“And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?”
My Notes
What Does Luke 20:17 Mean?
"The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner." Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22 to the religious leaders, identifying Himself as the stone they're rejecting. The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone — the most important stone in the building, the one that determines the alignment of everything else.
The builders in the metaphor are the religious leaders themselves — the professional construction team who evaluate which stones are suitable for the building. They examine this particular stone, determine it's unusable, and discard it. And the discarded stone turns out to be the one the entire structure depends on.
The reversal is architecturally precise: the cornerstone is the first stone laid, the one that determines the angles and alignment of the entire building. By rejecting the cornerstone, the builders have guaranteed that whatever they build will be misaligned. You can't build a straight building after discarding the stone that defines straightness.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What 'stone' have you rejected that might actually be the cornerstone you need?
- 2.Why do experts sometimes reject what matters most?
- 3.How does rejecting the cornerstone make everything built afterward misaligned?
- 4.What does it mean for Jesus to be the cornerstone of your life's building?
Devotional
The professional builders look at this stone. They examine it with expert eyes. They measure it against their standards. And they reject it. Not suitable. Doesn't fit. Throw it out.
And the stone they threw out becomes the cornerstone. The most important stone in the entire building. The one everything else depends on.
The builders are the experts — the people whose job is to evaluate stones. They should know which one matters. And they reject the one that matters most. Their expertise, their training, their professional judgment — all of it leads them to discard the stone the building can't exist without.
This is the most comprehensive description of Jesus' relationship to the religious establishment: the experts rejected the essential. The people who should have recognized the Messiah looked at Him, evaluated Him against their criteria, and threw Him out. Not because they lacked expertise — because they lacked eyes to see.
The cornerstone determines the alignment of everything built on it. Reject the cornerstone and you lose the ability to build straight. Everything after the rejection is crooked — not dramatically, not visibly at first, but fundamentally. The angles are wrong because the reference point is missing.
What are you building, and have you rejected the stone that should be defining its alignment?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the chief priests, and the Scribes, that same hour,.... As soon as he had delivered the above parable, together with…
Christ spoke this parable against those who were resolved not to own his authority, though the evidence of it was ever…
he beheld them Rather, looking fixedly on them, to add solemnity to His reference to their own Scriptures.
that is…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture