Luke 20:17-18 with Isa 8:14-15

Isaiah’s historical context refers the words to the stumbling of those who opposed Isaiah’s message and their consequent captivity in Babylon. Luke takes the same words and applies them to the stumbling of the generation of Israelites that rejected Jesus as the Messiah and their consequent judgment by God. Paul and Peter do the same with Isa 8:14-15 (Rom 9:32-33; 1Pet2:8). Note the change of reference. In the OT instance the words referred to the personal enemies of Isaiah and the temporal judgment inflicted on them; in the NT the generation of Israel that rejected Jesus at His first coming and the eternal judgment against them are in view. --Thomas

Lu 20:17 And he beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?

Lu 20:18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

Isa 8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isa 8:15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

To one who does not know how something is done, it looks like magic. In the same way that God commanded certain prophets to perform dinner theatre for Israel in order to prophesy, the very history of Israel is a dinner theatre which contains a prophesy of Christ. Rather than marvel that Luke used the scripture in such a way, one should assume that Luke was teaching us to use the scripture in such a way. It is the genre of the mystery.

Pr 25:2 ¶ [It is] the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings [is] to search out a matter.

God has concealed the story of Christ in the history of Israel. One may ask, How do we know which parts are concealed prophecies, and which parts are not? It is certainly a legitimate question for those who wish to avoid free-for-all allegory. The answer is that it is all a prophecy of Christ. God has eliminated the human factor in determining which parts to interpret as prophecy by making it all prophecy. All the scripture speaks of Christ.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION