WEDNESDAY
Yesterday, we saw Peter’s references to Isaiah 28:16, claiming Jesus is the cornerstone in Zion. Today we will look at the other two references.
1 Peter 2:4–10 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. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
One of the primary themes of this passage is the contrasting ideas that Peter presents. In v. 4 Jesus is rejected by humanity but chosen and precious to God. Here he contrasts those who believe with those who do not believe. Those who believe in the cornerstone will not be put to shame, instead they will be given honor. Those who do not believe reject the cornerstone. Jesus becomes a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble and are offended by Jesus because they disobey the word. Here he likely is referring to the heart of the gospel message about Jesus—that he is the Messiah who died on the cross for our sins and rose again to give his people eternal life.
To make this point he quotes from Psalm 118:22, in which the stone is linked to salvation. The one who rejects the stone is jeopardizing his salvation. Jesus uses this passage to refer to himself in Mark 12:10 as well.
He then quotes from Isaiah 8:14, referencing Jesus as the great stumbling block, or rock that causes offense. Jesus is the line of demarcation—between those who believe in Jesus and those who don’t. Jesus is the cornerstone, yet so many reject him. The Jewish leaders rejected him even though he was their long awaited Messiah. The same holds true today. What one believes about Jesus is the most important decision to be made. No one is exempt from this. Everyone must come to a conclusion about Jesus. As C.S. Lewis famously said, that decision is down to three options: liar, lunatic or Lord.
“You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
—C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity
In her commentary on 1 Peter, Karen Jobes notes that the Christians weren’t being persecuted for believing in Jesus. They were being persecuted for believing and worshipping Jesus alone. They claimed God was the only God and the only way to God was through Jesus. This is the claim that was anathema to a pluralistic society. It is a similar dynamic in our culture today. A staple of Postmodernism is the rejection of absolutes in truth. It’s a common approach in our culture to add Jesus to the pantheon of other gods people worship—self, success, pleasure, wealth, stuff, sports, a spouse, kids, etc. This kind of Christianity isn’t resilient and it won’t lead to any pushback from our culture. However, it is disobeying the word. In his great book, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” The call of Christ is a call to Christ-alone, Christ exclusively. Christ is the sole lord of the Christians life. This is a stumbling block and a rock of offense to both religious and secular humanity.
Finally, he concludes verse 8 by saying that the unbelievers were appointed or destined to disobey the word. This is a divine passive, implying it is God’s appointment that causes this. Again, we come up against the tension of human responsibility and God’s action in salvation. The Calvinist (determinism) position would interpret this to say that God appoints those to reject the gospel message and therefore they disobey and stumble. The Arminian (free will) position would interpret this passage to say that unbelievers have chosen to reject the gospel and so God appoints them to stumble. This text alone doesn’t solve the debate one way or another, but in keeping with the theme of election (Jesus and the believers) so far expressed in 1 Peter, it seems best to take it as God appointing those to reject the gospel. Again, the theme is, and has been, that this is all according to God’s plan.
Reflection
Jesus is the cornerstone. Is he a rock of stumbling and offense to you? Or is he the foundation on which your whole life is built on? There is no other option with him. If, in examining your heart, you find that he is not the one on whom your whole life is built, take some time today to surrender all of your life to Jesus and build all of your life upon him.