Broken or Crushed

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:
" 'The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
-Matthew 21:42-44

Every time I see this verse used, it is used to illustrate how the supposed 'chosen' miss their opportunity to see the Messiah, so the rejected by the elite become the new Chosen. It is a cautionary tale to all of us who think we have it made that we can miss the key to it all. The Pharisees had all the knowledge, all the lineage, all the history to see the Messiah, but they missed it. They rejected Him and so missed out on the kingdom of God.

But there is something else here. Something subtle, something under the radar that I've rarely seen expounded upon. Maybe it is because it is a difficult thought, or maybe it is because it is not a 'safe' idea.

You don't encounter Jesus and survive.

Jesus says there are those who fall on this rejected capstone, and there are those on whom the capstone falls. One is broken, one is crushed. Both are destroyed.

Falling on the Stone
I take this to apply to those who come to Jesus. These people come to him, and fall on him, they trust in him and willingly worship him. It makes sense to me that the imagery Jesus uses here is one of being broken, like a pot that falls to the floor. We often talk about Jesus 'breaking our hearts' for something: a people, a sin, a tragedy. The idea of worship is about being broken. It is about realizing our failure to measure up- our pride being broken- and accepting the gift of God that makes us worthy. Worship is seeing less of me, and more of Jesus.

The thing about being broken is that we can't be put back together. We're Humpty Dumpty, broken before our king, only our king CAN rebuild us. To be broken is to be at ground zero, the starting point. What is then made from our ruin is the work of of Christ as he comes to dwell in us. TO be broken is to cease fighting against his will.

Crushed by the Stone
Other folks are found by God. They are not looking for Him, or in the case of these Pharisees, they are outright opposing Him. They push Him away, reject Him, but the power of Christ is overwhelming. He crushes us. The truth is that everyone will someday worship Christ. Every. Single. One. The only difference is if you will worship Him in His presence, or worship Him as you are separated from Him. Will you worship Him as your Savior, or as the Holy One you have realized too late?

You Can't Live
The truth is, you can't live with or without Jesus.


To know him is to give your life to him, and for him. This idea that we can't live with Jesus is not so much about us dying as it is about us letting HIM live in us. Letting our own fears and failures, our own flaws and our own prejudices die so that HE can be the guiding, driving force of our lives. Our ambitions must fall. Our plans must fail. Our vision must go dark. All in the life of Christ. If we do anything 'for Jesus' that is really for us, it is as good as dead.

No, we must live- not our lives- we must live His life, the one He marks out for us, the one He gives to us.

Let us be broken of our selves, so that He may repair us in His image.