The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone

 Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.  Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him.  But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."  And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  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'?

Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

- Luke 20:9-18

In the readings of this week, Jesus is in Jerusalem.  It is the beginning of Passion Week.  He has already made His Triumphal Entry.   He wept over the city, lamenting its lack of peace.  His next act was to cleanse the temple, and then we are told He was teaching and preaching the gospel daily in the temple.  In yesterday's reading, He was confronted by the religious authorities.   Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things?  Or who is he who gave You this authority?"  But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me.  The baptism of John--was it from heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."  So they answered that they did not know where it was from.  And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

  Then He began to tell the people this parable:  "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time."  This isn't the first parable Jesus has told of a man with authority who goes away for a long time, leaving his servants in charge of his property and the other servants.  In last week's readings, we read a parable that began similarly which He told to His own disciples.   It was a parable about what is to happen as He goes away Himself, and in the times in which we now live, and await His return, how His servants are to use what He invests in them.  See Everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  We also read parables in the Gospels told to His disciples about those stewards or servants who are unjust and cruel with the other servants while the master is away.  But here the teaching is told to the leadership, the religious authorities of Israel, and to all the people in the temple.  So, we see a kind of parallel thread, because the history of Israel is also reflected in Jesus' ministry; He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets.

"Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.  But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?  I will send my beloved son.  Probably they will respect him when they see him."  My study bible says, "This parable recounts the history of Israel.  God the Father is the owner.  The vineyard is Israel.  The vinedressers are the religious leaders.  The servants are the prophets.  The beloved son is Jesus the Messiah."  In the history of Israel, time and again prophets have been sent, calling to repentance, protesting abuses.  The last of these, in the view of the Gospels, was John the Baptist.

"But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'  So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others."   My study bible teaches that the "others" are the Gentiles.  I think we can't discount the truth that is found in such parables, a kind of simple and straightforward truth that stares us in the face.  How simply human is it to think that if we "get rid" of our problems by abusing or destroying or silencing the messengers, the problems will go away unnoticed.  How typical of human or "worldly" nature is it to believe that with a manipulation of appearances, all things are taken care of?  The ultimate manipulation in this sense is murder.

"And when they heard it they said, "Certainly not!"  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'?  Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  In their response, "Certainly not!" they reveal that they understand perfectly well what Jesus is talking about, who and what He's speaking to.  It's a great example of what we now might call "entitlement" and which Jesus has addressed many times, as He taught that faith in who an ancestor is will not be sufficient to secure an eternal life in Paradise.  The quotation is from Psalm 118:22.  My study bible says that it refers to Christ, "the foundation stone rejected by the religious leaders, who becomes chief cornerstone of the Church."  About the final verse in today's reading, my study bible says, "To attack or resist Christ means to suffer judgment and utter destruction."

At this point in Luke's gospel, we read many things about judgment, about just judgment and false judgment, and about Christ who has been welcomed as Messiah and King, and who ultimately is the Judge who will return to us.  While it is Jesus they seek to put on trial, to condemn and to sentence to death, He remains, nevertheless, the Judge.  He is the chief cornerstone; "whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  He is the Center and the substance of faith and the history of Israel, through which the Word has been revealed in Scripture.  We, as Christians, read our Old Testament that way, and see the Word revealed in the countless stories of the Burning Bush, of Commandments and Prophets and the whole spiritual history of the People of God.  It is as Son He appears to us in the Gospels.  He is the Christ.  And so, though they seek to kill the son and heir, as in the parable, He is warning them about what they are doing, what they seek.  It is foolish, foolhardy.  He is the capstone, the chief cornerstone.  How often in our lives we seem to believe that if no one sees and no one knows, there will be no consequences.  In today's lectionary reading, there is also the verse from Psalm 10, that describes an evil person who preys on the innocent, poor and helpless:  "He says in his heart, 'God has forgotten,  he has hidden his face, he will never see it.' "  Today's reading assures us indeed that even though the Son Himself may be killed as a human being, the chief cornerstone will nevertheless fully function as Judge.  It's a question of what we tell ourselves no one else sees, no Judge can discern, because we fool ourselves by believing only in appearances.  In faith in only what we can see lies manipulation; truth becomes only what I tell you, what I show you, and what is hidden doesn't count.  But Christ is the knower-of-hearts, and His truth cuts through all things.  Without this awareness we become victims of our own ignorance, losing ourselves in power in a worldly sense.  We remember that He will teach (to His "Stone" Peter, even as Jesus is being defended), that "He who takes the sword perishes by the sword."  Do we have faith in death and manipulation, or in His word, His judgment?  We live to Him, to His life and His truth.  To be lost in the vision of the purely "worldly," and its lack of sight, is to risk losing ourselves and stumbling on that stone, being crushed by it, as we fail to see and to discern true judgment.  So, even as Jesus is being pursued to the end of this Passion Week and His human death, we are given a message that is as true today as it ever was.  How do we know what God sees?  By what do we live, and what do we put our faith in?  Let us remember this parable is told to the people, and that it is for all of us.