A Stone of Stumbling
“And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient…” (I Pet. 2:7,8)
Some thirty years after the death and resurrection of Christ, St. Peter wrote to the believers of the Jewish dispersion:
“Unto you therefore which believe He is precious; but unto them which be disobedient, the Stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, “And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient…” (I Pet. 2:7,8).
It is true that Israel’s builders, 1900 years ago, “disallowed” Christ as the cornerstone for their building, and that when He became the “Head of the corner,” according to Psa. 118:22, it was for them an occasion for stumbling and embarrassment.
But Christ is a “stone of stumbling” to all who reject Him. In Rom. 9:33 St. Paul quotes from several Old Testament passages:
“As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and rock of offence; and whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”
In Peter’s day and in Paul’s, those who looked upon Christ as their Cornerstone were never given cause to be ashamed. It was those who disallowed and refused Him who kept stumbling over Him and were constantly embarrassed by Him.
So today, those who put their trust in the crucified, risen Christ are eternally secure and will never be put to shame for having done so. But those who reject Christ keep forever stumbling over Him. They hear Him preached over the radio, they see Him offered as the One who died for their sins, they are constantly confronted with His claims and they are embarrassed. They keep forever stumbling over Him.
Moral: trust Him now as your personal Savior, for “whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.”
A Living Stone and Holy People
1 PETER 2
So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual l milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
3 if indeed you have m tasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, a living stone n rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as p a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices s acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
ESV Bibles . ESV Systematic Theology Study Bible Crossway. Kindle Edition.
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