John Calvin Commentary 1 Peter 2:7

"For you therefore that believe is the preciousness: but for such as disbelieve, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner;" — 1 Peter 2:7 (ASV)

Unto you therefore which believe God having pronounced Christ to be a precious and a chosen stone, Peter draws the inference that he is so to us. For, no doubt, Christ is there described as we apprehend him by faith, and as he proves himself to be by real evidences. We ought, then, carefully to notice this inference: Christ is a precious stone in the sight of God; then he is such to the faithful. It is faith alone which reveals to us the value and excellence of Christ.

But as the Apostle's design was to counteract the offense that the multitude of the ungodly creates, he immediately adds another clause concerning the unbelieving: that by rejecting Christ, they do not take away the honor granted him by the Father. For this purpose, a verse in Psalm 118:22 is quoted: that the stone which the builders rejected, is become, nevertheless, the head of the corner. It therefore follows that Christ, though opposed by his enemies, yet continues in that dignity to which he has been appointed by the Father. But we must take notice of the two things said here: first, that Christ was rejected by those who ruled in the Church of God; and second, that their efforts were all in vain, because what God had decreed had to be fulfilled—that is, that he, as the cornerstone, should sustain the edifice.

Moreover, that this passage should properly be understood as referring to Christ is witnessed not only by the Holy Spirit and Christ himself, who explained it this way (Matthew 21:42), but it also appears evident from the fact that it was commonly understood this way before Christ came into the world. Nor is there any doubt that this exposition had been passed down, as it were, from hand to hand from the fathers. We therefore see that this was, so to speak, a common saying concerning the Messiah, even among children. I will, therefore, no longer discuss this point. We may take it for granted that David was rejected by his own generation in this way so that he might typify Christ.

Let us now, then, return to the first clause: Christ was rejected by the builders. This was first foreshadowed in David, for those who were in power considered him condemned and lost. The same was fulfilled in Christ, for those who ruled in the Church rejected him as far as they could. It might have greatly disturbed the weak when they saw that Christ’s enemies were so numerous—even the priests, the elders, and teachers, who were the conspicuous representatives of the Church. To remove this offense, Peter reminded the faithful that this very thing had been predicted by David. He especially addressed the Jews, to whom this properly applied; at the same time, this admonition is very useful even today. For those who arrogate to themselves the first place of authority in the Church, are Christ’s most inveterate enemies and persecute his Gospel with diabolical fury.

The Pope calls himself the vicar of Christ, and yet we know how fiercely he opposes him. This spectacle frightens the simple and ignorant. Why is this? It is because they do not consider that what David predicted is happening now. Let us, then, remember that this prophecy did not only warn those who saw Christ rejected by the Scribes and Pharisees, but that we also are fortified by it against daily offenses that might otherwise upset our faith.

Whenever, then, we see those who glory in the title of prelates rising up against Christ, let us remember that the stone is rejected by the builders, according to David’s prediction. And as the metaphor of building is common when speaking of political or spiritual government, so David calls them builders—those to whom the care and power of governing is committed—not because they build rightly, but because they have the name of builders and possess the ordinary power.

It therefore follows that those in office are not always God’s true and faithful ministers. It is, therefore, extremely ridiculous for the Pope and his followers to arrogate to themselves supreme and indubitable authority on the sole pretense that they are the ordinary governors of the Church. In the first place, their vocation to govern the Church is in no way more just or legitimate than that of Heliogabalus to govern the empire.

But even if we were to grant them what they unblushingly claim—that they are rightly called—yet we see what David declares concerning the ordinary rulers of the Church: that they rejected Christ, so that they built a sty for swine rather than a temple for God. The other part follows: that all the great, proud of their power and dignity, will not prevail to prevent Christ from remaining in his own place.

And a stone of stumbling. After having comforted the faithful that they would have in Christ a firm and permanent foundation, even though the greater part, and even the chief men, allowed him no place in the building, he now denounces the punishment that awaits all unbelievers, so that they might be terrified by their example. For this purpose, he quotes the testimony of Isaiah 8:14. The Prophet there declares that the Lord would be to the Jews a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. This properly refers to Christ, as can be seen from the context, and Paul applies it to Christ (Romans 9:32). For in him the God of hosts has plainly manifested himself.

Here, then, the terrible vengeance of God is denounced on all the ungodly, because Christ will be to them an offense and a stumbling, since they refused to make him their foundation. For just as the firmness and stability of Christ are such that he can sustain all who by faith rest on him, so his hardness is so great that it will break and tear in pieces all who resist him. For there is no middle ground between these two things: we must either build on him or be dashed against him.