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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

CORNERSTONE

Term used in the NT to describe the exalted position of Jesus.

Jesus used this term to speak of himself in the parable of the wicked tenants (Mt 21:42; Mk 12:10; Lk 20:17). The setting for this parable was his final ministry in Jerusalem after he had cleansed the temple. The Jewish leaders had questioned him about his actions, and part of his reply was this parable, which symbolically addressed the situation between Jesus and the leaders. The Jewish leaders were represented in the parable as the tenants who were caring for the vineyard, which symbolized God’s people. Those tenants wickedly refused to honor the owner, who represented God, ultimately putting his son to death. The parable speaks of the coming death of Jesus in symbolic terms, and Jesus concluded it by referring the Jewish leaders back to their own Scriptures, specifically Psalm 118:22-23 (cf. Is 28:16), which he understood as speaking of his rejection and exaltation. The Jewish leaders rejected Jesus, but God would exalt him as the cornerstone.

Second, the term is used in Acts 4:11, which describes Peter’s defense before the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem. Peter explained to them the healing of the lame beggar by the temple gate, stressing that the healing took place by the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene whom they had crucified but whom God had raised from the dead (v 10). He then quotes Psalm 118:22 to confirm the events as being according to Scripture. It seems clear that Peter intended the rejection of the stone to refer to Jesus’ death and the placing of the stone as the cornerstone to refer to Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation. Thus, “cornerstone” designates Jesus in his exalted position with the Father.

The term is also used in 1 Peter 2:6-7. In verse 4 Peter combines the idea of the rejection of the stone in Psalm 118:22 with the idea of the chosen and precious stone in Isaiah 28:16, adding the idea of living from his own experience of Jesus’ resurrection. Peter is encouraging his readers to come to Jesus, that they may be built up as a spiritual house to God. This imagery is used to bring out the exalted nature of Jesus. In verse 6 Peter quotes Isaiah 28:16, which speaks of the chosen and precious cornerstone, and related this to believers. In verses 7-8 he quotes Psalm 118:22, referring to the rejection of the stone, and Isaiah 8:14, which speaks of a stone of stumbling, and relates these to unbelievers. Peter’s purpose is to set before his readers the exalted position of Jesus and to encourage them to remember him to whom they were called.

It is evident that the OT concept of cornerstone is applied to Jesus to emphasize his exalted position with the Father and so to encourage the believer. In Ephesians 2:20 brief reference is also made to Christ Jesus as the cornerstone upon which the church is built.