Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed. Luke 20:18
Jesus was talking about the people were rejecting the main corner stone and that He was that corner stone. He ends the talk with telling the people that anyone who falls on that stone will be broken, but anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.
The Pharisees who were supposed to be the builders of God’s temple were against Jesus. They had rejected Him as being the new cornerstone for God’s temple. They refused to follow Him and were against anyone who did follow Him.
Since the time of Jesus, people have not changed. There are people who are in the church who are actually fighting against God. They are trying to hold to old traditions and ways rather than following Jesus and being led by God’s Holy Spirit. They do not want to change.
Right now it appears as though those people are winning and that God is not doing anything. However, there will come a day when Jesus will return. Anyone who is against Him will receive His full wrath. Every person who chooses not to follow Jesus will be crushed and destroyed by God’s extreme wrath against them.
Those who have chosen to follow Jesus will allow themselves to be broken by Him. They will fall upon Him, trusting Jesus with all of their heart, soul and mind. In the process of doing that self will be destroyed. They will no longer allow their selves to be in control but will allow God to have all control over their life. In the words of Jesus, they will be broken.
Being broken means that they can be repaired correctly. God will put their lives back together to serve Him and His kingdom in the best way possible. It will no longer be about self, but about God and building His kingdom. It will be about others being saved.
You have to make a choice in your life about Jesus. If you choose to follow Him, you must allow yourself to be broken and allow Him to have absolute control of your life. Allow yourself to broken by God so that He can use you in the best way possible in His kingdom for His purpose.
Will you be broken now?
Or will you be crushed later?
I pray today that you will be broken before God; that you will allow God to have control over your life; that you will not reject Jesus in your life; and that God will use you to build His kingdom.
Some ask to believe in god and keep on the fight against whatever is breaking you.. some say leave it up to god.. some say just wait patiently and some say if you just sit there waiting god will help you, you might just be sitting for rest of your life! What should a person exactly do?
One should keep working to do what they can as the trust God to strengthen them and provide what they cannot do. God works in and through people, multiplying their efforts. You must never fight against what God is trying to do in you. God orders the steps of a righteous man. If you are trusting in God for your salvation and striving to follow Him, He will build you up in His ways, even if He has to break you first.
Thank you for reading and the great question. It is always a challenge on what to do and how to do it.
Great words! Thank you for the response surely noted it.
You are welcome.
Thank you for this excellent and succinct description of difference of being broken vs crushed – which I agree with.
Thank you. Give God the glory and praise. Have a blessed day in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Wow! Our church is going through a series about brokenness and this verse is perfect. Your commentaries are very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to expound this verse.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I will be praying for your church. It can be tough going through challenging times in a church. May God fill you and your church with many blessings each day.
Hi Tom,
Yes, I’ve always taken that “broken” is via God, ‘working in us to will and due his good pleasure.. pleasing the Lord to bruise him.. learning obedience via suffering.’
Whereas the bible commentators I checked on Bible Hub saw both “broken” and “crushed” negatively- punishment to the religious leaders.
Arnold
Thank you for reading and the comment. Being broken by God is something that can be seen as positive or negative, depending on how you view it. In His great love, God will break a person to get him on the right track or to get his focus back onto God, or to train him in some new area of his life. Most people see punishment (being broken) as a negative thing. People often use it that way, rather than how God uses it. God wants everyone to be the best that they can be. In order to do that, He may have to break them down a little to build them back up new.
Think of a sports runner. He has to break down old habits in running, break down the pain of running hard and long, break down his breathing, and more in order to build up to become a great award winning runner.
However, with God, if one does not learn from being broken, it becomes a punishment. Ultimately it becomes condemnation to hell, separated from God for eternity.
So, yes, it is both being broken to please God and can be a punishment, both positive and negative.
In this verse, it is being broken (changed, humbled) before God, or be crushed (condemned, destroyed) for eternity.
At the same time, I would say that God does not want to break us, but does because it is what we need to be holy as He is holy. To make us more like Jesus. So it is His pleasure to do it, because it is for our best interest in light of eternity.
I hope this helps clear it up a little.
Have a blessed and wonderful day in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.