The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone

"Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."

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'?

"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."

Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

- Matthew 21:33-46

Yesterday, we read that when Jesus came into the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things?  And who gave You this authority?"  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  The baptism of John -- where was it from?  From heaven or from men?"  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  "But what do you think?  A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  Then he came to the second and said likewise.  And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?"  They said to Him, "The first."  Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him."

 "Hear another parable:  There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower.  And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.  Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit.  And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them.  Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'  But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir.  Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'  So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.  Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?"  They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons."   My study bible explains that in this parable, the landowner represents God the Father, while the vineyard refers to God's people.  The vinedressers are the leaders of the Jews who have been entrusted to care for the people.  Every servant that is sent by the landowner is meant to be an Old Testament prophet who comes to call people back to God, and the son is Christ Himself.   When the son is cast out of the vineyard and killed, this has traditionally been understood on two levels:  (1)  Jesus was killed outside of Jerusalem (Golgotha was outside the city walls), and that Jesus was crucified by foreign soldiers, not by those of His own "vineyard."  Those other vinedressers who later receive the vineyard represent the Gentiles brought into the Church.  In the telling of the parable, Jesus again confounds the questioners (see yesterday's reading), as, in effect, they convict themselves by their answer to His last question, "What will he do to those vinedressers?"

 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'?  Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.  And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.  But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary here, which teaches that this saying illustrates the two ways of destruction.  The people falling on the stone are those who suffer the consequences of their own sins while they are still in this world; but those on whom the stone falls are the unrepentant at the final judgment.

It's interesting to consider the perspective of St. John Chrysostom, regarding those who stumble upon the stone and are broken in our worldly lives.  In comparison to those who remain unrepentant, it is much better to stumble and be "broken" in this world than to go to final Judgment without repenting of anything.  This way of thinking, it seems to me, is in great contrast to most ways we tend to think in our modern world.  It seems to me rare, and in some sense contrary to popular culture, when we are grateful for having been "broken" in some way, for having "failed" at something.  In an earlier reading, when Jesus told the parable of the wicked servant in a teaching about forgiveness, my study bible cited the spiritual interpretation by Church Fathers, that the wife and children represented the body and the deeds of a person, the man the soul. In effect, it said, "the body and the deeds are given over to slavery (in this world), that is to Satan, so that the soul might possibly be saved."  It cites 1 Corinthians 5:5, in which St. Paul says to "deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."  I can't speak for everything that might be included in these words.  But I can say that perhaps our image of the perfect life really isn't the perfect life after all.  We might think a perfect life is carefree, with all great successes and no defeats, where nothing ever "goes wrong" and life is easy and simple.  But if you look around yourself, you just may find that those who have what is apparently a simple and easy life, so that they maintain a kind of control in which they are never led to question themselves at all, really aren't all that spiritually well-off.  They may be confused and frustrated because they don't understand why some things (like relationships) eventually do go wrong somehow.  To never stumble is perhaps to never discover the flaws inside of ourselves that we aren't aware of, and thereby never address them.  The chance to repent is, in fact, the chance to grow up, to mature spiritually, to learn "good judgment."  In this sense, we may find ourselves stumbling even when our faith is strong -- in my life I believe that has been God's way to show me what I need to change and be aware of inside myself.  That "plank in our own eye"  is something we may not even be aware of -- if we stumble and are "broken" then we stand a chance of at least becoming aware, and maturing and growing, repenting.  In the great race of material success, where no failure ever happens that can possibly be good, we may simply lose the point of our spiritual well-being.  But there is a much bigger race out there.  The ancient Greeks had a saying for it, so old no one knows who originated the phrase.  It remained engraved on monastery doors in the Christian tradition:  "Know thyself."  Sometimes a failure is a blessing in disguise.