In the days following Jesus’ triumphal procession into Jerusalem, he teaches with many cryptic parables. His teaching is evocative. His words are meant to get under our skin, get under our easy assumptions about the Kingdom of God. We are invited to come as we are and ease our grip on the assumptions we hold as we enter into a prayerful encounter with Jesus through the Scripture.
Sarah Patton shares the prayer which arose in her from this tender place of encountering Jesus.
Jesus,
Cornerstone,
Foundation of justice and mercy and love,
Holding all things together,
Source of protection from the storm,
Source of strength for the weak
That they may stand and not fall.
When all things crumbled around me — family, home, work, health,
I was shaky and wavering, barely able to stand.
You were there holding me up, sustaining me.
I was weak and weary.
You were — and are — the bedrock on which I rest.
You are the bedrock on which all things rest.
You are the cornerstone.
Amen.
Matthew 21:33-46 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”
Jesus 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 amazing in our eyes’?
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
For Reflection and Prayer:
Was there a word, a phrase, image, or feeling that ‘shimmered’ as you listened? Allow it to land in your heart. Stay with it. Savor it.
Reflect on what you heard. What effect does it have on you? What meaning does it hold for you? What does the Holy Spirit seem to be conveying to you?
Talk it over in your prayer. Perhaps you want to draw or color your prayer or journal the conversation.
As the time of prayer comes to a close, share some moments of quiet with Jesus, simply resting safely in his presence.
