One might think that the manner in which Christ entered Jerusalem (Mt. 21:1-11) set the tone for the week. He came being acclaimed and worshipped by the crowds. They sang Messianic songs and welcomed Him with joy. They even declared Him to be “the Prophet” (v. 11), a reference to Dt. 18:15 and an affirmation that they believed Him to be the Messiah.
So even though we know that He was crucified at the end of the week, it would seem that all would and should go well in this week and that the rejection at the end of the week (Mt. 27:22-23) was sudden and inexplicable. But it wasn’t.
Jesus had been experiencing, questions, opposition, and rejection from the earliest days of His ministry. And that opposition merely continued throughout the week before the cross. Notice all the challenges to Christ in this one chapter (Mt. 21):
- He is challenged about His cleansing of the Temple — again (vv. 12-13)
- He is challenged about His healing of the sick and His acceptance of the children — again (vv. 14-16)
- He illustrated the opposition to Him with the cursing of the fruitless fig tree (vv. 18-22)
- He is challenged about the source of His authority (vv. 23-27)
- He asserted that the nature of the leaders’ rejection of Him was disobedience to God with the story of the two sons (vv. 28-32)
- He warned that the consequences of this disobedience would be the wrath of God with the parable of the vineyard owner (vv. 33-41)
Here are two final things to notice about this opposition. First, the opposition was not confirmed during the Passion Week, but when the religious leadership asserted that His ministry was from and empowered by Satan (Mt. 12:24, 31-32). The opposition in the week before the cross was simply a manifestation of their hard hearts that had been confirmed much earlier.
Secondly, whatever the level of their opposition, He was about to turn that rejection on its head:
“The stone which the builders rejected,
This become the chief corner stone” (v. 42).
This quotation from Psalm 118 declares that their rejection was as meaningless as builders examining stones for the chief capstone in a building and rejecting a potential one as defective. In fact, Jesus would use their very rejection of Him to place Himself in His distinctive and unique position as the capstone. Moreover, it was not just any stone that took the place of the stone rejected by the leaders — it was this one, that is the very stone that they rejected became the prominent stone.
From this week of conflict, then, we learn (at least) two lessons: when we see Christ rejected today, it is not unusual or unique and we need not be surprised by it. His rejection (sadly) is the norm. Yet we also know that His rejection is not final. Despite His rejection by the people of His day, and the people of our day, He is still Lord. He is ruling on His throne this day, and He will rule for all eternity.
Words of Grace 