The Japanese art of Kintsugi takes broken pottery and uses precious materials—gold, silver, platinum—to bind the broken parts back together. The result is often more beautiful than the original piece. What strikes me about this ancient craft is that the only way to have a stunning Kintsugi bowl is if the original bowl was broken to begin with.
As part of our Matthew series, this profound concept captures exactly what Jesus is doing in Matthew 21:28-46. He takes broken pieces and puts them back together, creating something more beautiful than we ever imagined possible. This is what makes up Redeemer, a church in Manchester made up of formerly broken people put together by Jesus Himself.
The Universal Reality of Brokenness
All of us come into this world broken—this is something we can all agree on. Nobody reading this is perfect, nobody has a flawless life. There's a brokenness we all carry. Sometimes we recognise it for what it is, sometimes we don't, but our lives, by themselves, are broken to pieces.
If we're all imperfect and none of us have perfect vision to identify everything that's broken, let alone how to repair it, how can we expect to transform from a broken bowl into something more beautiful? We can't—unless we have someone who is perfect, who is beautiful, who possesses the power to reassemble what is broken, not just to function again, but to shine with the beauty that comes from being completely remade.
This is precisely what Jesus is all about. He sees us as broken people who need breaking—not as an end in itself, but so that He can remake us into what we were designed for: something beautiful. What Jesus breaks, He remakes. If our lives are in pieces, what an incredible act of love to be put back together! To be made whole!
Four Aspects of Jesus' Breaking and Remaking
In this passage, there are four crucial aspects of how Jesus breaks something in order to remake it. Importantly, there is no remaking without His breaking first.
This section aligns with how Jesus speaks about faith in the previous story, where He calls us to have faith and "not doubt." To "not doubt" means refusing to be double-minded—not saying one thing whilst doing another. It means being all in, even with our imperfections and questions, bringing everything to Jesus.
Notice who Jesus is addressing. He asks "what do you think?" about these stories, speaking directly to the religious leaders responsible for the temple. These are people in positions of responsibility and prominence who should be leading people to God (He's standing right in front of them!), yet they refuse to be all in with Jesus. They resist being broken by Him and surrendering to His authority.
There's also a crowd listening to this exchange—and that includes us. Picture yourself there in that crowd. You can make out Jesus, you can see the religious leaders. The tension is palpable.
Breaking Our Lame Version of Faith
The Problem of Double-Mindedness
The first significant thing Jesus breaks in order to remake is our inadequate version of faith. Standing in that crowd, we hear Jesus teaching about our insufficient approach to faith—the problem of saying one thing whilst doing another.
In the parable of the two sons, Jesus illustrates this perfectly. A father asks his first son to work in the vineyard. The son says no, but later changes his mind and goes to work. The father then asks his second son, who says yes but never shows up to work.
This parable isn't teaching us that words don't matter. Rather, Jesus is demonstrating what wholehearted faith looks like, even when imperfect, by breaking down our lame versions of faith. We see two problematic approaches: saying no but eventually surrendering, and saying yes without surrendering.
Obviously, the ideal situation is saying yes and following through with surrender. But Jesus knows we're not perfect, so this represents a more realistic scenario from everyday life.
Modern Applications of Double-Minded Faith
This story plays out in our lives repeatedly. Children do this when parents ask them to do something: "I am" or "OK," but they really aren't and won't. Adults do the same: "I'll do that later." "Tomorrow." How many times each day are we doing precisely this? Not just with good deeds, but in how we engage with God?
Jesus wants to break down our lame version of faith: saying "Oh yes, I believe" whilst living exactly like everybody else. The crucial question is: How does being a Christian actually inconvenience your life? If following Jesus requires no sacrifice, no change in priorities, no disruption to your comfort—then perhaps what you have isn't genuine faith but merely religious sentiment.
The Inclusive Invitation to an Exclusive Way
What Jesus concludes with here continues a major theme of His ministry: an inclusive invitation to an exclusive way of life.
God's invitation to know Him is inclusive—it's for all people, especially for people who know they don't have it all sorted. Prostitutes, tax collectors—these are general terms for people whose morality isn't what it should be, for people who have looked out for number one, people who are lost and know it, people who are broken and aren't pretending to have it all together.
The invitation is genuinely inclusive. Your background, whatever it is, whatever language you speak, the colour of your skin, how much money you have or lack, whether you've been actively opposed to God or pretending to go along with Him—the invitation to God's "way of righteousness" is for everyone.
Righteousness represents what's good, what's fair, what's correct, and God makes His way crystal clear.
So whilst the invitation is inclusive, the way itself is exclusive. It's not just any way—it's the way of righteousness. And definitely not our definition of righteousness (that's always problematic), but His way of righteousness.
Tax collectors don't remain tax collectors. Prostitutes don't stay prostitutes. Those who say yes but don't follow through don't continue in that pattern. What Jesus breaks, He remakes.
Here's the breaking and remaking regarding our faith: God welcomes us as we are and calls us to something more. Every single one of us. That "something more" is the way of righteousness, the way of Jesus, the way of life and truth. It's what we're starving for, what our world desperately needs, and Jesus provides it abundantly.
Redefining Who's In and Who's Not
Breaking Religious Exclusivism
As a community of people who have been broken in order to be remade, this passage teaches us who should be welcomed here and how generous we should be with the space we create.
What Jesus wants to shatter is the empty religious notion that only those who appear good on the outside are welcome. "Only people with tidy lives, please! Only people who already believe what we believe, thanks!" This attitude is precisely what Jesus opposes.
The church should be a place where an ex-convict and a stay-at-home parent sit side by side, both broken by God, both being remade by Him. God save us from becoming a middle-class club where only people who look and speak a certain way feel welcomed.
If we can be welcomed in, anyone can. The church has an extraordinary opportunity in a world divided by political opinions, generational differences, and sins of racism and classism. This is where we get the chance to live differently—all united by being broken and remade whilst walking God's path of righteousness.
Clarity About the Path
Let's also be clear about who's not yet part of this journey. Those outside of God's path are not yet part of it. It's an invitation to all, but not everyone will accept it. Some will reject it—most, actually. God Himself says His path is narrow. But since we don't know who will ultimately respond, and since the invitation extends to everyone, this is precisely why we spend time with all kinds of people—so that more will come in.
Generational Faith
People often assume that being born into a family that follows God automatically makes them acceptable to God. Children need to understand: just because your parents follow Jesus doesn't mean you automatically will. There are tremendous blessings for growing up in a household that follows Jesus, but if you don't take advantage of this opportunity, don't expect to receive any of its benefits. Your faith must be your own faith.
You can begin taking ownership now. If you can follow a football team, remember hundreds of Pokémon, or keep up with current YouTube trends, you can certainly begin to own your faith. Parents, it's our responsibility to guide our children into spiritual adulthood.
Understanding pastoral care becomes crucial in this journey of faith development, both for parents and children alike.
Breaking Down What We Follow
The Parable of the Tenants
Jesus also breaks down what we follow in order to remake what it looks like to follow Him properly. The story is straightforward: tenants rent a vineyard from a landowner. When the landowner sends servants to collect what's owed, the tenants beat them, stone them, and kill them. Finally, the landowner sends his son, and they murder him too.
What motivates the tenants to act this way? They want the land to be theirs. They think it already is, and they're attempting to steal it for themselves. Naturally, the landowner will seek justice and go elsewhere.
This story targets people who consider themselves religious but aren't truly surrendering. Jesus breaks in order to remake, so this story applies to all of us who show up on Sunday mornings.
The Pattern of Rejection
The Father has sent servants repeatedly throughout history—this represents the Old Testament prophets. How were prophets generally received in the Old Testament? Not very well! How do we receive them today? To disregard Scripture is to disregard God. Are we surrendering to this? Every word in Scripture comes from God to us. How can we follow this if we don't know it? How can we organise our lives around it if we're not immersed in it?
When God sends His own Son, do we surrender to Him? Or do we, in some twisted version of faith, think the kingdom revolves around us rather than God? Jesus is breaking down what we follow.
What happens when someone rejects God's servants and rejects God's Son? This represents following ourselves and our own ideas. The kingdom is taken away; justice is administered. To reject God means living in separation from everything that gives us life. Separation now means separation after death.
The Danger of Self-Directed Faith
The people in this story wanted life to centre on them. They're simply doing what seems right to them, following their hearts, pursuing ideas and feelings that originate from themselves. One of the Bible's definitions for being lost is "doing what's right in your own eyes." DIY faith isn't faith at all—it's just selfishness.
As much as we read this story thinking, "Yeah, that'll show them!" let's pause and realise that as we're in the crowd listening to Jesus tell this story, He's addressing us—the ones present on Sunday morning. This is a warning: don't be like these tenants.
If we aren't being broken by Jesus, we can't be remade. If we don't surrender, we can't expect to participate in the kingdom that requires it. God will move on.
The Cornerstone: Christ as the Foundation
The Rejected Stone Becomes Central
Jesus reaches the most crucial part of these parables when He speaks about the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone. A cornerstone is the final stone in a building—the one that completes the entire structure. Jesus calls Himself the rejected stone, but simultaneously the stone that becomes what completes the building. Without it, the building remains unfinished.
This building represents God's temple, a structure that expands as people join in and will one day cover the entire earth. Jesus Himself serves as both the cornerstone and the builder of this temple.
Christ is the temple, and we get to be parts of that temple as we surrender and participate in the work of earth reflecting more of heaven, walking God's way of righteousness—the way of fruitful life.
The Consequences of Rejection
What happens when someone rejects the rejected one? When someone refuses to surrender to Jesus but stumbles over Him instead? When someone makes their life about themselves and fails to produce fruit? They are broken to pieces and crushed.
Stumbling over Jesus also means receiving His judgment. We face a choice: stumble over Him or surrender to Him. Stumbling versus surrender—which will it be?
Jesus breaks down what we follow and remakes us to be formed into something better. As we consider what it means to live in God's beautiful harmony with each other, we see how this transformation affects our entire community life.
The Reality: We're Broken Either Way
The Choice of How We're Broken
Here's the truth: we will be broken one way or another. When someone surrenders to Jesus, that means coming with open, empty hands and asking Him to do His work. To surrender is to invite the breaking and remaking of Jesus—not just once, but for a lifetime.
This is actually good news. If someone is heading down a destructive path toward a terrible destination, it's wonderfully loving to be realigned onto a good path leading to a great place. It doesn't matter how disruptive this might be to our plans or our ideas of right and wrong. It doesn't matter what we previously thought life was about—being saved from that destructive course is good, loving, and gracious.
Being broken in order to be remade is beneficial. But if we reject this process, if we reject the One who breaks to remake, we don't avoid being broken. We're still broken—and worse—crushed!
Being broken to pieces and put back together is infinitely better than being broken to pieces and crushed.
Embracing the Process
Let's not resist the loving process of being broken to be remade. Let's allow it to do its work in us. Let's embrace it as we continually invite more of Jesus into our lives. He's all in—it's we who hesitate.
Consider this illustration: Have you ever stumbled out of your bedroom early in the morning and stubbed your toe on something? Perhaps it's a child's toy. "How did that get there?!" You're frustrated because you can barely think—you've just woken up.
But what if you stubbed your toe against a massive diamond? You might initially be angry: "How did that get there?" But very quickly, anger would turn to awe, then joy: "What! Is this mine?! Do I get to keep it?!" Your stubbed toe is equally painful in both situations, but in the second instance, there's something infinitely better. That something better puts your stubbed toe into proper perspective.
How foolish to stub your toe on Jesus, see Him, look at Him, and still complain about your little toe! No, if you stumble across Him, you recognise Him for what He is: the One who breaks and remakes.
If being broken to pieces will happen one way or another, if we will be broken up regardless, are we missing the diamond because we're focused on our stubbed toe?
The Path Forward
Someone can either come to Jesus broken and in pieces and be put back together, or they will be broken, left in pieces, and ultimately crushed. For those who follow Jesus, being broken isn't the end—being remade is.
The way of righteousness often feels like being torn apart. But on the way of righteousness, those who respond to the inclusive invitation grow in maturity and "produce fruit." Tax collectors don't remain tax collectors. Prostitutes don't stay prostitutes. Have you become complacent in your faith?
As Jesus said in Matthew 16:25: "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."
The Heart of the Gospel
Finding True Life
I don't know about you, but I'm here to find life. I know where to find it, and it's not in my "good" ideas or in the way I would design my life.
This truth is so important to God that it wasn't merely theoretical—it became reality. Jesus isn't just the idea of life; He is life itself. Jesus Himself was broken—spiritually torn apart, physically tortured, socially outcast. He was broken so that we could be remade. There is no hope for our remaking if Jesus Himself hadn't gone through His own death and resurrection.
The Exchange
Through His death, Jesus takes on everything in us that needs to be broken. He assumes those pieces and removes them from us. In His actual death, He destroys those pieces—everything we call sin, everything that separates us from God, from others, and from ourselves. The only way to destroy those destructive pieces was through Jesus' death.
But He doesn't remain dead. In Jesus' resurrection, He puts us back together with everything that is good—everything that constitutes the way of righteousness—and gives that to us. Like discovering a diamond in our path, instead of complaining, we get to be filled with awe, to hold it and enjoy it.
The Power to Continue
The way we continue along this path of righteousness requires nothing less than God's own power. The Holy Spirit, dwelling in us, constantly brings us to places of surrender, helping us understand what's written in Scripture and ensuring we bring that understanding into our hearts. The easiest way to avoid surrender is to read Scripture without engaging our hearts.
As we journey forward, we look ahead to the day when this building will be complete, when we get to experience everything Jesus offers in its fullness. One day we will not be broken. One day we will not be in pieces. We will be completely whole.
On this pilgrimage toward God and His wholeness, as formerly self-righteous religious people and formerly morally devious, selfish people, we stumble forward together. Not so that we remain the same, but so that we are all remade into God's image.
Living as a Community of the Remade
As Redeemer strives to be this kind of church in Manchester, we're learning what it means to be a community of people who have been broken and are being remade. Much like Kintsugi pottery, we can be put together in a more beautiful way than we ever imagined.
This journey of being broken and remade isn't something we undertake alone. It happens within the context of community, where we support one another through the process. We discover that our scars and fractures, when touched by Jesus' healing power, become the very places where His light shines through most brilliantly.
The beauty of being part of our church in Manchester is witnessing this transformation happen not just individually but collectively. We see former enemies become friends, broken relationships restored, and lives completely redirected from destructive paths toward life-giving purposes.
The Ongoing Process
What Jesus breaks, He remakes—but this isn't a one-time event. It's an ongoing process throughout our lives. Every time we surrender another area to Him, every time we allow Him to break through our stubborn self-will, we discover more of His beautiful restoration work.
This is why wholehearted faith matters so much. It's not about perfection; it's about persistence. It's about continuing to come to Jesus with our brokenness, trusting that He knows exactly how to put us back together in ways that reflect His glory.
The invitation stands before each of us: will we resist the breaking that leads to beautiful remaking, or will we surrender to the loving hands of the Master craftsman who specialises in creating beauty from brokenness?
In a world that often discards what's broken, Jesus does the opposite. He takes our shattered pieces and creates masterpieces. He transforms our shame into glory, our weakness into strength, and our brokenness into wholeness.
This is the gospel—not just good news, but the best news imaginable. What Jesus breaks, He remakes, and the result is always more beautiful than we dared to hope.