Jesus Calls Out His Adversaries

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
    and it is amazing in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet (vv. 42-46).

The Kingdom of God

Some Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come.

Jesus: The kingdom of God comes—but not with signs that you can observe. People are not going to say, “Look! Here it is!” They’re not going to say, “Look! It’s over there!” You want to see the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is already here among you.

(to His disciples) Days are coming when you will wish you could see just one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won’t see it. People will say, “Look, it’s there!” or “Look! It’s here!” Don’t even bother looking. Don’t follow their lead.You know how lightning flashes across the sky, bringing light from one horizon to the other. That’s how the Son of Man will be when His time comes.

But first, He must face many sufferings. He must be rejected by this generation. The days of the Son of Man will be like the days of Noah. People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage. Everything seemed completely normal until the day Noah entered the ark. Then it started raining, and soon they were all destroyed by the flood.

It was just the same in the days of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, and carrying on business as usual. But then came the day when Lot left Sodom—a different kind of rain began to fall, and they were all destroyed by fire and sulfur falling from the sky. That’s how it will be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

Since people are easily distracted, Jesus says that they shouldn’t get so caught up in the routines of daily life that they forget to remain faithful to Him.

When that day comes, if you’re on the housetop, don’t run inside to try to save any of your belongings. If you’re in the field, don’t bother running back to the house. Remember Lot’s wife. Turning back is fatal for those who do so. If you try to hold on to your life, it will slip through your fingers; if you let go of your life, you’ll keep it. Listen, on the day of the Son of Man, two people will be asleep in bed; destruction will take one and the other will be left to survive. Two women will be grinding grain together; destruction will take one and the other will survive. [Two men will be working out in the field; destruction will overtake one and the other will survive.]

Disciples: Where, Lord?

Jesus: Where vultures circle over rotting corpses (vv. 20-37, The Voice).