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Verse:
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Luke 20: 17,18
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Scripture:
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Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this Scripture mean? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”
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Translation:
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Quoting Psalm 188:22, Jesus showed the unbelieving leaders that even their rejection of the Messiah had been prophesied in Scripture. Ignoring the cornerstone was dangerous. A person could be tripped or crushed (judged and punished). Jesus’ comments were veiled, but the religious leaders had no trouble interpreting them. They immediately wanted to arrest him.
The word “broken” conjures up uniformly negative images: broken bones, broken hearts, broken toys. You don’t want something you value to be broken. Conversely, in God’s dictionary, brokenness is not only good but also essential. He uses only people whose hearts, volition, and pride have been broken. Jesus gives a double warning: those who stumble over that stone –himself– “will be broken to pieces,” while it will crush anyone it falls on. God offers a choice of “brokennesses.” Those who cast themselves on Jesus, submitting their wills and all that they are to him, will be broken by him of arrogance, hard-heartedness, and self-centeredness. It is not a pleasant process but an absolutely necessary one. For those who do not submit to him, he will ultimately “fall on them,” an experience that can only be described as “crushing.” The choice is yours: broken before him, or crushed by him.
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Source:
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Life Application Study Bible, NLT translation.
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