THE STONE

God's Word describes Jesus in many ways (The Light, The Bread, The Way, The Truth, The Life, The Door, The Good Shepherd, The Vine, The Resurrection, etc.), but the most varied picture we have of Christ is as The Stone.

* He is The Rock that provided water to Israel in the wilderness (Ex. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4).
* He is "The Stone which the builders refused" (Ps. 118:22).
* He is "a Foundation, a Tried, a precious Corner Stone" (Isa. 28:16).
* He is "The Stone that smote the image (becoming) a great Mountain" (Dan. 2:35).
* He is "The Rock (upon which) I will build My Church" (Matt. 16:16-18).
* He is "The Stone of stumbling and the Rock of offence" (Rom. 9:33).
* He is a "Stumbling block to the Jews, and unto the Greeks, foolishness" (1 Cor. 1:23).
* He is the Foundation of the Church (1 Cor. 3:9-11).

In 1 Corinthians 1:23, the Apostle Paul described how the Gospel of the Lord was received by most Jews and Gentiles: Jesus was an "offence" to the Jews, and to the Gentiles, He was little more than a joke. Paul, in speaking of the Jews, used the Greek word σκάνδαλον (skandalon), which has the following meanings: "the movable stick or trigger of a trap or snare," or "any impediment or obstacle placed in the way to cause one to stumble or fall." In other words, the Jews who rejected Christ saw Him as a false messiah, one whose intent was to deceive and ensnare them. That is why the Pharisees called Jesus "Beelzebub, the prince of the devils" (Matt. 12:24).

Paul wrote that the Gentiles who refused to accept Christ as viewing his Gospel message as "foolishness." The Greek word he used was μωρία (mōria), which is defined as "the thinking or actions of fools." Paul wrote that the Gospel was rejected by most of the Gentiles because they required logical persuasion (1 Cor. 1:22). Because acceptance of the Gospel requires faith which surpasses human wisdom and reason, it was not possible to prove the validity of his message. Paul described the Greeks as men who "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" (Rom. 1:22).

The Jews did not accept Christ because He did not match their preconceived idea of God's Messiah. They wanted an earthly king to conquer the Romans as to establish His eternal kingdom. Even the disciples, following the Resurrection, still believed that Jesus would do so (Acts 1:6). The Jews wanted a mighty warrior, "the Lion of the Tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5:5), but Jesus came as "the Lamb of God" (Jn. 1:29). The real reason the Jews rejected Christ, is because He was not the kind of man they were willing to submit to (Lk. 19:14).

Whether one is a Jew or one is a Gentile, failure to accept Christ results in a far worse consequence than merely "stumbling." The Word says, "And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matt. 21:44). "Broken" here means "humbled" like in "breaking in a horse." In other words, being brought to one's knees. "Grinding him to powder" has more of a "totally crushed" connotation. It is sort of like the difference we see in Genesis 3:15, where Satan "bruises" Christ's heel, but the Lord will bruise Satan's head.

The choice is ours: we can either stand on the Rock of our salvation,
or be crushed when He comes in His glory!