The Rejected Stone

1 When He gave the commandment, what does He say? ‘Who is the one who argues with Me? Let him challenge Me. Or who is the one who goes to law with Me? Let him come near the servant of the Lord.’ 2 ‘Woe to you, for you will all wear out like a garment, and the moth will consume you.’ And again, the prophet says, seeing that He was destined like a hard stone for crushing: ‘Look, I will place in the fountains of Zion a very precious stone, chosen, a chief cornerstone, honored.’ 3 Then again, what does He say? ‘Whoever sets his hope on Him will live forever.’ Is our hope set on a stone? Certainly not. It is because the Lord has established His flesh in strength. For He says: ‘And He placed Me as a hard rock.’ 4 And the prophet says again: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the head and the corner.’ And again He says: ‘This is the great and wonderful day which the Lord has made.’ 5 I write to you more simply so that you may understand, I who am the outcast of your love. 6 What then does the prophet say again? ‘A gathering of evildoers surrounded Me; they encircled Me like bees around a comb, and they cast lots for My clothing.’ 7 Because He was about to appear in the flesh and to suffer, His suffering was foretold in advance. For the prophet speaks concerning Israel: ‘Woe to their souls, for they devised harmful plans against themselves, saying, Let us bind the righteous man, for he is useless to us.’⁠a

The Land of Milk and Honey

8 What does the other prophet, Moses, say to them? ‘Look, these are the words of the Lord God: enter into the good land which the Lord swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit it, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 9 But what does knowledge say? Understand this: Set your hope on the One who is going to be revealed to you in the flesh—Jesus. For humankind is earth that suffers; from the face of the earth, the creation of Adam took place. 10 What then does He say? ‘Into the good land, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ Blessed is our Lord, friends, who established wisdom and understanding of His secrets among us. For the prophet presents a parable concerning the Lord: ‘Who will comprehend it, except the one who is wise and understanding and who loves his Lord?’ 11 Since He renewed us by forgiving our sins, He shaped us to be a new type, so that we might have the soul of children, as if recreating us. 12 For Scripture says of us, in these words to the Son: ‘Let Us make humanity in Our image and after Our likeness, and let them rule over the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea.’ And the Lord, when He saw the beauty of our creation, said: ‘Increase and multiply and fill the earth.’ These words refer to the Son. 13 Again, I will show you how the Lord speaks about us. He made a second creation at the end, and the Lord says: ‘Look, I make the last things like the first.’ Concerning this, the prophet proclaimed: ‘Enter into a land flowing with milk and honey, and rule over it.’ 14 Look then, we have been created anew, as He says again in another prophet: ‘Look,’ says the Lord, ‘I will take out from them—that is, from those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw—their stony hearts and will put into them hearts of flesh;’ for He Himself was going to appear in the flesh and dwell among us. 15 For a holy temple to the Lord, my friends, is the dwelling of our heart. 16 For the Lord says again: ‘How will I appear to the Lord my God and be glorified? I will confess You in the assembly of my brothers, and I will sing to You in the midst of the assembly of the saints.’ We therefore are those whom He led into the good land. 17 What then is the milk and the honey? Because a child is first kept alive by honey and then by milk, so in the same way we also, nourished first by our faith in the promise and by the word, will live and rule over the earth. 18 Now, we have already mentioned above: ‘Let them increase and multiply and rule over the fish.’ But who is able now to rule over beasts and fish and birds of the air? For we should understand that ruling implies power, so that one gives orders and has authority. 19 If this does not happen now, it is certain that He spoke to us about the future, when we ourselves will be made perfect so that we may become heirs of the Lord’s covenant.