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Bonaventure’s Commentary on Luke’s Gospel Thirty Days of Reflection and Prayer 56 Day Twenty-five: Read and meditate on Luke 20:9-19 Luke 20:17: “But Jesus looked upon the people and said: What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner stone?’” Bonaventure tells us: These words are taken from the Psalm where the text immediately continues: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is wonderful in our eyes” (117:22-23). In this is shown the admirable humility of Christ, who was willing to be rejected. In this is also shown his admirable power, that when viewed especially as a separate power it is reduced to the unity, as it were, of a corner stone. Now Christ is said to be a stone on account of his permanent stability. About this Daniel 2:34-35 states: “After these things you saw … the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Now this stone is called corner stone because of its power to connect. Ephesians 2:14-15 reads: “He himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the intervening wall of the enclosure…. So that of the two he might create in himself one new man, making peace.” About this Job 38:4-6 speaks: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? … Who laid down its corner stone?” This corner stone of the earth is the unifying stone of the Church. About this stone Isaiah 28:16 has: “Behold, I will lay a stone in the foundation of Zion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation.” He is also said to be chief corner stone because of the summit of perfection. Ephesians 2:20-21 says: “With Christ himself as the chief corner stone. In him the whole structure, closely fitted together, grows into a temple holy in the Lord,” etc. And so 1 Peter 2:4-5 states: “Draw near to him, a living stone, rejected by men and women …. Be yourselves as living stones,” etc. So Christ should be imagined as the central stone in the entire body of the Church, which is compared to the circumference of a circle. 57 Indeed, to him all lines lead and make him the corner. They are united in him as in a point of indivisibility. In this point the four lines of the cross join and flow together at his center. Reflection This parable belongs to Luke’s Christology. From the very beginning Luke has proclaimed to his readers who Jesus is. The Angel Gabriel told Mary: Your son “shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High.” The angel tells the shepherds: “Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord.” Jesus’ fellow guests at Simon’s banquet table ask: “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” Jesus’ disciples ask one another: “Who, then, is this, that he commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?” At Jesus’ transfiguration the three disciples hear a voice out of the cloud that says: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Now in this allegorical parable it is clear that Jesus is the beloved son, sent by the owner of the vineyard. The tenants perform actions that point to Jesus’ rejection and death: they cast the beloved son out of the vineyard and kill him. Yet this rejected one has become the corner stone – a clear indication of Christ’s acceptance by God through his resurrection. In his commentary on Christ’s crucifixion Bonaventure follows Bernard of Clairvaux in interpreting the four lines of the cross in this manner: love is at the top; obedience on the right; patience on the left; and the foundation of all virtues, humility, at the base. Indeed, Jesus is the corner stone. Prayer Lord Jesus, the confrontation so vividly portrayed in this parable scares me. Make me open to the messages of those you send to me. Make me courageous in proclaiming your word, especially in the face of opposition. Deepen my faith in you, the one rejected by religious leaders and yet vindicated by God. ...

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