The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. (Psalm 118:22-24)   Anyone familiar with the New Testament will know that these verses from Psalm 118 about Jesus being the cornerstone show up all over.  Verse 24 is also where our song "This is the Day that the Lord has Made" comes from.  The Palm Sunday shout of "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" also comes from this Psalm.  So, there's a lot going on here. The most significant theme that resonates throughout is how the Lord is the one who saves.  "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans," the psalmist says.  And later: "I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done."  The Lord is the one who saves from death, calamity, and sin.  He is the only one, in fact.  The psalmist couldn't do it alone and is convinced that no one else can either.  But because the Lord is good and because "his love endures forever," we are able to trust that the Lord will not give us over to death either, even when we face death.  Of course, all of this good foundational theology was made flesh and dwelt among us in Jesus.  He was the one who came in the name of the Lord.  He was one who faced death unjustly and entrusted himself to the Father for salvation.  He did not attempt to save himself.  His hopes were well placed.  On the third day he was vindicated by the Father and rose from the dead, able to say once and for all with Psalm 118: "I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done."  All of us who trust in Jesus are able now to say the same thing.  But of course, this all looked rather like weakness.  Jesus didn't put up a fight.  He got himself bloodied and bruised.  He got himself killed.  Builders do not choose weak stones to be the foundational cornerstones.  Builders do not choose broken stones to become the foundational cornerstones.  Nor do they choose stones that they cannot put to their own uses.  By that criteria too, Jesus was rejected. But God vindicated Jesus.  Not only by overturning Pilate and the Religious Leader's unjust verdicts against him, not only by raising him to life and so nullifying the sentence of death carried out against him, but also by raising Jesus to the highest place in the throne room of heaven—making him the King, the foundation, the base upon which the Kingdom of God, the Church, and all God's people would be built.  This weak one becomes the strength of God.  This broken one becomes the restored face of the entire edifice.  This one who could not be put to use by the will of man becomes the one who empowers any worthy use any of us can set our lives to.      Jesus is our cornerstone. The only name in which life and salvation can be found. The only worthy foundation upon which to build our lives.  So today, let us rejoice and be glad in him.  

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