The Bible describes the church as a building made up not of bricks and stone, but of living Christians. Ephesians 2:20 explains that the foundation for this temple being built for the glory of God is the teaching and examples of the apostles and prophets and that Jesus is the Cornerstone. That makes him the most important of course.

We don’t use Cornerstones in many of our buildings today. Everything is wood frames or steel beams and we don’t really build the way they did. The cornerstone is the most important, usually largest and always the first stone laid and with good reason. That large stone will affect everything that comes after it. The orientation of the corner stone will affect which direction the building is facing. If it is not level you could easily wind up with the leaning tower of Piza when you are finished.

Jesus is our cornerstone so that as we are built around and on top of him we will face the right direction as well as being stable and upright. The image of Christ the cornerstone was prophesied all the way back in Psalm 118. In verse 22 of that Psalm he is pictured as a stone that the builders rejected, but that became the cornerstone. This verse is quoted 5 times in the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, and 1 Peter. The builders are the religious leaders of Jesus’ day and they rejected him. They wanted to build according to their own plan and not God’s.

What about you and me? Will we be like them and reject Jesus? Or will we accept him as the cornerstone God made him and allow God to build us on Christ as he sees fit? Peter says this cornerstone is chosen and precious and if we will believe in him we will not be put to shame. Let’s trust the master builder and build our lives and be built in his church the way he wants us to be.

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In Luke 2 Jesus is taken to the temple and we see the first person who recognizes him for who he truly is. In verses 25-26 we read, “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.” 

After seeing Jesus he praised God for being allowed to see God’s salvation. He also points to the fact that Jesus will be a light to reveal God to the Gentiles and be a cause for many in Israel to rise or fall. Certainly, the decision to believe in Christ or reject him made a huge impact on Israel. 

Simeon is ready to die now that he has experienced seeing the Christ, but what was so special about it? For centuries the Jews had been looking for the Christ and probably millions had died disappointed that the Christ didn’t come in their lifetime. This man was not only part of a special generation, but he recognized how special it was to be there to see Christ.

Christ is a word that literally translated would mean anointed. Jesus was the special fulfilment of what the Lord had prophesied that there would be one who would be his anointed or chosen one. He was chosen or anointed to be prophet, priest, and king. We may not have been there to see God’s chosen one in person, but we can see him through the scriptures.

There is one more thing Christ has been chosen or anointed to do, judge the world. If we won’t see Christ through the Bible now and anoint him king of our lives, he will come as a judge with a sentence of condemnation and it will be too late. We need to be like Simeon and see Christ before we die, and help others meet him, too.

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In 1 Peter 5:4, as Peter addresses the shepherds of the church refers to Jesus as the Chief Shepherd. He gives the elders teachings on how to lead the church and promises that they will be rewarded if they do so faithfully. Christ will give a crown to those who, “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;  not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” 

Christ left a perfect example and expects the shepherds of the local congregation to follow his example and be examples to the flock. The other members of the church should follow their example as they are following Christ’s. We often fail in this. We see the godly way that faithful leaders live and we admit that they are good godly leaders to be admired, but we don’t take the next step and follow them in the speech and behavior that we find honorable. 

Christ as the Chief Shepherd doesn’t force the shepherds and he doesn’t force us. The shepherds also are told not to be domineering over the flock. How can they get us to follow without being domineering? Only by showing the example, encouraging us to follow them, and warning us of the dangers that we face if we don’t. We must willingly follow. We can’t say that we love Christ and are followers of him and fail to follow those who are tasked with overseeing us. 

How can we claim Christ as Chief Shepherd while disregarding the shepherds that he is the chief over? We can’t, at least not with any level of believability. Are you following those shepherding your soul so that they can give answer on the day of judgment with joy and not with sorrow. Are there areas of your life that you have refused to turn over to the Chief Shepherd? Are we waiting for someone to tell us what to do or are we following the examples of those who are following Christ or following Christ ourselves?

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