Jump Start # 1256

Psalms 118:23 “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

NOTE TO OUR READERS: There will be no Jump Starts tomorrow or Friday. We hope you enjoy the day with your family and friends. Be thankful. Be a servant. We will be back on Monday, Lord willing, with some thoughts and plans for the New Year.

Christmas is upon us. Children go to bed this evening with dreams of not sugar plums but of presents. Parents do their best to get everything done in time. It’s a mad race against the clock. But in the end, it’s a special time for families. Some of our favorite memories are looking at the old photos and videos of Christmas’ long ago.

There is a common question that will be asked several times tomorrow. Young people ask it as well as older people. After all the presents have been unwrapped, someone will ask, “What did you get?” Friends will be asking each other that question. What did you get?

That’s a great spiritual question as well. Our verse today follows a statement about the rejected stone that became the chief corner stone. That expression is found more than once in the N.T. It is used in reference to Christ. The illustration and analogy is interesting. Stone masons would begin a project with leveling the ground and then carefully picking out the first stone, the corner stone. It would have to be square and solid. The rest of the foundation stones would line up with the this first corner stone. After the foundation was set, other stones would be placed on top of them. Getting the right stone and setting it right was very important. Inferior stones, or stones improperly set would almost certainly doom the project. The structure would collapse. It was the job of the stone mason to get it right with the first stone.

So these early masons would carefully inspect the stones. They looked for cracks and other things that may be a defect. Many stones might work later on in the structure but not for the corner stone. Our verse tells us that the stone was rejected. The masons didn’t want it. It’s not that it was rejected without inspection. They looked it over. They gave it some thought. They didn’t like what they saw and they tossed it aside. That rejected stone became the chief corner stone. It was used. It was right. It was solid. What the builders rejected, God chose.

This is a prophecy about Jesus. He was examined closely. He was questioned. He was under the microscope of the Jewish leaders. They picked apart just about everything in His life. His words, His actions, they were put to the test. They questioned Him. They tested Him. They tried to trick Him. They never backed off. In the end, Jesus didn’t pass the test for them. They rejected Him. To the cross Jesus went. Yet it was that rejected Christ that became the rock that the kingdom of God is built upon. That rock is what holds the house up during the storm. The builders were wrong about Jesus. They missed it. They were suspicious and had prejudice blinding their eyes. They refused to see and accept who Jesus was. The rejected Jesus became the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords. How did the rejected stone become the chief corner stone? Our verse. It says it all. This is the Lord’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.

Jesus Christ, the Savior upon the Cross gave the greatest gift of all—eternal salvation. So, what did we get?

• We got  a God who loves us and forgave us
• We got a God who wants to be our friend
• We got a fellowship of the greatest people on the face of the earth
• We got hope, joy and freedom from sin
• We got Heaven
• We got Jesus who is always with us

This gift can’t be wrapped and squeezed under a tree. This gift is alive and generation after generation benefits from it. This gift is salvation. Paul thanked God for this indescribable gift. Words can’t define it, touch it, or explain it. It’s too much. It’s more than we deserve. It came with a great price tag, the blood of Jesus. It comes not because we are so great, but because God chose to love us.

No gift that I will ever give will be as precious and wonderful as what God has given to us. Be thankful. Be thoughtful. Be obedient. Believe. Share. Tell others.

It is marvelous in our eyes, as our verse today says. So marvelous.

Roger