What does Matthew 21:44 mean?
Jesus has quoted from Psalm 118:22–23 and has applied it to Himself. He is the stone that the builders of Israel, her leaders, rejected. The Lord, however, has made Jesus the cornerstone of the house of God (Matthew 21:42–43).Now Jesus references Isaiah 8:14–15. Those who do not accept Him as the cornerstone will be broken or crushed by it. Isaiah put it this way, "And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken."
In other words, those who do not come to God by way of the cornerstone Jesus will be broken by the cornerstone Jesus (John 3:16–18). It is impossible to go around (John 14:6). All must go through Him to reach the Father or reject Him and be crushed (John 3:36).