Jesus said to [the Pharisees], "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
Matthew 21:42
If someone you loved were in grave danger, wouldn't you rush to help them? Before even blinking an eye, you'd probably drop everything to rescue them from losing their life -- even if it meant losing your own. I think we all have people we love for whom we'd lay down our own lives to save. But would you do the same for someone who hated you? Would you stop at nothing to lay down your life for someone who had rejected, despised, and even tried to kill you? That's the sacrifice Jesus made.
In Matthew 21, we see Jesus talking with the very people who would be responsible for plotting His death -- the religious establishment; the Pharisees. Jesus knew their motives. He knew they despised Him because He spoke with the authority of God, and He knew they "sought to lay hands on Him" (Matthew 21:46). Here were men who had spent their whole lives building up a religious construct -- a pious institution over which they reigned unchallenged -- and along comes Jesus, threatening not only to tear down their empire, but to build something totally new in its place. It would be a new kingdom -- a heavenly kingdom whose boundaries only exist in the hearts of its people, and where the only requirement for citizenship is a simple acceptance of the grace of God. And of this new kingdom, the very person the religious leaders hated and rejected -- Jesus Himself -- would be the "chief cornerstone" (Matthew 21:42).
Jesus, then, was too big a threat. The Pharisees wanted Him dead. And Jesus, the Son of God, could have thwarted their plans, or even sought revenge. After all, the Pharisees were hypocrites! They were self-righteous cowards! But Jesus didn't seek revenge; He warned them of the mistake they would make -- the mistake of rejecting Him -- that they might avoid it. He wasn't out for blood -- He came to shed His blood, that even those who put Him to death might be forgiven.
You see, we are the Pharisees. We are the hypocrites whose sin put Jesus to death. Romans 3:10 says, "There is none righteous, no, not one." Our sin made us haters of God. And still, Jesus chose to die for us. Even though it was our sin that caused Him to be rejected, despised, and even killed, He chose to sacrifice His life for our sake. And today, even though you may love your sin and hate God, He chose to die for you, that you might turn from your sin and be forgiven.
Jesus died for all of us -- those who love Him, and those who hate Him. His love is that amazing! If you've never experienced the awesome love of God, and the freedom from sin that it brings, let today be the day.
"If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).
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