Zechariah 9:9   Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Over the last two weeks we have been talking about Zach 9:9 and Psalm 118. These two scriptures play and important role in understanding the Triumphal Entry and the subsequent interaction in Jerusalem.  500 years before Jesus’ birth, Zechariah predicted a new king would ride a donkey into Jerusalem. Not only was he to be a new king, according to Zach, but he was to be a new kind of king.  This new king would bring righteousness and salvation to Jerusalem.  But he would bring it in a different way; not through military might, but through humility; through sacrifice.  The sign of the donkey was the sign of this new kind of king; a humble king.  On that special Sunday morning Jesus did Zach 9:9.  When he sat down on that donkey and began to ride toward Jerusalem he announced his reign! Jesus, unequivocally, proclaimed himself as the new King!

On that Triumphal Sunday, Jesus also did Psalm 118. As I explained two weeks ago, Psalm 118 was one of Hallel songs which pilgrims sang as they approached and entered into Jerusalem.  This psalm sings about God’s love enduring forever.  It talks about salvation.  It talks about being righteous before God.  Jesus also does Psalm 118:26-27 as he rode into Zion.

Psalm 118:26-27  Blessed is he (the king) who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.  The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. (God had to glorify his son) With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.

As the pilgrims sang this psalm and as they laid down the palm branches, they proclaimed Jesus as the new king.  Wow, Jesus did Psalm 118:26&27.  I am constantly amazed at the interwoven way in which God accomplishes his agenda.  Isn’t that amazing?  Jesus could have simply stood up on a rock and said, “I am the new king of Jerusalem.”  And the people would have laughed and said, “Yah and I am the Emperor of Rome, chuckle, chuckle.”  But the way in which Jesus announced his kingship was a God-way.  He did it by getting a donkey and doing Zach 9:9.  He did it by stepping into Psalm 118:26-27 and having the pilgrims sing it OF him.  That is how God does his mysteries; through the interconnections of scripture. 

But, that is not where it stopped on that Sunday.  Last week we also looked at Psalm 118:24. 

Psalm 118:24  This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

That Sunday of the Triumphal Entry should have been a day of rejoicing for everyone in Jerusalem. It was the day the Lord had made to rejoice in the new king.  But instead, we saw Jesus weep over his city. Jerusalem did not recognize what day it was. Some of the pilgrims did, but the leaders failed to acknowledge Jesus.  Because they did not know what day it was, the city would be destroyed. In less than 40 years his beloved city would lie in ruins because they did not rejoice and be glad in it.  Jesus wanted to do Psalm 118:24, but it did not happen and that broke Jesus’ heart. This was a day of amazing connections, but it was not over. 

What is fascinating is there is another line from Psalm 118 that Jesus does.  And it is the most significant of all the Psalm 118 verses.  But before we can read this Psalm 118 verse, we need to go back to Luke 20 and read a strange story Jesus told.

Luke 20:9-16  He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.  At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.  He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.  He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.  Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.'  But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over.  'This is the heir,' they said. 'Let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'  So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?  He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When the people heard this, they said, "May this never be!"

Isn’t this a strange parable? Those who heard it were shocked, “May it never be!”  It is unthinkable that these renters would kill the son.  What are you talking about? We have a guy who builds a vineyard and then rents it out to some knuckleheads who won’t pay the rent.  And instead of being thankful that they have a place to work and make some money, they get greedy and beat up the owner’s servants and then kill his son and expect to be left the place in the owner’s will.  Not only are they greedy and brutal, they are not very bright.  For the owner comes and executes justice on them and kills them and they lose everything!  What does it mean?

I suspect those listening to this story got the point.  It is pretty obvious.  God is the owner.  Jerusalem is the vineyard.  The leaders in Jerusalem are the renters. The prophets, including John the Baptist, are the servants who were sent to collect the rent.  Jesus is obviously the son who is killed.  The part they didn’t know that we know is in 70 AD Jerusalem is destroyed.  The owner comes with justice.  The good news from our perspective is we are the others which are given the vineyard.  But what does this have to do with the most important verse in Psalm 118?  Well it is what Jesus says next that connects this strange story with Psalm 118.

Luke 20:17  Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then what is the meaning of that which is written: "'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone'?

Wait that is a quote from Psalm 118:22.

Psalm 118:22  The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;

Right there amongst all the praise of the new king, and this is the day the Lord has made, and blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, and he has made his light shine upon us, and with boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.  In that context we have this strange statement, the stone the builders reject has become the capstone.

What does that mean? What is the metaphor of the rejected stone becoming the capstone mean?  And why is it the most significant verse in Psalm 118?

In the old days before concrete, which can be poured into any shape, stones were quarried in rock quarries.  Big chunks of limestone or whatever were broken off into blocks.  But the blocks weren’t all the same shape or size. It kind of depended on how the lines of the stone went and how it would break out. So, the masons would have to pick and choose the right stone to fit into the right place.  It was kind of like doing a puzzle.  Each piece of rock went into the right place until the building was built.  In Psalm 118:22 metaphor the builders kept ignoring a particular block.  “No, we don’t want that one,”  “That is the wrong stone, not that one. Pick a different one,” until the whole building is built and there is only one stone left to place on the building.  The stone which holds the entire structure together, the capstone.  Suddenly, this stone that has been rejected throughout the entire building process is THE right stone.  It becomes the center piece of the building. It locks it all in place.  The rejected stone takes the preeminence. 

This stone is Jesus.  He is rejected by the leaders of Jerusalem.  But he does Psalm 118:22.  The rejected stone ultimately becomes the exalted one!  Jesus, who is to die on the cross in a few days and be rejected by Jerusalem, three days later is raised from the dead and becomes the capstone of God’s house!  All the building down through history is finally completed with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The rejected stone becomes the King of Glory! 

Isn’t that another amazing connection?  Right in Psalm 118 which describes the one coming in the name of the Lord; right in Psalm 118 which rejoices in the day the Lord has made; right in Psalm 118 which announces the new king; there is this prediction of his rejection and glorification!  How could this be a coincidence? This is the God-way of doing his plan!  This is the way God operates! This is amazing!

Remember the capstone metaphor is the explanation of the parable of the tenants.  Even though the servants, the prophets, have predicted all this, the son is still killed and the vineyard is given to others.  Jesus, the rejected stone, the son who is killed, fulfills these predictions on the cross and then becomes the capstone of God’s house.  The entire thing was intentional.  The entire connection of Psalm 118 to this fantastic day of Triumph has the fingerprints of God all over it.  Get this, Psalm 118 was probably written a 1,000 years before Jesus.  God has woven the majesty of his plan all over the scriptures.  It is amazing. 
 
But there is still one more verse in Psalm 118 that summarizes how I feel about these connections.  Let’s read the next verse; 23

Psalm 118:22-23  The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;  the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Amen?  The Lord has done this.  Yahweh has woven a masterpiece of connections together to form an interlaced tapestry of revelation! 

But it doesn’t stop yet.  Look at the Psalm 118:19-21. 

Psalm 118:19-21  Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.  This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.  I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.

Jesus is the gate.  He is the gate of righteousness.  He is the gate through which the righteous may enter into the Lord.  “You have become my salvation!”  All this was there a 1,000 years before Jesus did it. 

Let’s put this together, graphically. (9 buttons)

 

Here is the point.  This is one of my major anchor points in my faith.  The God who is outside of time arranges things to accomplish his plan.  He inserts in Psalm 118, 1000’s years before it happens, the key elements of his plan; the king, humiliation, rejection, salvation, rejoicing.  500 years before it happens he injects the elements again, king of peace, humiliation, salvation and rejoicing.  Then, in his son, the plan comes to fruition; Jesus’ kingship announced in the Triumphal Entry, a demonstration of humility on the donkey, rejection on the cross, rejoicing because of the resurrection of the capstone.  Coincidence? I think not.  Realization of a divine plan? That is where my faith rests.

Just to show you this is not just me, “Tim gets excited over some strange stuff sometimes.  Just humor him.” Just to show you it’s not all me, listen to what Peter says a few months after Luke 20 and then a few years later.

Acts 4:8-12   Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people!  If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 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.  He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.'  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Amen?  Who is Jesus?  The Capstone! It made such an impression on Peter he writes about later in his life.

1 Peter 2:4-7  As you come to him, the living Stone-- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,"

We can place our faith in the chosen Capstone.  It is what my faith holds on to.  Let him be the anchor of your faith as well!  

The Triumphal Entry was a day of choice.   Some made the choice that day and proclaimed Jesus the Zach 9:9 king; “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.”  Others, like the Pharisees demanded silence.  The chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders chose to kill him.  Today is also a day of choice, what will you do with Jesus?