The Tragedy That Became the Cornerstone

18/04/2025 - Matthew Destry

PASSAGE: MARK 12:1–12

And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant[a] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvellous in our eyes’?”

THE HOOK: Comedy and tragedy coexist.

Life is complex. So is God’s story. The cross is the ultimate paradox: the darkest day becomes the beginning of light. Tragedy and comedy are not enemies in God’s theatre—they are collaborators. Ecclesiastes 3:1–4 – “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh…”

Application:

What if the pain you’re experiencing isn’t the end of the story, but the beginning of something redemptive? God’s presence isn’t limited to happy endings. He’s with us in the grief and the joy.

POINT 1: GOD”S VINEYARD – ISAIAH 5

POINT 2: THIS SON IS THE “BELOVED SON” — GENESIS 22:2

POINT 3: “COME, LET US KILL HIM” — GENESIS 37:20

POINT 4: The sting in the tail: THE SON IS KILLED

POINT 5: THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED — PSALM 118

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Where in your life have you silenced the voice of God? Have you kept Jesus close… but not central? Have you let him be a part of your life… but not the cornerstone of it? Let the Spirit search you.

CONCLUSION: THE PARABLES COME TO A HEAD

Good Friday began like a tragedy. It ends like one too But three days later, the script flips.

The rejected stone is raised. The dead son lives. And the greatest tragedy the world has ever known becomes the beginning of a comedy we call salvation.

The curtain has not fallen yet. And the final act? It ends with a wedding.