Broken or Crushed? It's Your Choice!

In Matthew's gospel Yeshua applies the statement of Isaiah 8:14,15 to Himself (see Matt. 21:42-44): "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes." He then states in v. 44 - "And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." What could possibly have evoked such a stern and strong message and warning from Yeshua? The answer, having His authority questioned by the chief priests and religious leaders of the day in Matt. 21:23-27. His response to their arrogance was the delivery of the two parables (the parable of the two sons and the parable of the landowner) in verses 28-41, and then with His follow up concerning the chief cornerstone.

Also, in John 5:22-47, we are given a statement and evidences from Yeshua Himself concerning His authority. The statement is found in vv. 22-30 and is summarized in vv. 26,27: "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to executre judgement also, because He is the Son of Man." The evidences are found in the four-fold witness to Yeshua's Person and authority in vv. 31-47, i.e., the witness of John the Immerser (vv. 31-35), the witness of Yeshua's works (v. 36), the witness of His Father (vv. 37,38), and the witness of the Scriptures (vv. 39-47).

So in responding to him as the "chief cornerstone" we can respond in one of two ways. First, to humble ourselves before Him, the Lord of the universe, and allow ourselves to be broken upon Him so that we can be remolded into His image. Over and over again, every day, we need to take His yoke upon us, accept His authority over us (in the form of other people He places over us) and be broken to be conformed to what He wants us to be. Or, secondly, we can refuse to accept His authority, in arrogance reject it (and those He puts over us) and in the end, if we will not fall on the stone to be broken, the stone will fall on us, crush us to powder, only to be blown away by the wind. There are no other alternatives in life. We either accept the Lord's authority and lordship over our lives and allow Him to break us - this leads to life. Or we arrogantly challenge and refuse it (like the people in the gospel account did) and end up being crushed by Him in the end - this leading to death.

So, broken or crushed? It's your choice. Think about it.