“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?”
The full verse · Matthew 21:42 · KJV
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Asked by
Jesus: the Son of God and promised Messiah, teaching in the temple and answering the leaders' own verdict on His parable (Matthew 21:23, 41)
Asked to
Chief Priests: the leading priests of the temple, who perceived that His parables were about them (Matthew 21:45); Elders: the elders of the people, who came with the chief priests to question His authority (Matthew 21:23)
The Scene
In the temple, the chief priests and elders have just said that the lord of the vineyard will "miserably destroy those wicked men" who killed his son (Matthew 21:39-41).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionThe leaders had just passed sentence on the husbandmen without seeing that the story was about them. Jesus now held up a passage they knew well, Psalm 118:22-23, so they could see the same truth in their own Scriptures. "Did ye never read" was not a doubt that they could read. Matthew Henry answers it: "Yes, no doubt, they had often read and sung it, but had not considered it." Gill says the builders are "the Jewish rulers, both political and ecclesiastical," and Barnes explains that the stone is Jesus, offered to the Jews as the cornerstone of the church but rejected by them. The question pressed the builders to find themselves in the psalm.
The Response
What Scripture recordsJesus drew the conclusion Himself: "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matthew 21:43). He warned that whoever falls on this stone "shall be broken," and on whomever it falls "it will grind him to powder" (Matthew 21:44). The leaders gave no answer in words. When the chief priests and Pharisees "perceived that he spake of them," they wanted to lay hands on Him, but "they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet" (Matthew 21:45-46).
Historical Context
The world behind the wordsJesus quotes Psalm 118:22-23, where the KJV reads "the head stone of the corner." The cornerstone held the walls together. Barnes describes it as the principal stone "for size and beauty," and says the psalm "was first applicable to David, but no less to Jesus."
The Greek word for "rejected," apodokimazo, means to disapprove or repudiate (Thayer). The same verb is used when Jesus says the Son of man must suffer many things "and be rejected" (Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22), and it appears again when Peter quotes this psalm (1 Peter 2:7). The psalm was fresh in the air that week: days earlier the crowds had greeted Jesus with its words, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 21:9; Psalm 118:26).
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis question shows how God works. The parable ended with the son cast out and slain (Matthew 21:39), but the psalm goes further. The stone the builders threw aside becomes the stone that holds the whole building together, and "this is the Lord's doing." Matthew Henry writes that even the rejecting of Christ by the Jewish builders "was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." What people refused, God raised to the place of honor.
Gill says this is "marvellous in our eyes; in the eyes of all the saints." The same word that warned the builders became good news for others. Peter later applied the psalm to Jesus before the council (Acts 4:11) and told believers that this stone is "precious" to those who believe (1 Peter 2:7). Henry notes that one Scripture can bring comfort to Christ's followers and conviction to His enemies.
Look Closer
How did the chief priests and Pharisees finally respond to Jesus' parables?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, what Scripture have I read many times without truly considering it, and what do You want me to see in it now?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- The builders knew the psalm well but missed the Stone standing in front of them. What can keep familiar Scripture from reaching your heart?
- The psalm calls God's work "marvellous in our eyes." When have you seen God take something people set aside and give it a place of honor?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
You can know a Scripture well and still miss what it says about Jesus. The leaders had often read and sung this psalm, as Matthew Henry says. What they lacked was a willingness to let it speak to them. When you read, slow down and ask what the passage shows you about Christ, not only what you already know about it.
The psalm is also good news. Jesus was rejected, yet God made Him the cornerstone. Peter tells believers that this living stone was "disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious," and that those who come to Him are built up as "lively stones" (1 Peter 2:4-5). Your place in God's house rests on Christ, not on whether people approve of you.
This doesn't mean every rejection you face proves you are right. The rejected stone in this verse is Christ. The question for you is whether you are building on Him.
Scripture's own application: 1 Peter 2:4-7
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:”
“What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?”
“Hearest thou what these say? Have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?”
“When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?”