most important stone in the whole house was the cornerstone. The cornerstone was the first stone to be laid. It became the foundation upon which all the other stones were set. The cornerstone had to be perfect and set just so because if it was off, even just a little bit, then the whole building was off, as anyone who has every built a house can appreciate. And so this is what Peter calls Jesus more than once in the Bible, but certainly here in our text when he says, “The Stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. The Lord has done this and it is precious in our eyes.”

There's an old Jewish legend that says when the Temple of Solomon was being built, the stone masons sent a stone up from the quarry that was different in size and shape from all the rest. Looking at it, the builders said: “There is no place for this one. There must be some mistake.” So they rolled it down the edge of the cliff into the Kidron Valley. As time went on (for it took them several years to build the Temple), they realized that they had never put into place the chief cornerstone. So they asked the stone masons for it, but when they did they were told, “We sent that up to you long ago.” One of the workmen said: “Oh I remember it now. There was a stone that was sent and it was altogether different from the rest, and we thought there was no place for it and so we rolled it down to the valley.” So some workers were sent down to the valley to find the stone. And when they found it, the stone was brought up and it fitted perfectly into its place - the headstone of the corner.

Peter tells us that Jesus Christ is the stone that the builders rejected. He was rejected by the Jews because He didn't fit what they were looking for in a Messiah. He was rejected by the Gentiles because they crucified Him on Calvary. When Jesus took the sins of the world upon Himself, even His own Father rejected him, at least for a little while. But because Jesus was the sinless Son of God and won salvation for all mankind, God raised Him from the dead and placed Him as the Cornerstone. Jesus is the foundation upon which the whole church is built! Jesus is the foundational cornerstone that has absolutely no flaw. He is perfectly placed and positioned so that upon Him you can build your whole life!

The Bible says that as you come to Him, the Living Stone, chosen and precious, you also, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house, acceptable to God. Now just as a master builder knows how to cut from a quarry and haul stones into place. And just as he knows how to shape a stone by chipping away and chiseling it down until it fits just so, so also Jesus knows just what it takes to fashion you into living stones that can be built into a spiritual house.

About three miles outside of Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, is the town of Zippori. When Jesus was a boy, this town underwent a major reconstruction. Between Nazareth and Zippori was a large quarry from which the rocks were cut to aid in the construction. A large number of tektons, or stone masons, quarried rock from that site and chiseled away at the stone when it was brought to Zippori. In the Bible, Jesus' father is called a tekton. It doesn't mean that he never used wood, it just means that what we think of when we say “carpenter” is different in a culture where stone was plentiful and wood was scarce.

Isaiah 51 says, remember the quarry from which you were cut and the stone from which you were hewn. Remember Abraham your father and Sarah who gave birth to you. The image of the Bible is that God has quarried us out of the same great rock as all the rest who belong to Him. And we are being built, as living stones, upon that great foundation of Jesus Christ. And we are built into a spiritual house for Him. Imagine the strong and loving touch of the Master Tekton as He holds you in His hands and carefully shapes you into the perfect size and fit known only to Him. Imagine Jesus placing you securely home, in your specific place, in God's great spiritual house.

When Herod's Temple was built in the days of Jesus, some 2 million stones were used. Now get this. Some of the heaviest ones weighed some 500-ton! They were beveled on the end - shaped according to the fashion of Herod the Great. They were so perfectly set into place that not even a slip of paper could be slid in between them. The Temple reached 15 stories to the sky. The stone was overlaid in gold. If someone wanted to meet God in those days, there was only one place to go. It was to the Temple in Jerusalem. But that's not the case anymore. If someone wants to meet God today, they do not need to go to the Western Wall. For God has spread out His Spiritual House all across the globe. It's you! If someone wants to meet God, they just have to go to their nearest Christian neighbor. For you are living stones, built upon Him who is the chief cornerstone, built into a spiritual house for God. That's who you are.

And this is what you do. You declare the Excellencies of Him, who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. What this means is that you as living stones are living advertisements of God's wonders and grace. Even as Jesus was a living testament to the work of God. Think about it. Everything He did was to show the Father's love. Every time He touched people to heal them. Every time He taught the crowds. Each time He filled their bellies and forgave their sins, Jesus showed the Father. In the same way, you as living stones advertize His praise! Stones have always had this function.

There is an ancient site in Israel called Geezer. So next time you think that someone's just an old Geezer, you can remember that there is a very important Biblical site with that name. And it's old! It was inhabited already about 3,000 years before Christ. It's ancient. And it was important because it stood at the crossroads of not one, but two major trade routes in the Ancient Near East. Geezer's ability therefore to influence that culture of the day was huge! Now when God brought His people into the Promised Land, we're told that the Israelites did not completely dislodge the Canaanites from this town. Instead, the Israelites themselves lived in the foothills while the Canaanites kept the foot hold in Gezer.

Some years ago, these stones were unearthed during some excavations. They are known as the Gezer stones. They were markers that were set up to signify that something important had taken place. Maybe it was a battle. Or maybe it was a treaty. They were monuments that signified that something great took place! They're huge and they've been standing for millennia! Though today, no one knows what exactly they mean. You see, these are dead stones. They don't speak any more. They don't communicate what transpired. They're dead. But you are alive! You are living stones. And you do speak. You do advertize. You do proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light!

You are living stones. Living advertisements of God's work in Christ. Wherever you are. Wherever you go, you carry Christ with you before the world. Remember the quarry from which you were hewn and the stone from which you were cut. Remember the foundation of Christ that has been laid. And don't shrink back. Don't go off into the foothills while others inhabit the land. But be the people of God! Advertize His Excellencies! Declare His praise! For you are not dead, but are alive! Live then as living stones! Amen.