Which Day?

You may have memorized Psalm 118:24 without realizing it. I remember it from my early days as a believer when we sang it at youth group. Had that nice guy - girl echo thing. Perhaps you did as well, "This is the day, This is the day, That the LORD has made, That the LORD has made, We will rejoice, We will rejoice, And be glad in it, And be glad in it, etc. A verse to remind us of the presence of the Lord and His involvement in every day of our lives. How often I have heard a worship begin the service with this verse calling us all to rise and sing praise for "This is the day that the LORD has made so let us rejoice and be glad in it!". Not a bad thought, but have you ever put the verse in context? The previous verses, 22 and 23 are quoted by Jesus in Matt. 21:42, Mk 12:10, Lk 20:17 and found in Acts 4:11 in Peter's message and again in Peter's First Epistle 2:7. These are also verses you may be familiar with but never tied them to the previous verses. Psalm 118:22 & 23 read, "The stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." The day we rejoice in is not just any day; it is the day the Chief Cornerstone is exalted and His Kingdom is established. It is the day Jesus, Yeshua, Messiah conquered death and made life possible for all of us. In confronting the Pharisees and the Scribes, Jesus knows that they have rejected him. He tells the parable of the vineyard owner who goes away and leases His vineyard out to other caretakers. At harvest time he sends a series of servants to collect what is His due and these servants are mistreated and killed. The understanding is that these are God's Prophets. Check out Jeremiah if you miss the abuse point. As a final gesture the Lord sends His own Son to collect saying, "Surely they will respect My Son." But He is also abused and killed. From this story Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22 & 23. The clear inference is that He, Jesus, is the rejected stone who will become the Chief Cornerstone. And as we approach the celebration of His resurrection, it is indeed "Marvelous in our eyes".

Now the little chorus and the quote to begin a Worship Service is not wrong, per-se, but is, perhaps misleading or at least is inadequate in our understanding. WOW! This is the day that the Stone the builders rejected became the Chief Cornerstone! And it is marvelous in our eyes! This phrase, this verse has eschatological implications about the Kingdom of God. It is not just any day, it is THE day that the Lord has made for Messiah to be accepted after being rejected. 1 Peter 2 ties this to Isaiah 28:16 to remind those who follow Christ that we will not be put to shame and those who believe in the Chief Cornerstone, in Messiah, "Are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His Marvelous light" (2:9). The day of His resurrection shows that death is done, it has no hold over those who believe, it has no sting, it has no victory. Because of the victory of the rejected stone we have the opportunity to begin Kingdom living now with the expectation of its fullness to be yet realized. Popping Psalm 118:24 out of context makes for a nice little jingle, but it robs us of the rich meaning of the call to rejoice in Messiah's victory. Perhaps Resurrection Sunday is the one day we can quote this verse with great joy. But perhaps we need to quote verses 22 &23 with it for "The Stone the builders rejected has become the Chief Cornerstone. This is the LORD'S doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it."