Jesus, Our Capstone
“He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!”
Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’?” (Luke 20:16-17)
The “capstone” that Jesus is referring to here is himself! He is telling the people that God has exalted Him to be the chief stone above all, the very head of the corner, on which all else depends. Jesus–according to the book of Daniel–is the rock cut out of the mountain. Daniel described this as he told King Nebuchadnezzar about his dream:
While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. (Daniel 2:34-35)
Daniels’s interpretation of this dream speaks to our verses for today:
In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands–a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.
(Daniel 2:44-45)
Peter uses the capstone title for Jesus when speaking to the Jewish leaders in the book of Acts:
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 4:8-12)
Scripture is clear–salvation is found in no one else but Jesus! We find this clearly explained by Paul and Silas in the book of Acts when they answer the jailor’s question about salvation:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God–he and his whole family.
(Acts 16:31-34)
Take It to Heart
Jesus [said], “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
“By His words, ‘No one comes to the Father except through Me,’ Jesus stressed that salvation, contrary to what many people think, is not obtainable through many ways. Only one Way exists. Jesus is the only access to the Father because He is the only One from the Father.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
“Our nature struggles fiercely against being saved without our works and tries to deceive us with a grand illusion of our own righteousness. So we may find ourselves attracted to a life that merely appears to be righteous. Or because we know we aren’t righteous, we may be frightened by death or sin. Therefore, we must learn that we should have nothing to do with any other way of becoming righteous, except through Christ alone.”
– Martin Luther
