John Wesley's Notes:
 The builders-The scribes and priests, whose office it was to build up the Church.

Is become the head of the corner-Or the chief corner stone: he is become the foundation of the Church, on which the whole building rests, and is the principal corner stone, for uniting the Gentiles to it, as the chief corner stone of a house supports and links its two sides together. Ps 118:22.
 

The Fourfold Gospel:

 (No comment on this verse).
 

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge:

* Did. Mt 21:16
* The stone. Ps 118:22,23; Isa 28:16; Zec 3:8,9; Mr 12:10,11; Lu 20:17,18 Ac 4:11; Ro 9:33; Eph 2:20; 1Pe 2:4-8
* and it is. Hab 1:5; Ac 13:40,41; Eph 3:3-9
 

Robertson's Word Pictures:
The stone which (lithon hon). Inverse attraction of the antecedent into the case of the relative. The builders rejected (apedokimasan hoi oikodomountes). From Ps 118:22. A most telling quotation. These experts in building God's temple had rejected the corner-stone chosen by God for his own house. But God has the last word and sets aside the building experts and puts his Son as the Head of the corner. It was a withering indictment.
 

William Burkitt's Notes:

 Which words are the application that our Saviour makes of the foregoing parable concerning the vineyard; which the chief priests and Pharisees did not apprehend themselves to be concerned in, till he brought the application of it home unto them. Therfore, say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, &c.

Note, 1. The greatest mercy that God can bestow upon any people, is his giving his kingdom to them; that is, all gospel ordinances, and church privileges leading to the kingdom of heaven.

2. Observe the terms upon which God either gives or continues his kingdom to a church and nation. And that is, upon bringing forth the fruits thereof.

Learn, 3. That the greatest judgement which can befall a people, is the taking away the kingdom of God from them. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given, &c.
 

Family Bible Notes:

In the scriptures; Ps 118:22,1 This was a prophecy of the truths and events represented in the parable, which were about to be fulfilled in the crucifixion of Christ, the casting off of the Jews, and the calling of the Gentiles into the church of God. The stone; the Lord Jesus Christ. The builders; the Jews, and especially their leaders, the scribes and Pharisees.
 

1599 Geneva Bible Notes:
 Master builders, who are chief builders of the house, that is of the Church. (x) Began to be. (y) The chiefest stone in the corner is called the head of the corner: which bears up the couplings or joints of the whole building. (z) That matter (in that the stone which was cast away is made the head) is the Lord's doing which we behold and greatly marvel at.
 

People's New Testament Commentary:

 The stone which the builders rejected. "The Scripture" that speaks of this stone is Ps 118:22,23--a psalm which the Jews applied to the Messiah. Peter twice applied it to him (Ac 4:11; 1Pe 2:7). The figure represents a stone rejected by the builders as worthless, and then found to be the chief corner-stone of the building. The stone is Christ, rejected by the Jewish nation, but "the chief corner-stone," for this is what is meant by the "head of the corner." The "corner-stone" joined two walls. Alford thinks this is a reference to the union of Jews and Gentiles in the church.

Marvellous. That the rejected stone should become the "chief corner-stone, elect and precious," on which the whole structure of the spiritual temple rests [1Pe 2:6; Isa 28:16].
 

Albert Barnes' Commentary:

  Jesus saith, etc. Jesus, having led them to admit the justice of the great principle on which God was about to act towards them, proceeds to apply it by a text of Scripture, declaring that this very thing which they admitted in the case of the husbandmen, had been predicted respecting themselves. This passage is found in Ps 118:22,23. It was first applicable to David; but no less to Jesus.

The stone. The figure is taken from building a house. The principal stone for size and beauty is that commonly laid as the corner stone.

Which the builders rejected. On account of its want of beauty, or size, it was laid aside, or deemed unfit to be a corner-stone. This represents the Lord Jesus, proposed to the Jews as the foundation, or corner-stone on which to build the church: rejected by them--the builders --on account of his want of comeliness or beauty; i.e., of what they esteemed to be comely or desirable, Isa 53:2,3.

The same is become, etc. Though rejected by them, yet God chose him, and made him the foundation of the church. Christ is often compared to a stone, a corner-stone, a tried, i.e. a sure, firm foundation--all in allusion to the custom of building, Ac 4:11; Ro 9:33; Eph 2:20; 1Pe 2:7.

Lord's doing. The appointment of Jesus of Nazareth to be the foundation of the church, is by miracle and prophecy proved to be the work of God.

Marvellous in our eyes. Wonderful in the sight of his people. An object of gratitude and admiration. That he should Select his only Son; that he should stoop so low, be despised, rejected, and put to death; that God should raise him up, and build a church on this foundation, embracing the Gentile as well as the Jew, and spreading through all the world, is a subject of wonder and praise to all the redeemed.

{c} "stone" Ps 118:22; Isa 28:16; 1Pe 2:6,7

 

Jamieson-Faussett Brown:

The stone which the builders rejected, &c.--A bright Messianic prophecy, which reappears in various forms (Isa 28:16, &c.), and was made glorious use of by Peter before the Sanhedrim (Ac 4:11). He recurs to it in his first epistle (1Pe 2:4-6).
 

Spurgeon Commentary on Matthew:

Our Lord reminds them of David's language in (Ps 118:22,23.) They were professedly the builders, and they had rejected him who was the chief corner-stone. Yet the Lord God had made the despised one to be the head of the corner. He was the most conspicuous and honored stone in Israel's building. Against the will of scribe and priest this had been accomplished:  for it was the Lord's doing. They might rage, but holy minds adored, and said, "It is marvelous in our eyes." The sufferings and glory of Christ are the wonder of the universe:" which things the angels desire to look into" (1Pe 1:12). All that relates to him is marvelous in the eyes of his people.
The doom of the unfaithful religious builders was the result of their sin:  "Therefore say I unto you." They were to love the blessings of the gospel:  "The kingdom of God shall be arisen from you." All share in the honors and offices of that kingdom would be refused them. That loss would be aggravated by their seeing it "given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." What a warning is this to our own country! We, too, are seeing the sacrifice and deity of our Lord questioned, and his sacred Word assailed by those who should have been its advocates. Unless there is a speedy amendment, the Lord may take away the candlestick out of its place, and find another race which will prove more faithful to him and to his gospel than our own has been.
 

Spurgeon Devotional Commentary:

  (No comment on this verse).
 

Adam Clarke's Commentary:

  The stone] R. Solom. Jarchi, on Micah 5., says, this stone means the Messiah, : Abarbanel is of the same opinion. This seems to have been originally spoken of David who was at first rejected by the Jewish rulers, but was afterwards chosen by the Lord to be the great ruler of his people Israel. The quotation is taken from Ps 118:22.

As the Church is represented in Scripture under the name of the temple and house of God, in allusion to the temple of Jerusalem, which was a type of it, 1Co 3:16; Heb 3:6; 1Pe 2:5; so Jesus Christ is represented as the foundation on which this edifice is laid, 1Co 3:11; Eph 2:20,21.

The builders] The chief priests and elders of the people, with the doctors of the law.

Rejected] An expression borrowed from masons, who, finding a stone, which being tried in a particular place, and appearing improper for it, is thrown aside, and another taken; however, at last, it may happen that the very stone which had been before rejected, may be found the most suitable as the head stone of the corner.

This passage, as applied by our Lord to himself, contains an abridgment of the whole doctrine of the Gospel.

1. The Lord's peculiar work is astonishingly manifested in the mission of Jesus Christ.

2. He, being rejected and crucified by the Jews, became an atonement for the sin of the world.

3. He was raised again from the dead, a proof of his conquest over death and sin, and a pledge of immortality to his followers.

4. He was constituted the foundation on which the salvation of mankind rests, and the corner stone which unites Jews and Gentiles, beautifies, strengthens, and completes the whole building, as the head stone, or uppermost stone in the corner does the whole edifice.

5. He is hereby rendered the object of the joy and admiration of all his followers and the glory of man. This was done by the Lord, and is marvellous in our eyes.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary:

 (No comment on this verse).