Mark 12:10-11

“Have you not read even this Scripture, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord and it is marvellous in our eyes.’ ”

This method of finishing off a parable with a Scripture quotation is regularly found among the Rabbis.

The quotation is taken from Psalms 118:22-23 LXX, which was the same Psalm shouted out by the crowds when Jesus entered Jerusalem. Even at that time these words must have come into His mind as He contemplated what lay ahead for they were so apt. ‘The stone which the builders rejected’. The same verb is found in Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; Luke 17:25. Originally the verses probably referred either to Israel, rejected by the nations as insignificant, but to be restored in God’s purposes to the place of supremacy, or to their ruler whose restoration would bring about the same, or to both seen in combination. The Targum (Aramaic translation and interpretation) cites these words in terms of ‘the sons of Jesse’.

But as Isaiah had pointed out, Israel and her rulers had failed in this purpose, so that while originally the Servant of Isaiah was meant to be Israel, and then the true Israel (Isaiah 49:3), he was consolidated into one man, the Suffering Servant who would die for the sins of the people (Isaiah 50, 53). Thus the promises made to Israel were the promises to be fulfilled in the Suffering Servant, who had king-like qualities (Isaiah 52:13). So Jesus stood there as the representative of Israel (compare Matthew 2:15; John 15:1-6). See also the Son of Man in Daniel 7:0 who also represented both Israel and Israel’s ruler, and there too the emphasis was on Him as the One Who represented them.

Now Jesus applied the Psalm specifically to Himself. The stone was probably to be seen as rejected because it did not seem to fit anywhere. But when the time came it was found that it made an ideal cornerstone, or more probably the keystone which completed and held together the building. Thus the stone that was rejected turned out to be the most one important of all. It is clear that Jesus was here referring to Himself, and the implication was Messianic, as the whole previous parable was. For He was pointing out that He was the beloved son (Aramaic ‘ben’) and the supreme keystone (Aramaic ‘eben’) around which all else was built. The word play was probably intended and the Targum actually translates the word for ‘stone’ as ‘son’.

This was all a warning to the Jewish leaders to consider well what they were rejecting. It was unwise for them to reject Him just because they could not see how He fitted in to God’s plan as they saw it. Bit if they did reject Him, let them not doubt that He would yet prove to be the keystone of God’s plan of deliverance. The Son may be killed and cast out, but He would finally become God’s keystone (compare the similar basic idea in Isaiah 53:11-12 a). In the light of His coming death this was a veiled promise of resurrection, the two parables together thus illustrating His previous warnings to His disciples.

For further application of this verse to Jesus see Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:4; 1 Peter 2:7; and compare Romans 9:32-33; Ephesians 2:20. Its early use in Acts by Peter confirms that we would expect to find that the application was based on the teaching of Jesus.

‘This was from the Lord and it is marvellous in our eyes.’ It will all be God’s doing, a marvellous revelation of how He goes about His purposes, and something to be wondered at. The cognate verb of ‘marvellous’ occurs regularly in Mark as referring to Jesus (see Mark 5:20; Mark 6:51; Mark 12:17; Mark 15:5; Mark 15:44). The whole work of Jesus was seen as marvellous from start to finish.