Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 21:42

"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner; This was from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes?" — Matthew 21:42 (ASV)

Did you never read...? The quotation is remarkable, as it is found in Psalm 118:22, within the immediate context of the verse that supplied the “hosanna” shouts of the multitude on the preceding day.

In the Psalm’s primary meaning, the illustration seems drawn from a stone that was quarried, hewn, and marked away from the Temple site. The builders, ignorant of the head architect’s plans, had set this stone aside, believing it had no place in the building. However, it was later found to be the very stone on which the structure’s completeness depended—the chief cornerstone where two walls met and were bonded together.

The Psalmist saw in this a parable of the choice of David to be king over Israel, and perhaps also of the choice of Israel itself from among the nations of the world.

Elsewhere, as in Ephesians 2:20 and in the language of later ages, Christ Himself is the chief cornerstone. Here, however, the context gives a somewhat different application. The stone which the builders rejected is found in the future converts from the Gentiles—the nation bringing forth the fruits that Israel had not. They are the “cornerstone” of the great edifice of the Catholic Church of Christ.

This meaning was obviously not incompatible with the other. Just as the Psalmist’s mind included both David and Israel under the same symbolism, so here Christ identifies Himself, more or less completely, with the Church which is His body .