The Rejected Stone

“In God’s eyes he was like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. But in our eyes there was no attractiveness at all, nothing to make us want him.” – Isaiah 53:2

When I read this verse, I wondered how a stranger on the shores of a great lake could have been able to compel others to drop what they were doing to follow him. The disciples literally gave up their careers to follow a man who, even if they’d heard about him, they did not know. So, I figure that this stranger on the beach must have had some form of beauty. Clearly this verse must not be speaking to Jesus’ physical appearance but must be, symbolically, referring to something else, something spiritual because there is no way that He, as sinless and divine as He was, could not have been anything other than perfect in appearance.

Sadly though, it was and still is, that many cannot see the beauty in Jesus and the spiritual journey He has called each of us to walk. They see “no attractiveness at all, nothing to make [them] want Him” – the One who made atonement, once and for all, for sin. For them, Jesus is the Rejected Stone.

“The stone which the builders rejected as worthless turned out to be the most important of all.” – Psalm 118:22

They build their lives without even considering Jesus. He does not fit into their plans nor the material goals they have made. He does not conform to their lifestyle. He isn’t even gathered among their building blocks. What a pity. Even for some raised in Christian homes by Christian mothers and fathers, there’s no appeal and no desire for Jesus, and indeed no care for the spiritual journey. Instead, just like the guards who mocked and beat Jesus, those who have chosen to reject the Stone, mock Him and the people who have chosen to walk with Him.

To the ones who have chosen the Stone, Jesus gives His own glory and they become “partakers of the divine nature” (see 2 Peter 1:4) – not the very nature of God but one which is divine in origin and character, that same nature intended in the beginning when God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26). What a privilege and an honour and oh so humbling an experience.

“As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him-- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 2:5-6 (NIV)

And, as you progress along the spiritual path, you too become as a living stone, aligned with the Living Stone which was laid before any other at the bottom, supporting the weight of the stones. Jesus is your sure foundation, but even believers can be stone rejecters. 

When God places any challenge before you that you refuse to take up, you have deliberately rejected a stone, since God-given challenges are stepping stones to higher levels in life. Rejecting these stones is to willfully reject the next level of your journey, it is to reject your own progress and your own blessings.

Beloved, if you are one who is rejecting Jesus as your Chief Cornerstone, He will become a Stone of Judgment in your life (see Matthew 21:44); continuing to build your house without Him as The cornerstone will eventually lead to ruin (see Luke 6:47-49). 

Today I implore you, as you gather the blocks to build your life here on earth, take a good look at this Stone, for this is the stone that will turn out to be the most important of all. 

Amen†

The Rejected Stone

Shelley Johnson March 10, 2017