42Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:
"'The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him."
My friend and I were talking about this verse the other day. It is much better to come, fall on Jesus, and have yourself broken so that He can mend you, rather than to deny Him and eventually find yourself crushed. Some versions say when the stone falls, it will "grind them to powder." Ouch. Jesus is speaking about salvation, but this metaphor also applies to the daily brokenness of giving up what we want (letting it fall to pieces) in exchange for what God wants. One friend talks about "coming to the end of our own strength." Do we go to God first, or do we wait until we come to the end of our own strength? I've begun praying that if I'm being pigheaded, that God will step in long before I reach the end of my own strength. I don't even want to approach that point, but the sad reality is that I often unconsciously tell God, "I can handle it! I've got this one, God. I know you're busy, and so am I. I can do this." Foolish! When you're broken, either by surrender or circumstance, you don't attempt to act on your own. As Pop likes to say, you pray one of those profound prayers, "Help, God!"
I'm commencing a study on brokenness via www.blueletterbible.com, and I was surprised to discover Ezekial 6:9 that speaks of God's heart being "broken" or "crushed" over Israel's "whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols." The word is defined thus:
a) (Qal)
1) break, break in or down, rend violently, wreck, crush, quench
2) to break, rupture (fig)
b) (Niphal)
1) to be broken, be maimed, be crippled, be wrecked
2) to be broken, be crushed (fig)
c) (Piel) to shatter, break
d) (Hiphil) to cause to break out, bring to the birth
e) (Hophal) to be broken, be shattered
It is generally a violent word, used metaphorically and literally of broken bones, idols, bars, people, etc. It is the same word used of broken hearts as well. For instance, Psalms 34:18 "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as a have a contrite spirit." And Psalms 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise." And again, Isaiah 61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound..." Jesus made it a point to read that last passage in the Temple and indeed did fulfill it.
It amazes me that God would deign to have His heart broken over His people. Seriously. Stop and think about it. We suffer broken hearts and broken spirits. God's love for us is so great that He is willing to suffer in this regard as well. He wants us! Bob Pierce looked out on a world filled with physical and spiritual suffering and prayed, "Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God." That is a dangerous prayer in the best sense because you will indeed be broken. So far what I've learned from this study about God's brokenness is that it is over His people being unfaithful.
The other thing that amazes me is that one of the reasons God sent Jesus was to "heal the brokenhearted." We often ask some version of, "God, do you care? Do you see? Am I just living in a soap opera down here? I feel a little ridiculous feeling miserable when I'm not sure what You think about it." Okay, maybe that's just me. But the point is that God totally understands us. He wants to heal us and make us whole, leading us through hardship and suffering to be conformed to the image of His Son. There's a passage in the New Testament that talks about "with the comfort that He comforts us, we also ought to comfort one another." (Sorry for the paraphrase, but it's practically 2am.) Anyway, to bring the thought around, that whole passage about Messiah is really quite incredible. We have a joke in my family that if the questions are in rapid-fire mode at Bible study, "When in doubt, say 'Jesus!'" It really is true. His blood covers us and gives us access to abundant, sufficient grace.
More on this topic to come.
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