March 1, 2023: 1 Peter 2:7-8 - He is Precious to We Who Believe

“Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.” - 1 Peter 2:7-8

To believe or not to believe in Jesus as one’s Savior is a matter of the heart. The heart is what keeps people from believing in Jesus. The heart can choose to be filled with pride, envy, strife, coldness, stubbornness, and indifference or it can be filled with a love for Jesus like one has never known, something so deep that it is hard to describe to unbelievers. To we who believe in Him as our Savior, He is precious to us, more precious than anything or anyone else in the world. He speaks to us through His word, through His Holy Spirit, through His creation, and in many other ways. We read of all that He went through, all of the hatred that was shown to Him, and yet, He did not return hate with hate, because He was God’s plan of redemption, from the very beginning of creation.

But when our hearts are filled with pride, pride of ourselves and all that we have accomplished, or pride in thinking that we don’t need anyone to save us, that we can save ourselves, we leave no room for Him. I believe pride is the main reason - the stone of stumbling and a rock of offense - that keeps people from believing that God is real and He did send His Son Jesus to the world, that through Him we might be saved.

God, who is all knowing, knew that Israel would reject His Son Jesus, but He sent Him anyways. He knew that Jesus would be a stumbling block to most of them, and His prophet Isaiah foretold of this to the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah:

“He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.” (Isaiah 8:14-15)

When the Child Jesus was presented by Joseph and Mary His mother in the temple, there was a man Simeon who had come to the temple by the Spirit. It had been previously revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. When Simeon saw the Child Jesus with Joseph and Mary, Simeon prophesied to Mary:

“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35)

The Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes, were threatened by Jesus because people were believing in Him as the prophesied Messiah. In their eyes, He was untrained and He ate with sinners. Jesus also called them out for their hypocrisy. Their hearts were puffed up in themselves and in all that they thought they were, and they hated Him. The chief priests, scribes, and elders then plotted to kill Jesus. At His trial before the Sanhedrin, a court of the high priest and leaders, the high priest Caiaphas asked Jesus: “‘I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on on the clouds in heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! What do you think?’ They answered and said, ‘He is deserving of death.’ Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?’” (Matthew 26:63-68)

These same people who found Jesus guilty and had Him crucified by the Romans were the ones that Jesus had come to save. But, instead of turning to Him in belief as their Savior, He had become their rock of offense. Their plan to have Him crucified was fulfilled, but it didn’t have the outcome that they intended. They intended for Him to die and life would go on as it was before, before He had walked the earth. But their lives would never be the same. As Jesus told His disciples what would happen before He died, the Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple in 70 AD. Many Jews were massacred and most of those who survived fled to other countries in the Diaspora. (See Matthew 24:2, Luke 21:6, Luke 23:27-31).

Because of their rejection of Him, after Jesus died, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven, His disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had previously promised they would be. They began doing as Jesus commanded them before He ascended: they preached the gospel - the good news of salvation from sins by faith alone in Christ alone - to the Jews and the Gentiles all around the world, and that good news is still being preached today.

Sadly, Jesus was a stumbling block not only to the majority of the Jewish people but also to the majority of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, and He is a stumbling block to most people today. But to us who have chosen to believe in Him as our Savior, He is precious in our hearts, oh, so precious. He simply is our everything. ❤️ ✝️