Introduction
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ
In this season when people tend to make Jesus small and remember him as a baby. My goal this morning is to get Jesus out of the manger and to show him to be the rock solid foundation of our faith.
This morning we remember the Child who was born in that cave we call a stable and was placed in a feeding trough that we often romantically refer to as a manger. The manger often conjurs up images like this one – like something out of a high school wood shop class.
Wood was not that plentiful in Israel in Jesus’ time and it was unlikely that a scarce building material like wood would be used for something as common as a manger. Do you know what was hugely plentiful in ancient Israel? Stone. There were rocks everywhere!
The manger more likely resembled this one and was probably carved out of stone. Stone was so much a part of the ancient Isaelites life, that it was often used as an illustration in Bible metaphors. Today’s scripture we are going to see stone used as a most unusual metaphor.
This morning I want to show you that our Savior is so glorious and so magnificent, that when we try to describe Him, our words often fail and our analogies are insufficient. Every analogy eventually falls apart because Christ, being God, is far more holy and glorious and superior than any one illustration or metaphor can contain.
As Peter is trying to help us grasp the glory and splendor of our Lord, he has already used 2 other word pictures to help us understand who Christ was. In 1 Peter 1:3, Jesus was called “Living Hope.” We understand that to mean simply that the followers of Jesus have their sins forgiven and the promise of eternal life with Him. He is our LIVING HOPE. Aren’t you glad that Jesus came?!
In 1 Peter 1:23, Jesus is described as the “living and abiding Word of God.” Peter goes on to explain that the new birth we received when we received Jesus as Lord never perishes. An eternal gift from an eternal God never fades away. The promises of a living and non-perishing God are set in stone.
As we approach 1 Peter 2:4, an unusual analogy was used to describe Jesus. He’s described as a living stone.
Jesus, Living Stone
Stones were used for building material in Jesus’ day. It’s commonly known that before his ministry, Jesus was a carpenter. The Greek word for carpenter was the word Tekton. Tekton can mean “one who works with his hands” (Ken Sousa). It can mean a woodworker, but a wooden house would be highly unusual in ancient Israel. Houses usually looked like this one (Show Pic) Tekton also referred to a stone mason. Many biblical scholars believe that Jesus and Joseph were probably skilled with carving stone and making stone structures.
As I think about a stone, I might describe it in a number of ways using color, texture, weight, temperature, etc). However, I would not describe it as alive. So what is Peter trying to communicate to us here when he calls Jesus a living stone?
Peter is acknowledging that stones don’t usually have life, but this stone is different. This rock is like no other rock you’ve ever seen. Jesus is a solid, foundational cornerstone – on which God can build his church and even if the gates of Hell try to attack this spiritual wall (this spiritual house), it will stand firm. But, it’s not a cold, dead stone, but a living stone.
Stones don’t usually have life, but this stone, Jesus, He’s alive. Here’s how He lives. Jesus was killed by men, but God raised Him from the dead. He is alive and he will remain alive forever. Romans 6:9 says that death does not have mastery over Jesus. This man, Jesus, who is the cornerstone or solid foundation stone of the church is not dead. He’s not cold. He’s not hard. He is a living stone. He has relationships with living people. Not only is He alive, but He gives life.
Jesus gives spiritual life to all who believe. Not only is he the living hope…not only is he the living word, but he is the living stone. He’s so vibrant (He’s so alive) in his life, that anyone in their stone cold spiritual death can come to the living stone and he’ll cause them to come alive. 1 John 5 11-12 says:
God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Peter explain here that we can become like living stone too. Here’s how. Anyone who receives Jesus by faith is brought from their own stone cold spiritual death to new life as a living stone in Jesus’ spiritual house. Lets look at 1 Peter 2: 4 and 5 again:
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
People who Jesus makes spiritually alive – people who are living stone in Jesus’ spiritual house – will have the best gifts of all: forgiveness of sin, peace with God and eternal life.
If God was trying to describe something that is not only alive, but the source of all physical and spiritual life, then why did he use the analogy of a stone? It seems like that takes a lot of explaining doesn’t it? Here’s why… Peter makes it clear that the stone is alive. Then, he wants to clearly communicate three huge truths:
#1 Living stones in Jesus’ spiritual house are shaped by God.
Stones were often gathered and designed and hewn and carved out very skillfully by Israeli carpenters. They were so exact in their skill, that some walls in Israel that are thousands of years old are still standing today. Look at this wall. It is believed that this wall was built during the time of Solomon – sometime around 1000 BC. It does not have any rebar or any mortar, but it was carved out so carefully that it has stood for over 3000 years.
When men in Jesus’ time set out to build a building, they would begin with the stones. They wanted the stones to fit perfectly together, so they would chisel away and shape and break that stone until they were a perfect fit – exactly suited for the role that stone would play in the construction of that building. That is a picture of how Jesus molds and shapes His disciples to supernaturally knit our hearts together to corporately build a spiritual house.
#2 Jesus is the foundation for the building of His church.
The most important stone of all was the cornerstone. The cornerstone is a picture of who Jesus is in the spiritual house (Show Picture) Here is the huge cornerstone that was set for the temple. Biblicalarcheology.org says it weighs about 80 tons.
The cornerstone set the lines for the whole building. It was important that the cornerstone was cut perfectly right. The perfection of the cornerstone maintained the perfect symmetry for the rest of the building. It was the plumb line in every direction. If any of the angles were off, the whole building would be off. If the vertical angles were not perfect, then the wall could collapse. Every angle of the cornerstone had to be absolutely perfect for the building to be solid.
Jesus is the Cornerstone that God chose to build his church upon. Jesus is the embodiment of perfection. The implication is that when we build our church and our lives on the cornerstone of Jesus, we will be able to withstand the attacks and storms of Life. Together, with Jesus as the cornerstone, we will build a rock-solid spiritual house. Jesus is a firm foundation to build our lives upon.
#3 Jesus was the cornerstone that was prophesied in the Old Testament.
If we skip down a few verses, we see in 1 Peter 2:6, Peter quotes an OT prophesy (in Isaiah 28:16) about the Messiah:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
Jesus came in perfect fulfillment of old testament prophesy on the day he was born. In your notes, I put 10 very specific prophesies that came true during the very earliest days of Jesus’ life. 2 researchers say that…
The probability that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be only 1 in 1017. That’s 1 in 100, 000, 000, 000, 000, 000.
(Put # on screen)
One researcher it would be the odds of covering Texas in silver dollars 2 feet deep and marking just 1. Then blindfolding a man and having him wander around Texas, reach down and pick up the one that was marked on the very first attempt.
However, although Jesus was the one foretold by the prophets and chosen by God, he was ignored by the religious establishment.
There were scribes and priests and religious leaders in Jesus’ day who were supposedly looking for the Messiah. In fact, when the Magi (aka wise men) visited Herod looking for the Christ child, Matthew 2:4 tells us that Herod assembled the chief priests and the scribes of the people and asked about the prophesy concerning the Messiah. They recalled the OT prophesy accurately to Herod. They knew the OT prophesy and there was this mysterious star in the sky.
I think it is fascinating that from the time Jesus was born, there is no record of the scribes or the priests in Jerusalem assembling to make an intentional effort to visit baby Jesus. It’s fascinating to me, but not a surprise to God. In verse 7, Peter quotes this other prophesy from Ps 118:22:
“The stone that the builders rejected Let’s carry out this analogy of the cornerstone a little further. The religious leaders in Israel wanted to participate in the activities at the temple. Referring to the Messiah, OT prophesy predicted a new cornerstone for the temple. Part of their job was to teach about and to be on the lookout for the Messiah or the cornerstone. Jesus came along and they assessed Jesus’ suitability for the role as Messiah, but their gauge was off. They tried to evaluate Jesus on the basis of their expectations for the Messiah on not on the Biblical text. Micrometer illustration? In their estimation, Jesus was inadequate for the job. He was poor and humble. He was not a slick politician or a military general. Worst of all, He was not impressed with their religiosity. He spoke truth when it was unpopular and countercultural. Jesus seemed uninterested in their politics and only talked about spiritual things… (eternal life and being right with God). They wanted Him dead and the “real” messiah to show up. So… they violently rejected him. Just like it was prophesied, they rejected their Messiah. The scripture says “The stone that the builders rejected Did that keep Jesus from becoming the Messiah? No. Jesus isn’t on trial. Jesus judges us to see who is with Him and who is against Him King Herod understood the prophesy to mean that the rightful ruler of the Jews (The King of the Jews) was just born. A New King being born would threaten his throne. He had a choice to make here: Follow Jesus as the new King or he could fight to keep his kingdom. Herod wanted to maintain control, so his response to the Messiah was to begin a murderous rampage to execute as many babies in the region as he could find. NOTE: There was a prophesy that foretold Herod’s response and God already made arrangements for Mary and Joseph to escape to Egypt for a while (the gold, frankincense and myrrh were no doubt helpful in paying for the cost of relocating for a couple years) Jesus was chosen by God before the world was even created. God had been working on the Christmas story and our redemption through Jesus for thousands of years. Peter says in chapter 1 verse 20: 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you Jesus may have been rejected by the reigning religious and political authorities, but that didn’t matter because He was “in the sight of God, chosen and precious.” Turn in your Bibles to Luke Chapter 2. Here’s a little known part of the Christmas story. Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple. Whereas some many of the religious leaders were in power for political reasons, many devout Jews were eagerly awaiting the coming of the Messiah with sincere hearts. One of those men was a man named Simeon. Luke 2:25-26 says: 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. When Simeon saw Jesus, he took Jesus into his arms and said 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant[d] depart in peace, From this scripture, while Jesus was still a baby, we get a glimpse of what Peter meant when he said Jesus was “chosen and precious to God.” 33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Simeon said that Jesus would be a stumbling block for men and he would reveal the inner thoughts of their hearts. Turn back in your bibles to 1 Peter 2. Jesus is cornerstone but also a stumbling block [notice the play on words]. Peter quote one more old testament scripture in 1 Peter 2:8 and says that the Messiah will be… “A stone of stumbling, When Jesus was born, listen to the words of what the angels said: “Glory to God in the highest, God is pleased with those who are a part of Jesus’ spiritual house. 1 Peter 2:5 explains that through the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ followers can offer sacrifices that are acceptable to God, they can be part of building an everlasting kingdom and in the process, they can know the peace of God. We all have a choice as to what to do with the Messiah. Jesus isn’t the one on trial here. Jesus is the perfect cornerstone, whether we follow Him or not – and whether we align with Him or not. Jesus is chosen and precious to God. He is the rightful ruler of our hearts. We have the same choice to make as the religious leaders and as Herod. Jesus will accomplish his purposes here on earth, whether we are a part of his kingdom or not. Peter says at the end of 2:8, “They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” Jesus know that some people will be on board with his purposes and other will choose to disobey and try to control their own lives instead of following Jesus. Jesus will rule and reign. Jesus will reign victoriously. Jesus always triumphs. The question is whether or not we rule and reign with him or we find ourselves cast out.
has become the cornerstone,”Jesus, Rejected by Men
The Religious Leaders Rejected Jesus
has become the cornerstone,”[a]The Political Leaders rejected Jesus
Jesus, Chosen and Precious to God
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
and a rock of offense.”Life Application
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14
Teaching Outline
#1 Living stones in Jesus’ spiritual house are shaped by God.
#2 Jesus is the foundation for the building of His church.
#3 Jesus was the cornerstone that was prophesied in the Old Testament. – Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22
Jesus, Rejected by Men
The Religious Leaders Rejected Jesus
The Political Leaders rejected Jesus
Jesus, Chosen and Precious to God – Luke 2:25-35
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