A stone which the builders rejected, This has become the chief cornerstone.

Mark 11:27-12:17 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible 

And they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him, ²⁸ and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” ²⁹ But Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” ³¹ And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ³² But should we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet. ³³ Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

12 And He began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to vine-growers and went on a journey. ² And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. ³ And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. ⁵ And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. ⁶ He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not even read this Scripture:

‘A stone which the builders rejected, This has become the chief cornerstone;
¹¹ This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

¹² And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so they left Him and went away.

¹³ Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement. ¹⁴ They came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and do not care what anyone thinks; for You are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it permissible to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Are we to pay, or not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at Him.

Today’s text says: They came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him, and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” But Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ But should we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet. Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”  As they did with Jesus, people will also question our authority; our right to believe what we believe. We could respond as Jesus did, asking them a question. We could ask if they believe that God created the heavens and the earth or if it was created by a series of cosmic events. If they do not accept the foundational truth of creation, what reason could we have to try to explain or justify our beliefs?  In the text Jesus says: A stone which the builders rejected, This has become the chief cornerstone. If they reject the foundation, what can we hope to build on. 1 Corinthians 1:20;25 says: Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? … For the foolishness of God is wiser than mankind, and the weakness of God is stronger than mankind.  Those who believe they are wise with the wisdom of the world will reject the true wisdom of God as foolishness. In Matthew 10:7;14-15 when Jesus sent out the disciples He said: “As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near…’  And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than for that city.” We are called to share the good news of the kingdom, but we are not responsible for those who think our message is foolishness.

Today’s text says: Then they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement. They came and said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and do not care what anyone thinks; for You are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it permissible to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? Are we to pay, or not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” And they brought one. And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at Him.  Now as then, we cannot choose to live only in the kingdom of heaven. We also live in the world, and so we must submit ourselves in some things to the world’s authority. We are though to give to God the things that are God’s. Romans 12:1-2 says: I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Colossians 2:23-24 says: Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

As the circumstances and situations of the world play out before our eyes, we know the truth that it is God who controls both the present and the future. Regarding the difficult times at the end of the age, in Matthew 24:6 Jesus says: “See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place.”  We are called both to be witnesses for Christ, (Acts 1:8) and to pray for people for leaders. 1 Timothy 2:1-6 says:  I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all.  Not everyone will believe our testimony. Some will think it and us to be foolish. Not everyone will come to the knowledge of the truth in this life. We may not be able to change the circumstances and situations of the world, which Jesus says, “must take place.”  Our lives and our prayer should combine both a familiar prayer of people and the prayer Jesus taught us to pray.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference… Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.