May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.  Psalm 19:14

For years I have had a dark, gray rock with black stripes on my desk. Before I had it, it sat on my father’s desk in his office for many years. Before that, it was in a creek near his boyhood home in Tennessee for who knows how long. That rock was worn smooth by having water run over it for centuries. Every so often I pick it up and hold it, feeling how smooth and cool it is to touch. While it is a great paperweight, that is not the reason I keep it on my desk. It is a reminder of my father, but it is also a reminder of the Biblical references to God as our Rock.

Much of the holy land is rocky or stony ground, and rocks help tell the story of faith. Noah built an altar to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving after the flood. Abram built an altar on which to sacrifice Isaac, as well as other altars. No doubt these were made from stones. Jacob made a stone his pillow when he was running away from his brother, Esau, after he had cheated him out of his birthright. And after his dream that night, he made that stone a monument to remind him that God was in that place.  Later, when Jacob was blessing his sons, he came to Joseph and referred to God as a Rock, calling him “…the Mighty One of Jacob, … the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel” (Genesis 49:24).

When Moses stood on the brink of the Promised Land, he offered a song of praise, and made reference to God as a rock: “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (Deuteronomy 32: 4). Just Think of all the rocks the children of Israel had seen in their 40 years of wandering in the desert.

Joshua remembered crossing of the Jordan, the entrance into the promised land, with twelve stones (Joshua 4). In his showdown with the prophets of Baal, Elijah used twelve rough stones for his altar on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:31).  David gathered five smooth stones from the brook as he went forth to do battle with Goliath.  And years later, when He was King David, He spoke of God this way: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior” (2 Samuel 22:2-3).

This imagery was repeated in the worship life of the Israelites. From Psalm 95 we find a passage that is still found in liturgies in use today: Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation (Ps. 95:1). All through Isaiah we find references to God as the Rock, such as this one in Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal (Isaiah 26:4).

God was thought of as a ROCK because He is steadfast and firm. It is little wonder, then, that when Jesus appeared on the scene, he was called the ROCK! He is the Chief Cornerstone, the rock of our salvation. He is strong and mighty to save.

One Easter I gave everyone in worship a rock with a cross engraved on it. I told them to remember Jesus, the rock of our salvation, when they saw their rock with the cross on it. Remember He is the Son of God who laid aside His power as God to come down here as one of us, live among us, go through everything we go through, and do it all without sin. He offered His perfect life on a different kind of altar – the cross. The Rock of your salvation let Himself be sacrificed to pay for your sin.

But I also wanted them to remember what may be the most significant rock mentioned in Scripture, the stone mentioned in the Gospels. After Jesus died, we are told that Joseph of Arimathea secured permission to take His body from the cross and bury Him.

 

Matthew 27:59-60 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

That should have been the end. That was how life ended. With a burial. And Jesus had declared on Friday, “It is finished.” The price for sin had been paid by Jesus, the Rock of your salvation. It is finished. The stone sealed the tomb. That was it. But wait … there’s more. Jesus rocked the world — the stone was rolled away! Death could not hold Him. He burst from the tomb to announce life everlasting for all who believe in Him.

I guess you could say we are living in the Stone Age. We have monuments and headstones that speak to us and go way back, but that is not what I mean. Our stone age is all about the stone that was rolled away. That rocked the world. That changes everything. We have peace with God through Him. Death and sin no longer control us. Death is no longer the end for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Jesus rocked the World when the stone was rolled away.