Daily Devotions – Jesus, the Cornerstone

Daily Devotions – Jesus, the Cornerstone

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:

 

Mark 12:1-12 NIV
The Parable of the Tenants
12 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 6 “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” 12 Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

 

In what ways is Jesus the capstone to your life? In what ways is he not?

 

In the vineyard parable, You called out Isreal’s leaders for killing Your prophets. You predicted that they would also kill You, the Son of the vineyard owner. They saw Your holy life, miraculous works, witnessed Your power over demons, and Your life-giving words. Yet because You did not fit the pattern they had in mind for a Savior, You were rejected. They couldn’t see that God was using their rejection through Your death and resurrection as the cornerstone, the most important stone in the building of Your kingdom.  The cornerstone is the key to the rest of the structure that is placed strategically so the rest of the building might take its alignment and form based upon it. If removed, the entire structure could collapse. Lord, You are the Cornerstone of my life. I pray that everything I do aligns with You. You are my firm foundation. Without You I am nothing. Without You, I have no hope, and life is meaningless. Lord, Jesus, help me stand boldly on Your foundation. Let my faith be the mortar that binds me to You. You are my strength and I lean on You for support.  Allow me to provide support for others as I share my faith as a mortar to bind them together with all the saints into Your Kingdom. You are the foundation that makes my faith even stronger and will make the Church stronger. Your kingdom is strong, mighty, and eternal. You are the love, guidance, and foundation for which I stand. Amen