

xv. A POTTERY MOUND. 275 



obviously the stone with which the Jewish peasant 

 shattered the broken pottery to pieces in the Valley 

 of Hinnoni. And we can easily see why it should have 

 been rejected by the builders. It was a rough, roundish 

 lump of hard rock, which no builder would naturally 

 choose if he could find anything better for his purpose ; 

 whose shape was not suitable for a well-built structure 

 of squared stones, and whose hardness did not admit of 

 its being easily chiselled into proper form. But while it 

 did not seem suitable for a foundation-stone to the archi- 

 tect, its shape and hardness of material were admirably 

 adapted for the use to which it was put. It could 

 effectively grind broken pottery to powder. And how 

 expressive in this light does the parable appear ! The 

 builders wanted a squared, shapely stone, that could be 

 put into their structure without any trouble, a stone that 

 conformed to their preconceived ideas and rules, just as 

 the Jews wanted a Messiah who should be really the 

 product of the popular expectation, and should answer 

 faithfully to his origin a Messiah who should deliver 

 them from the hated rule of the Romans, and establish 

 an earthly sovereignty of more than Solomonic glory. 

 And because Jesus did not conform to this anticipation, 

 but, like a rude, roundish stone, unfit for their purposes 

 setting up a spiritual kingdom in men's hearts and in 

 the world for which they had no desire they rejected 

 Him. And just as the stone that was thus deemed unfit 

 for the purpose of the builder was fit for crushing and 

 grinding pottery, so the Messiah, who was rejected as un- 

 suitable to rule over the Jews, was qualified to punish 



