Cornerstone of Hope

  The original cornerstone of the Washington Monument, which was laid on July 4, 1884, disappeared and has never been found. It makes you wonder how someone could have carried off the stone, which weighed 24,500 pounds. Over the years, many things have come and gone; monuments were built and lost, but the cornerstone of the Christian faith is not one of those.  Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith and His church. Throughout time, some have argued that the cornerstone is missing. But this cornerstone is a living stone, and He reigns from his place at the right hand of God.  

  This week, as we celebrate the moment Jesus was honored for who he really was, we realize the joy of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem would soon fade. The colors will go from bright to dark. The crowds have gone away, and on Monday morning, the day after the Triumphal Entry, Jesus walks back to the city, as He had lodged in Bethany. Along the way, He finds a fig tree with no fruit on it, and He curses the fig tree. The fig tree withers at once. The fig tree represents both the people of Israel, who bore no fruit in rejecting Jesus as the Christ, and it also represents us today, if our faith bears no fruit or if our lives do not bear spiritual fruit. We will wither, just as the fig tree.