Matthew 21:43

[français]

43"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

who is Jesus talking about here? the Jews?

just a question that popped up today!

 

[bennyk]

I came across this verse too and I was wondering what it meant. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JohnDB]

It is one of those complicated two metaphor pieces and expressions of Jesus.
see Isaiah 8:14. it is a reference to a broken pot.
The part about being crushed is a reference to olive pressing for the oil.

In Matthew he is referencing the destruction of Jerusalem and the squeezing of the Olive Oil out of it and the Olive Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit in this case. Those that fell on Jesus were going to be broken. There past lives were over. None ever went back to the lives that they formerly did. Peter was a fisherman but he never did go fishing for a living after the ascention of Jesus. His life was forever broken and destroyed. He was martyred for his convictions as well. All of the Apostles lives were over after Jesus' ascention. None of them went back to their former lives and thus were broken.

Jerusalem was completely crushed and worthless after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD all of the "Spirit" filled people fled Israel proper and started new communities amongst the Gentiles. By the turn of the second century the bulk of the Christians was almost solidly Gentile. There were almost no Jews inside the realm of Christiandom. Considering the way that "Christians" have treated the Jews over the centuries it is little wonder as to the reason why they never have come to faith in Jesus. Spanish inquisition, Crusades, Holocaust.

 

[DInsight]

Grace and peace from God and the Messiah unto all!

For proper context, read from Matt. 21: 33-41. Our Lord presented the parable inside the temple... enough for the Chief Priest and elders of the people to understand their rejection of the Christ, but hard enough for them not to understand the kingdom of God therefrom.

He told them about a certain stone rejected by builders, which became the head of the corner (corner stone). That corner stone is the Christ (Messiah). Messianic attributes manifest as/in the kingdom of God.

Whoever falls on the stone (kingdom of God or Christ) shall be broken, whoever the stone (kingdom of God) shall fall upon becomes crushed.