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

 

 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."  And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

 

- Luke 20:9-19 

 

On Saturday we read that it happened on one of those days, as Jesus 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.  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!"   My study Bible has quite a long note about this parable.  It tells us that the man represents God the Father, and the vineyard refers to God's people.  The vinedressers are the religious leaders of the Jews entrusted to care for the people.  Each servant sent by the owner stands for an Old Testament prophet who comes to call people back to God, while the beloved son is a reference to Christ Himself.  When the Son is cast out of the vineyard to be killed, it is understood on two levels.  First, that Jesus was killed outside of Jerusalem (Golgotha was outside of the city walls); and second, that Jesus was crucified by foreign soldiers, not by those of His own "vineyard."  The others who later receive the vineyard are the Gentiles brought into the Church. 

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."  And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.  Jesus quotes from Psalm 118:22.  That stone is Christ (see also Isaiah 28:16).  My study Bible comments that, according to St. John Chrysostom, this saying illustrates the two ways of destruction.  Those who fall on the stone are people who suffer the effects of their own sins while they are yet in this life.  But those on whom the stone falls are the unrepentant who become powder in the final judgment.  

I always find St. John Chrysostom's explanation about Jesus' remark regarding the stone in Psalm 118:22 to be both intriguing and wise.  Jesus says, "Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  St. Chrysostom tells us, as my study Bible explained, that those who fall on the stone are people who suffer the effects of their own sins while still living in this life.  Those upon whom the stone falls are the unrepentant, who become powder in the final judgment.  While for many people, even the idea of judgment is frightening and unthinkable, what we have to consider is really not a punitive aspect to judgment.  Despite the long history of warnings designed to sober us to the reality of our lives and God's presence, judgment really should not be thought of in terms of punitive action designed to create suffering or even retribution.  We must first of all understand God's nature as love, and we must secondly understand judgment as simply the failure to sustain life within the embrace of God's love.  That is, we learn to participate and commune in the energies of God, we grow in prayer, we seek the life we are led to live, and in this way grow within that embrace.   In our own lives, there may be times when we realize our errors.  It is easy to understand that all of us are imperfect.  Sometimes we suffer from our own mistakes, other times we might suffer from the mistakes or sins of others.  But nevertheless, either way, life is a long learning curve.  We hopefully seek to learn wisdom with love, and that is indeed the real journey of faith.  As faithful, we seek to discern what's good and what's not, to understand the love of God and live in accordance with that.  I really can't say how many times I have stumbled on that stone from the effects of my own mistakes, knowingly and unknowingly.  But each time it has been a learning journey.  I had to figure out a deeper way to live my life, with hopefully more wisdom and discernment, and especially awareness of my own mistakes in thinking, and also understanding the world around myself.  But to continue in the ways that are harmful, either to myself or others, takes me further outside of the love of God, and at some point becomes a refusal to take in or to understand that love and accept it and its teaching for me.  We have to understand that it really doesn't matter how far we've gone down that road, we always have a chance to turn around and listen, or at least reconsider some of the things we believe that we've been basing our behavior on.  We always have a chance in prayer to turn to God and seek a better understanding of our lives and how to live them, and especially the choices we've made that we need to reconsider, or the things we'd be better off to let go.  Learning how to forgive, for example, is a pretty powerful structure to build up within ourselves, and learning how to understand forgiveness within the context of God's love essential to acceptance.  We are not on our own.  There is help available.  And there is always One who loves us, and saints of infinite number to whom to turn for help in prayer.  If we but consider these realities, we have to understand that the "powder" that results from the falling of this stone is a product of a great deal of rejection and deliberate spurning of what is available to us, a great obstinacy indeed -- even a marked preference for what is not good.  The behaviors that we call evil in this world:  abuse, coercion, murder, lies, manipulation, a hatred for the truth, an impulse for self-destruction, even self-hatred -- all of these things may be repented of and result in seeking a different way; or, they can simply be the stones in the road we follow and continue to mark out in our lives.  If we're going to understand Christ's words properly, we're going to have to understand the love that is even in this warning, because that is what it truly is.  Jesus seeks to warn these religious leaders about the path that they are following in their rejection of Him and the other behaviors He names throughout the Gospels which harm and destroy those who are in their charge, whom they are supposed to lead to God's love.  In this warning is also love, an attempt to save, to open their eyes to reconsideration.  Let us not forget that there are in the Gospels those members of the ruling Council who are followers of Jesus, and who will show a great courage in openly doing so.  This is not a question of what "side" anyone is on in worldly terms.  This is a question of the heart, for God alone can judge that, and we can't know that fully about anyone.  Let us remember His teaching and warning for ourselves, and understand the loving and forgiving God who teaches it.