Today we are going to continue with the chapter 2 in the first letter of Peter. But this section is about Jesus and not Peter. In John 21:17 Jesus asks Peter the third time "“Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep."
This is the very same Jesus who knows you, the same Jesus who saved you. Come, let us meditate on who He is. This portion is really important in our understanding of the Lord. Those who love to dig deeper, I would recommend Romans chapter 9 also.
Let us read the portion and go one verse by verse.
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 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. 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.”
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,”
and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Lets go verse by verse
As you come to Him:
Brothers, who are we coming to? This is the first question we need to ask ourselves today. One time Jesus made bread for 5000 plus people (inc woman and children), the people were so happy. They wanted to have such blessing everyday in life. One of the basic human necessity is food right? So if there is someone who has a constant supply of food, they thought, all their issues will be solved. You know they can pay off the Romans and live a happy life. It would be like Moses in the desert they thought. But they forgot what their ancestors did. In the book of Numbers you have the very same people rejecting manna by saying it was boring. Jesus did not come to be popular but rather be the One who has all answers. He left the people and many left Jesus when He said that they would have to eat his flesh and drink his blood (saying be one with him). Simon was the one who sad "where shall we go, for in you there is eternal life".
Brothers, come to the one who can give you eternal life. Life in His holy presence. Not a dead life, not a boring life, but a life with the author and creator of life itself.
We are going to see what makes Jesus in the eyes of Peter in this portion special and use these to make Jesus more glorious in our life.
Shall we?
a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious
What a strange verse, especially if you are not used to Christian words. Does stones live? There was once a portion Jesus tells about Rocks signing out praises to God if the people do not. This is not an indication of that. Jesus is being metaphorical. In the Bible many things are metaphorical. They often have huge back story attached to it. Im sure that no one here is thinking if Jesus was sandstone or marble.
Peter is applying several Old Testament texts that point to Christ as a stone. Isaiah 28:16 (“Behold, I am the one who has laid a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation”) and Psalm 118:22 (“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”). Peter will bring these as explanations later.
The main point is that Peter wants the reader to think through several OT passages.
Shall we look at them
Look at Daniel 2:45: Just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this.
There is a supernatural stone a stone that was not made by man, a stone that came and broke the empires and kingdoms, a stone that broke gold, bronze, iron and clay. A precious, powerful stone. This is Daniel telling the king Nebuchadnezzar that there is a greater King, who will look insignificant, not worth mention, but is powerful. Although there are extra biblical sources about Jesus (see the presentation ), the mention of Jesus is still lesser. Why? no one expected it to be a big thing.
Look at Matthew 21:42-44: 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’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
The very same message is spoken by Jesus. Jesus tells the story of the bad tenants who kill the servants and the son. They are thrown away by the owner. Then He says this sentence. So this is the first thing.
How is this stone living?
The stone is said living is because Jesus is a not a metaphor. There are many in the world that say Jesus is a metaphor. There are stories that take the virgin birth, the sacrificial death and resurrection as acts of love. There are many people who would love if Jesus was a metaphor. In the Jesus seminars (we have spoken in details before) there were men who were happy to cut the words of Jesus into bits and discard anything that was too hard to accept. Everyone loves a Hippy Jesus. The one Jesus who loves all, forgives all and say "chill man, all religion lead to God". Everyone is happy to accept this metaphorical Jesus. CS Lewis in his analysis of the modern view of Jesus says either say Jesus is a mad man to believe that He is God or a liar who deceived many people in the past or accept that He is God. There is no middle ground where Jesus is a metaphor or this sage.
This is why the stone is called LIVING stone. Jesus is alive. Peter saw that. Thomas put his hand in the wounds of Jesus. Peter saw Jesus eating fish. There was no ghost or hallucination. Peter wants you to know that this Jesus whom you love and believe is indeed ALIVE!
Come on. This is the reason why when we loose our loved ones young or old we can say "i will meet them again" - Look at 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.) This is the stone - the bedrock of the foundation. When Peter said to Jesus, "in you we have eternal life" it is then that Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven".
This is the foundation of your faith brothers.
How was Jesus rejected?
Jesus is the stone of offence. He is the stone that causes people to stumble. He is the rejected stone. How much will you want to be accepted everywhere in the world when it had rejected the author of life? In John 15:21 Jesus says the world will reject you. This is what the world is like. Lenore Ravenhill asks "And there's no room for Him in the inn.He got a bit older, there was no room in His family, His family turned on Him.He went to the temple, no room in the temple, the temple turned on Him.And when He died there was no room to bury Him, He died outside of the city. Well why in God's Name do you expect to be accepted everywhere? How is it that the world couldn't get on with the holiest Man that ever lived and can get on with you and me?"
Brothers, know and understand and accept this fact that the cross is still an offence. In Bayern they are now trying to take the cross away from the government offices. The message of the cross is like a dividing line. Everyone is happy to have a Jesus who loves them, but no one will tolerate a Jesus who says that they are sinners. Brothers, if the fact that you are a sinner offends you, come to the cross. There is mercy there. Come to Jesus. Peter tell that too. Come to Him who is the source of life. This is your day.
Now this is good news for those who trust Jesus.
Point 3: Chosen and Precious
point 1: Jesus is the living stone
point 2: Jesus is the the rejected stone
Point 3: Jesus is the chosen and precious stone
I love those two words.
Jesus is the chosen stone
Chosen by whom? Chosen for what? Jesus is God. He was not chosen from a pantheon of Gods. So Jesus was not chosen in the sense of chosen.
Original Word: ἐκλεκτός, ή, όν
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: eklektos
Meaning: select, by impl. favorite
It meant that Jesus was loved by God.
See his birth and childhood: the stars , angels and shepherd, Egypt, Mary and Joseph and the wise men
See his baptism: the dove descending, the voice saying that God is pleased
See the transfiguration event: the voice affirms who Jesus is.
Isaiah 42:1
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nation
But He chose to die on the cross.
in Isaiah 28:16 it says, "Behold I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, and he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed."
What is a cornerstone
This is what Peter is saying. That the stone is a special stone. A small intro into civil engineering. In the building of a house, there is the cornerstone. This stone will give the X, Y, Z coordinates. A special stone that will act as a reference for the entire house. Lets say that this will be a cube like stone. They will lay this stone on a flat surface and mark the X and Y directions with a thread. Then they will build the first layer and then the next and the whole wall.
This stone (Jesus) was rejected by the builders. They did not see the worth. They did not find him suited for their needs. There were many then and many now who try to fit Jesus into their agenda and then reject him. Brothers, Jesus is not here to fit to your agenda. You are to align yourself to His. This is the way the stone works. This is a permanent stone. It is there. Look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 21:42-44. It says that Jesus is the stone that breaks people who fall on it or on whom it falls on. What is it saying? There is judgement to all those who reject this stone. Brother, there is only a limited time in your life that your eyes are not blinded by the world that you see Jesus as the chosen stone. Come to him now.
Jesus is the precious stone
How is Jesus precious? The father himself at the baptist, at the transfiguration, and through the resurrection calls Jesus precious. How precious? How much is Jesus worth? Where does he come in your scale of desires?
Look at the stories Jesus tells about himself. He is not talking about heaven there. He is talking about himself in the story of the finder of fine pearl, the treasure in the field. Pauls says in Philippians 3:7 (Whatever gain I had, I counted loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I might gain Christ)
Come on brother, is Jesus precious to you now? Are you willing to leave it - what ever it may be - to hold Jesus as precious? Have you been seeking meaning to your life? Come to Jesus, he has the answer. Come, he is indeed precious. I had to stand against all I knew and believed in when I saw Jesus. But he was worth it and still is. Brother, is he precious to you?
Is there someone in your life that you are thinking about now who does not see Jesus as precious? Come, we can pray together after the meeting. Tell them why you see Jesus as precious. Come, there is hope even for the hopeless.
Come, to Him. He calls you. You come to Him because he is worth it.
Paris Reidhead in a sermon (Ten Shekels and a Shirt) once said "I have talked with people that have no assurance of sins forgiven. They wanna feel saved before they’re willing to commit themselves to Christ. But I believe that the only ones whom God actually witnesses by His Spirit are born of Him, are the people whether they say it or not, that come to Jesus Christ and say something like this: “Lord Jesus, Im gonna obey You and love You and serve You and do what You want me to do as long as I live even if I go to hell at the end of the road simply because You are worthy to be loved, obeyed and served. And Im not trying to make a deal with You
....
Im going to say to you, dear friend, if you are out here without Christ, you come to Jesus Christ and serve Him as long as you live whether you go to hell at the end of the way because He’s worthy. I say to you, Christian friend, you come to the cross and join Him in union and death and enter into all the meaning of death to self, in order that He can have glory. I say to you, dear Christian, if you do not know the fullness of the Holy Ghost, come and present your body a living sacrifice and let Him fill you so that He can have the purpose for His coming fulfilled in you and get glory through your life.
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