Jesus as the Cornerstone
Have you ever watched stone masons at work? They are hard to find these days, even brick and block layers are not as common as they once were. One thing you’ll note, if you watch one of these craftsmen at work, is that they always start their construction projects at a corner of the building. Once they have the corner built up several courses, they start working down the walls, first in one direction then the other. Even in relatively small construction projects, there is always one stone, or block or brick which serves as the cornerstone. The mason uses this stone to layout the whole building.
Among the physical objects which serve as metaphors of the Lord Jesus Christ, we find the “cornerstone.” There are several passages in the Bible which employ this imagery as a way of emphasizing the centrality and importance of Jesus, particularly to the Church. For example, in Ephesians 2, Paul wrote: “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22
When 21st Century people think of a cornerstone, they usually imagine a decorative block of marble set in the wall of a public building. It would typically have an inscription with the name of the building and the date. In addition, it might have a dedication of some kind like “to the glory of God,” or “to the quest for knowledge,” or “to the service of the public,” depending on its purpose.
However, though we use the word “cornerstone” to describe such things today, that is not what the Bible is talking about when it uses this word to describe the Lord Jesus Christ. The cornerstone of the ancient world was quite different. It was literally the corner stone, that is, the first stone laid at the corner of a building. It had priority for this reason if for no other.
The cornerstone was carefully engineered because it served as the reference point for laying all of the other stones in the building. The angles of the cornerstone had to be precise or the angles of the walls would deviate. Cornerstones were often very large. Some in the old temple complex in Jerusalem were almost 20 feet long and just about 8 feet thick.
Because of the cornerstone’s position, it is part of two walls. It serves to hold two sides of the building together, typically at a 90 degree angle. This also means that buildings are stronger at the corners than they are along the length of the walls. At the same time, if something does happen to damage the corner of a building it is much more difficult to repair it.
These are more or less interesting facts about cornerstones, but why does the Bible use the image of a cornerstone - often the chief cornerstone - to tell us about Jesus?
When you think about Jesus as the cornerstone, remember that He is the one you need to measure your life by. Instead of words like “straight” or “square” which we might well apply to a cut stone, we think in terms of “righteousness” and “justice” when thinking of Jesus. It is in these areas of life that we look to Jesus as the standard. I have to ask myself, “Does my daily behaviour line up with the Cornerstone.”
One more thought: just as the structural integrity of a building depends on a physical cornerstone, so the spiritual integrity of the Church rests on Christ. Other “living stones” may not be near us in the wall, but still take their place in it based on their relationship to the Cornerstone. We should be more concerned with how people measure up to Christ than how they measure up to us.
Ron Hughes
© July 2006
