Falling on the Stone
Speaking of Himself in Matthew 21:44 [NKJV] Jesus says, "And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."
In the prophesy of Daniel 2, we see that ultimately there is a stone that falls from heaven and crushes the kingdoms of this work. Daniel provides and explanation in verses 44-45 of Daniel 2 [NKJV] 44 "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45 "Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold--the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure."
The dream tells us that the Kingdom of God will be brought to earth by Jesus, who is the Stone that the builders rejected, but whom God has made the cornerstone of His Kingdom [Luke 20:17].
He is the stone that crushes those it falls upon.
But what about those who fall on the Stone and are broken? Who are they?
You can find several scriptures about women who were broken before God, weeping, and crying out before the alter or in the wilderness in the Old Testament. For example: Hagar in Genesis 21:16 and Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:7.
In the New Testament, we have examples of even more women, already broken by hurt, pain, sin or fear, falling at the feet of Jesus. See Mark 7:25; John 11:2, 32; 12:3.
The walls we put up against pain, doubt, fear, trial and trouble must be broken down to let the love, light and healing of Jesus into our hearts, minds and lives. To us, it is sin that causes us to break when we fall on Him, because His sacrifice was made to separate us from that sin. Sin can no longer inhabit the same space as Jesus, as it did when He was crucified for us. When He said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, it was at the moment and only that moment that sin inhabited the same space as Jesus. [Matthew 27:46] For eternity before that moment and for all eternity after that moment, this could not be.
Now, for us, His love breaks down who we were and puts us back together as who we are meant to be in Him. We fall on Him because we are broken by sin, and He lifts us up. We are broken by sin and He puts us back together, better than before.
The people who do not recognize their need for a Savior – who don’t see their own brokenness and voluntarily fall before Him – will be made to fall before the Cornerstone, the Rock of Israel to be broken down and rebuilt in His image in the furture. Much better to voluntarily break ourselves upon Him now.
Matthew 21:44 [NKJV] Jesus says, "And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."
But God and Jesus are our Rocks in so many other ways. Here are just a few examples:
· The Rock of Salvation – 2 Samuel 22:47; Psalm 89:26
· Rock of Refuge – Psalm 31:2; 94:22
· Rock of Strength – Psalm 62:7
Jesus is not a Rock of offense to those who voluntarily seek Him. He has no need to be a crushing Rock or breaking Rock for those who understand their brokenness and seek wholeness in Him. For us, He is the Rock that protects us, gives us strength and is a place of refuge for the already broken to find rest.
Sweet sisters, when sin breaks you, or when you feel broken down by trials, fall before the Rock and He will put you back together again.
I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments section or at Nancy@DyanmicChristianMinistries.org
P.S. I am working on a series focused on the three letters of John the Apostle (1, 2, 3 John) and comparing them to his telling of his time with Jesus in the Gospel of John. Hope to start sharing that with you soon.