Removing the Stone

33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord's doing,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

When we think about the Passion accounts, the mention of the word "Stone" automatically makes us think about the stone in front of the tomb of Jesus, placed there to keep people out, and in the minds of some, keep Jesus in. But there is another Stone in the background throughout this series of events: the Cornerstone, Who God put in place, on the earth, to build a new Building, a new Temple of His dwelling - His Christ.  Many saw Him as in the way, like a rock that needed to be removed and thrown out of the way.  That is the way the priests and Pharisees viewed Jesus.  So they set their hearts and minds to remove Him, which is why we have Good Friday.  For us, here and now, the day is to be one for us to ask ourselves: "How am I trying to get the Stone out of my way?  Do I try to walk around Him in my normal day? Do I keep Him out of my thoughts, trying to ignore Him?  Do I view Him as God's Good Son, who has come to the earth, and will come again to the earth, to receive only what is rightfully God's - a people who live in communion with Him. Am I so bent on living life trying to remove the Stone, when He is the very foundation of life, and life eternal?