Jesus the Capstone

Luke 19:45-20:19

Key Verse 20:17

Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone'?”

In North Carolina UBF there is a shepherd named John Martin. He is an architect. In New York City, Missionary Wesley Yoon is working as an architect in the middle district of Manhattan. In our ministry, Shepherd Andy Jacobs studies architecture and soon you will see him working as an architect. In order to have the landscape of Downey UBF center done, we hired a landscape architect named Roger Koboda. About a month ago, he dropped by the center. I asked him how we can better improve the environment. He made a couple of really good suggestions, so the environment would be more inviting for the people to come and rest. So we asked him to go ahead and come up with a plan.   

In having buildings or anything like a house built, it is extremely important that you have a good architect, for a good architect will design a good house, and a bad architect a bad house. In Tokyo Japan there is a hotel named the Imperial Hotel. It was designed by an American architect named Frank Llyod Wright. It started out in 1890. By 1923, the hotel had opened a spectacular new building. On the very day of its grand opening, however, one of the most devastating earthquakes in recorded history struck Tokyo and Yokohama. Tons of buildings crumbled down, instantly killing tens of thousands of people. But the Imperial Hotel designed by Mr. Wright remained intact with minimal damage.  

But over time even this Imperial Hotel began to wear out. By 1968, the Wright Imperial had suffered irreparable damages from floods, earthquakes, wartime bombing and urban pollution, and a team of earthquake specialists declared the structure unsafe and unable to withstand further major tremors. The management glumly had Wright's decaying masterpiece dismantled, and now there is a brand new hotel. The old was gone, the new is come. 

But of all the structures (buildings or houses, if you will), human being are the most sophisticated. [In fact in many places of the Bible, the Lord God calls each of his children a ‘house.’ Exodus 19:3; 40:38 The Apostle Paul calls our body a “tent”. 2Co 5:4] Unlike physical buildings like the Downey UBF Center or the World Trade Center which came down due to terrorists’ attacks, human beings consist not just of physical materials but that which is spiritual. 

The question then is, “How are we going to have our house built?” More importantly than this question is, “Will the house [to be built in us] remain forever or suffer eternal loss?” Today we can find answers to these questions in two parts. 

I. Jesus, the rejected stone (19:45-20:16)

In the passage for today the Apostle Luke presents us with two categories of architects (or “builders”): Jesus being the first category and the “builders” of this world such as the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. 

In Jesus’ day tons of people were living on the surface of the planet earth. All of them were building houses out of their lives. The houses they were building (or the ultimate outcome of men’s lives here on earth) are classifiable into two categories: the ones built by the broad category called “builders of this world”, and the houses built by Jesus Christ, the ultimate builder. 

Jesus came to build spiritual houses out of all who would come to him. In coming to build God’s houses within a man, Jesus came with everything that is necessary to build a durable house (called “eternal life”) like specs, building materials, etc. 

But there was another category of people called “the builders of this world.” And they did not like the way Jesus tried to build God’s houses in men. Ultimately they rejected Jesus by crucifying him to the cross. 

Why did the builders reject Jesus, the ultimate builder sent by God? The passage for today suggests that there are two reasons why they rejected Jesus. 

First, materialism (19:45-46)

Look at Luke 19:45-46. “Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. "It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" Here “the temple area” refers to the area designated for the Gentiles within so-called Herod’s temple located in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. In this court, the religious leaders were supposed to come, pray for the Gentiles, and teach them the Bible. But instead of serving them in a godly way, the religious leaders were doing businesses with them. The spiritual leaders like priests saw the flock of God gathered there as “customers” to make money out of them. Mark 11:15-16 explains in detail the scene: “On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.” 

Last November for the first time in his life a pastor visited Jerusalem. Because it was his first visit he had a lot of longings and good feelings about the “Holy City”. But as he walked up through the way called "Via Dolorosa" [meaning in Latin “the way of cross [or grief]” which is a stretch of road between the Antonia fortress and Golgotha, along which Jesus Christ walked bowed under the weight of the Cross], he was totally disappointed. Why? It was because the way – every inch of the stretch - was jam packed (to the right and to the left) with stores selling all kinds of merchandise, run by people who are hungry for money. No one will believe (until he goes and actually see these money hungry people crowded there) how these businessmen turned the otherwise holy city into a totally unholy city. Most likely Jesus must have seen exactly the same thing in the temple court. On entering the area Jesus began driving out those who were selling and said to them, “My house will be a house of prayer but you have made it a den of robbers.” 

Here, the word “selling”, “merchandise”, or “robbers” indicates why they rejected Jesus, that is, the love of money. They loved money more than Jesus, which we call “materialism.” 

In a song entitled “I am a material girl”, a pop singer sang a song saying, “Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me. They can beg and they can plead, but they can’t see the light, that’s right, because the boy with the cold hard cash is always mister right, cause we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl, you know that we are living in a material world and I am a material girl. (chorus) A material, a material, a material, a material world… Living in a material world, and I am a material girl (repeat and fade).” The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were no different than this pop artist. No wonder they rejected Jesus. 

 

Second, secular humanism (19:47; 48; 20:5-7)

Look at verse 47. “Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.” Notice the word “trying”. They “tried” to kill Jesus. But they could not. Why? Let us read 20:5-7. Luke 20:5-7, “They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Why didn't you believe him?'  But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet." So they answered, "We don't know where it was from." 

This passage indicates that they did not believe in the truth which is absolute and unchanging. They rather paid a higher respect for what “people” think or value, rather than what God thinks or values. Naturally they fear people more than they fear God. To them, human beings are the yard-stick to measure values. Naturally they are swayed by what people (like I, you, he, she, or they) think, or see. They do not go by what God thinks, or sees. They are more afraid of people than of God. They try to please people especially themselves. 

But Jesus was different. To Jesus what is true is true, what is false is false. To Jesus, if something is right, he goes for it no matter what. And he was NOT afraid of the religious leaders who tried to kill Jesus. 

The Miriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines “secular humanism” as “humanistic philosophy viewed as a non-theistic religion antagonistic to traditional religion.” As this definition indicates, being a secular humanist, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day looked like they believed in the existence of God, but they did not. Naturally they became “antagonistic” to Jesus and the truths Jesus taught.  

On many occasions however it is not easy to tell whether or not one is a materialist or a secular humanist. This is particularly true with the “religious-looking” people. For example the chief priests or the teachers of the law wore fine clothes like flowing gowns. They also virtually lived at the temple, reciting Bible verses. But still Jesus called them as no better than a bunch of “robbers”. 

Jesus however had a better way to tell where these people were coming from. Let us read Luke 20:1-4. “One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. "Tell us by what authority you are doing these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?" He replied, "I will also ask you a question. Tell me, John's baptism--was it from heaven, or from men?"” Jesus’ way to tell whether or not anyone is a materialist or a secular humanist is John’s baptism. What is John’s baptism? According to Acts 19:4 Acts 19:4, John’s baptism is baptism of repentance, for John the Baptist told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." If one repents and believes in Jesus, he is not a materialist or a secular humanist. If he does not, he remains on a material and humanistic level. That is it. And no wonder that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day in the passage did not repent, nor believed in Jesus. They were still bound by what is fleshly. In this way they were trying to build their lives with what is physical. 

In the parable of the tenants, Jesus then shows us a very interesting phenomenon, that is, when one listens to the message of repentance, and yet still remains unrepentant, and persists in his own materialistic and humanistic way of thinking, the spiritual condition of that person will go only one direction, that is, he will go from bad to worse. And as he sins more the worse he will become. 

With this in mind, let us read Jesus’ parable in Luke 20:9-16 responsibly. This parable ends with Jesus’ audience filing a violent objection to what Jesus said would happen to them: "May this never be!" Here “this” refers to not just the idea that the vineyard will go to someone else, but also the moral degeneracy of the tenants. They did not understand the insidious nature of the spirit of rebellion built inside of them. [Remember what eventually happened to Cain when he chose not to repent when God first advised him to repent.] 

The message for us then today is that we must be wary of materialism and secular humanism.  

II. The rejected stone became the capstone (20:17-19)

To those who tried to kill Jesus, Jesus could have stopped dealing with them. Jesus could have just ignored them and turned away from them, for it looked like it was of no use to continue to talk to them. They were bent on killing Jesus, and Jesus knew that ultimately this was what they would end up doing. Why then should Jesus bother? 

Yet, Jesus did not simply turn away from them. Rather in love Jesus did something remarkable to them. Look at verse 17. “Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone'?” 

Two points are noteworthy: “Jesus looked directly at them…”; and “Then what is the meaning of that which is written…?” Why did Jesus look at them directly? Perhaps Jesus did this to help them to not be insincere or playful in living one life to live. Rather Jesus wanted them to take life seriously so they would base their life on absolute truths. As we already saw they did not go by truths which are absolute. Instead of living by absolute truths, they lived by what is relative such as feelings, their own self-seeking desires, or the so-called “situation ethics.” 

Jesus also wanted them to think about the meaning of the prophecy he quoted from Psalm 118:22. The immediate meaning is that they will carry out their will to kill Jesus, but God will raise him up from the dead. This then proves that Jesus came to fulfill the prophecy, which in turn testifies that Jesus is the Messiah whom God had promised to send even one thousand years before the Christ. [King David lived about 1000 years before the Christ.] 

“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.” The deeper meaning for us then is that God chose to let his Son suffer at the hands of the rebellious sinners. It was to demonstrate the kind of love God has for many – the love that chose to condemn the Son of God rather than the sinners. 

In view of his love we are then encouraged to repent of our rebellious ways of life, and turn to the Lord God believing in His sin forgiving love, that we would no longer live a life of rebellion. 

The word “capstone” also means that daily we need to look at Jesus and struggle to copy Jesus’ example. The word “capstone” means “the crowing achievement.” Another name for Jesus the capstone is “the firstfruits”. 1Co 15:20,23 It has been said, “Jesus came to accomplish two things: first is to open the way of salvation for all; and second to set an example of life in every way possible.” Indeed Jesus set a perfect example of life for us to follow. Thus the Apostle Paul says, “Follow my example as I follow the example of the Christ.” 

What then will happen if we reject him? Look at verse 18. “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." The consequences of not accepting this way of God's salvation and persisting in the life of rebellion in unbelief are complete destruction. But those who put trust in Jesus and present themselves to the Lord that He would mold them into Christ-like persons, the Lord will build a spiritual house and clothe them with eternal glory. 

 

However, the religious leaders kept rebelling, so in verse 19, “The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.”

In conclusion we learned that instead of going by a materialistic and a humanistic way of thinking we must repent of these unbiblical ways, and devote ourselves fully to the Lord in full submission of his leadership. Then the Lord will build a spiritual house which is eternally glorious.

One word: Jesus the capstone