Context – Repeated over and over again, this is a song of God’s steadfast love that endures forever:

Psalm 118:1,14,19,22-26a,28-29 – Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever… 14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation… 19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord… 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! 26a Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord… 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Context – When Jesus’ authority was questioned by the religious leaders at the temple in Jerusalem, He told them two indicting parables (The Two Sons and the Vineyard Tenants) and then concluded with this statement:

Matthew 21:42-46 – Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 “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. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Context – In Acts, Peter and John have been arrested for healing in Jesus’ name, and they are giving testimony before the Jewish leaders at their trial. In Ephesians, Paul is explaining the oneness achieved by Christ for all believers based on Himself as the foundation:

Acts 4:8b-12, Ephesians 2:18-22 – “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved… Eph. 2:18 For through him [Jews and Gentiles] both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

• Who are the “builders”, and who is the “Stone”?
• What does it mean that Jesus has become The Cornerstone?
• Why is this Cornerstone so important to eternal salvation?