Why is Jesus called the stumbling stone in Matthew 21:43-44?

Thus quickly, and startlingly, will be introduced the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom man has despised and cast out; He will yet come into this world, and come in a way that will mark the fact that God has sent Him. Though the Roman empire be the one He may first deal with, it is to be observed that all the other kingdoms will come under His solemn, and crushing judgment. In the gospels the Lord Jesus speaks of Himself as "the stone which the builders rejected" become "the head of the corner." He then adds, "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matt. 21:42, 44). The Jewish nation fell over Jesus, whom they could not receive in His humiliation, and lowliness, and was thus broken; but it is the proud Gentile powers upon whom the crushing stone, the now rejected Christ Jesus, will fall by-and-by. It is the proud infidel Gentile, that will not receive the gospel of a heavenly Saviour, upon whom that stone will fall, and grind him to powder. No figure of utter judgment could be more apt.

Before bringing this article to a close, reference should be made to the Scriptures which speak of the Lord Jesus as the Stone. An Old Testament passage, quoted in the New Testament, is Psalm 118: 22 and 23: "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." It is actually quoted by the Lord Himself after telling the parable of the vineyard and the wicked husbandmen. The parable was a description of the way the nation was treating Him then. He was the Stone, refused by the builders. The Lord Jesus went on to warn them, "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). These last words are akin to those we have considered in Daniel 2: 34. While the emphasis in Daniel was on the kingdom, here in Matthew it is very distinctly upon the Person of Christ. The expression, "And whosoever shall fall on this stone," is further explained by the apostle Paul in Romans 9: 32: "For they stumbled at that stumblingstone." Had the Lord Jesus come in power to free the nation from the Roman yoke, it might have been different, but His lowly character and meekness, showing up their hypocrisy, did not suit them and therefore they stumbled. But He will come again in judgment to grind His enemies to powder.

The Lord accepted as correct the verdict they had passed upon themselves, quoting Psalm 118:22-23, in corroboration. He was the stone which they, the builders, were rejecting. He in no way fitted into the building which they designed and they refused Him. A day is coming when He will be brought forth to be the foundation and set the lines of the building that God has in view; and this wonderful event will involve the destruction of wicked men and their false building.

In verse 43 and the beginning of verse 44 we get the present effects of His rejection. He becomes a stone of stumbling to the leaders of Israel and the mass of the nation, and in consequence they are broken as a people. This finally came to pass when Jerusalem was destroyed. God's kingdom had been established in their midst through Moses, and now this was definitely taken from them, and it was to be given in another form to a "nation" that would produce its proper fruits. The prophets of old had denounced the sin of the people, and announced that God would raise up another nation to supplant them, as we see in such scriptures as Deuteronomy 32:21; Isaiah 55:5; Isaiah 65:1; Isaiah 66:8. That nation will be "born at once" at the beginning of the millennial age; that is, they will be born again, and so have the nature that delights in the will of God, and enables them to bring forth fruit. We Christians anticipate this, as we see in 1 Peter 2:9. Redeemed and born again, we have been called out of darkness into God's marvellous light, and so are enabled as "an holy nation" to show forth the virtues of the One who has called us. This surely is bringing forth fruit which gratifies Him.

"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The Stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?" (ver. 42). It was the conduct of those who took the lead in Israel, revealed in their own Scriptures. Marvellous doing on the Lord's part! — in manifest reversal of such as set themselves up, and were accepted, as acting in His name: yet to be marvellous in Israel's eyes, when the now hidden but exalted Saviour comes forth, the joy of a converted people, who shall then welcome and for ever bless their once-rejected King; for truly His mercy endures for ever. Meanwhile His lips utter the sentence of sure rejection from their high estate: "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God [not of heaven, for this they had not] shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (ver. 43). Nor was this all: for "whosoever shall fall on this stone" (Himself in humiliation) "shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall" (i.e., consequent on His exaltation), "it will grind him to powder" (ver. 44). Thus, He sets forth the ensuing stumbles of unbelief; and further, the positive execution of destructive judgment, whether individual or national, Jewish or Gentile, at His appearing in glory. (Compare Daniel 2.)

There is no reason that I see for identifying the stone in Zech. 12:3, with that in Matt. 21:44. The former evidently means Jerusalem itself, the latter the Lord Himself in two positions answering to the two advents. First, in His humiliation, He is a stone as it were in the ground, and "whosoever shall fall on it shall be broken," verified in all unbelievers, but especially in the Jews; next, He is exalted to heaven, and coming again in power and great glory, He will execute destructive judgment — on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." (Cf. Dan. 2, 7; Rev. 19). "A burdensome Stone" is another idea, and will be true of Jerusalem in the latter day, when the Assyrian heads a great Gentile confederacy after the Antichrist is disposed of, which is the subject of Zech. 12:2-6, 14:1-3: also Isaiah, Micah, Daniel, and other prophets, treat of this closing king of the North.

First, while professing to do the will of God, they did it not; while the openly wicked had repented and done His will. They, seeing this, were still hardened. Again, not only had natural conscience remained untouched, whether by the testimony of John, or by the sight of repentance in others, but, although God had used every means to make them bring forth fruit worthy of His culture, He had found nothing in them but perversity and rebellion. The prophets had been rejected, and His Son would be so likewise. They desired to have His inheritance for themselves. They could not but acknowledge that in such case the consequence must necessarily be the destruction of those wicked men, and the bestowal of the vineyard on others. Jesus applies the parable to themselves, by quoting Psalm 118, which announces that the stone rejected by the builders should become the head-stone of the corner; moreover, that whosoever should fall on this stone — as the nation was at that moment doing — should be broken; but that on whomsoever it should fall — and this would be the lot of the rebellious nation in the last days — it should grind them to powder. The chief priests and the Pharisees understood that He spoke of them, but they dared not lay hands on Him, because the multitude took Him for a prophet. This is the history of Israel, as under responsibility, even till the last days. Jehovah was seeking fruit in His vineyard.

The Lord then gives utterance to a parable which was the divine judgment on the whole conduct of the leaders of Israel, represented by those before Him. He had done everything for His vineyard, and then in due season He sought fruit - sent the prophets, who were rejected, and persecuted, and killed - sent yet more, and they treated them in the same way; at last He sent His Son, saying, They will reverence my Son. Him they cast out and slew. The chief priests and scribes pronounce the only possible judgment on them in reply to the Lord. It was their own sentence. The Lord then from scripture - testimony which they could not deny - shews that what they rejected was made by God the head of the corner. There could not be a plainer testimony, more immediately applicable. God, and the chiefs of Israel, the builders, were in open contradiction. It was Jehovah's doing to exalt the rejected stone. It is still Psalm 118, the special oracle of God as to these events. We have then the Lord's open comment and statement as to the result with the Jews - the kingdom of God taken from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits of the kingdom. It was to Gentiles, but that is not the special point of the Lord's words. It was to a nation bringing forth the fruits of the kingdom. If that be not done, they cease to answer to the description, whatever the patience of God; and though that be not the subject here, they also would have to be cut off. The same truth is otherwise told in Romans 11.

173 Further, the Stumbling-stone (Isa. 8) was there. It was indeed Jehovah Himself in grace. Whoever stumbled on it was offended in Him, and (this is of wider application than the chief priests) would be broken, but those on whom He fell, when coming again in judgment, would be ground to powder. Such was the present and future result of the responsibility of the Jews, to whom every advantage had been given, and to whom the Son of God Himself had come. Here the Lord is looking for fruit. The aspect of the crisis from the side of grace follows. Meanwhile the chief priests and Pharisees would have taken Him, but feared the people.

276 Then (v. 44) the Lord makes the difference between the effect of the judgment which should befall them, and that which should happen in the last days. They should fall on the stone of stumbling, and be broken; whereas those on whom it should fall in judgment should be crushed, and ground to powder.

In Matthew 21:1-16, Jesus enters Jerusalem meek and lowly, riding on an ass. A portion of the people respond, hailing him as King, as Son of David, and applying to Him the language of Psalm 118 — "Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord." This, as the psalm shows, is the language in which the Jews acknowledge their crucified Messiah, when the stone which the builders rejected becomes the head stone of the corner (vv. 22-26). At this time, however, it is used only by babes and sucklings, the weak things of the world, while the nation as a whole once more refuses Him. But this refusal is not final, as our Lord's words plainly show; for while declaring that, in consequence of their guilt, their house would be left unto them desolate, He adds, — "I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth." For how long? Till the end of the world? No, but, "till ye shall say, Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord" (Matt. 23:38-39). This language they had refused when uttered by babes and sucklings, but when they adopt it, they will see Jesus again, and their house will no longer be left desolate.

In the same chapter (21) the Lord asks the Jews — "Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore, say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (vv. 42-44). Here are three prophecies concerning the stone, those who fall on it, and those on whom it falls. The first, from Psalm 118:22-23, shows that the stone, though at first refused by Israel, afterwards becomes the head of the corner. The second, from Isaiah 8:14, declares Christ to be "for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel." But mark what follows. The testimony is bound up, the law sealed among His disciples, and the prophet waits on the Lord who hides His face from Israel. Then come deep anguish and darkness, from which the people emerge and joy before the Lord, "as men rejoice when they divide the spoil;" "for unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder" (Isa. 9:3, 6). Thus Isaiah's words coincide with our Lord's — the nation which stumbles on the stone is broken, not destroyed. The third prophecy is from Daniel 2, and foretells a very different fate for those on whom the stone falls; for while Israel, stumbling on the stone, is broken, but afterwards healed, the Gentile powers, which for a time have taken the dominion out of Israel's hands, are struck by the stone, "are broken to pieces together, and become like the chaff of the summer threshing floors" (Dan. 2:35).

He confirms it from their own scriptures: for was not the chief corner stone of which the psalmist spoke to be a stone rejected by the builders in Israel? Was not "the Lord's doing" to be the reversal of their deed? But the result of it for that generation would be the taking from them of that Kingdom which in the person of its King they were thus refusing. It would be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof: that is, not the Christian Church, but the Israel of the future; in fact the first nation which will be all holy. The terms of the new covenant expressly assure us of this.

Meanwhile "whosoever shall fall on this stone" ― as the nation then were doing ― "shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall" ― in the day when it strikes the feet of the image, as Nebuchadnezzar, the head of the image, saw it ― "it shall grind him to powder." At the coming of the Lord judgment will do its complete and effectual work.