Today's Meditation
Read Acts 4:1-12
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, 2much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. 3So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.
5The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. 11This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ 12There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”
There are four cornerstones to a building. They make up the first stone laid at each corner. Each cornerstone is important and sets the integrity of the building. However, the chief cornerstone is the very first stone laid down for a building. This stone, its size and shape as well as its orientation and placement, was extremely crucial for the structural success of the building; all other stones laid down next to it and eventually on top of it were determined by this stone. In ancient days, builders were critical of every stone placed for a building. Many of the ancient buildings that still stand in Europe have done so without a single ounce of mortar in between stones, because every stone was selected and chiseled to perfection to be laid next to the previous stone or on top of the stone below it.
Since the chief cornerstone determined the success of all other stones that were laid down, this stone was the most important and set the success of the foundation of the building. In our passage from Acts today, Peter makes the analogy that Jesus was rejected by the chief priests of the synagogue, the religious leaders of the Jews. But, for Peter and for those who follow Christ, he is the chief cornerstone. He is the foundation upon which the church stands. He is the perfect rock, the one without flaw, the cornerstone that sets the success of our faith.
With Christ as your chief cornerstone, what are the other cornerstones in your life? What are the foundations that keep you grounded, that set the success of your own life?
I love this piece and I love their voices, but I have a difficult time watching the video. The camera work is annoying and gets really intense with the climax of the song. I'm sure it was made to do exactly that, to heighten the intensity of the song, but it makes me dizzy. (Just a warning, if you are like me.)
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