What is a Stone?

Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when his disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to him. And he said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

Matthew 24:1-2

There has always been a dearth of many things in the Holy Land. Water. Vegetation. Peace. But from ancient days, one commodity is there in abundance: stone. Even in Jerusalem today, one walks down the Via Dolorosa through passageways of stone, to the Temple Mount constructed of stone, into shops with stone walls. It is both the ancient and the modern answer for building materials. Because, for one thing, of its abundance.

One scholar also notes that an ancient Jerusalem built of stone is a precursor to the new Jerusalem of John’s revelation. This heavenly city will also be constructed of stone; instead of the common, quarried variety, it will rise from precious stones. The old mirrors the new, just as so many places in Scripture where we are given a glimpse of what will come, a hint of God’s plan within an everyday circumstance.

Stones play a pivotal role in many Bible stories. Think Moses: tablets of stone that form the foundation of a better way of life. Think David: five smooth stones that slay evil and usher in a man after God’s own heart, in the lineage of our Savior. Think Paul: believers are letters from Christ, written by the Holy Spirit not on tablets of stone but on human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:17). And so many, many more references throughout the pages of Scripture.

But perhaps the biggest stone, both physically and symbolically, is the one that is synonymous with the events of Jesus’s death and resurrection. Matthew tells us that after his death, Jesus was laid in a new tomb and a “great stone” was rolled to the entrance. (Matthew 27:60). Provision had been made, humanly speaking, to keep everyone and anyone from getting to the Lord’s body. After all, if something is said to be ‘set in stone,’ we consider it permanent.

By nature, stone is heavy, secure, immovable. The most common stone used in the Holy Land has always been limestone. It is one of the most durable materials for building, with few pores that make it weather resistant and able to withstand abrasion. The authorities further sealed the tomb with clay and imprinted the Emperor’s seal on it. That stone should never have moved. And yet, it did. Matthew further describes this. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and rolled back the stone and sat on it. (Matthew 28:2).

Most sites in modern-day Israel are shown to tourists as, “the traditional site of” whatever is being visited. The actual place where Jesus was laid that sorrowful day so long ago is not known with certainty. The stone that the angel rolled away could be any stone. The tomb that is said to have held Jesus’s body—although representative—is not necessarily the real deal. But do we need that? Is it necessary to see the actual stone moved before we believe in the resurrection?

Spoiler alert: the answer is no. We have been given so much information, just not every single piece of it. And it is, indeed, set in stone. Jesus entered that tomb, carved into a limestone hillside, as a dead body. Fully man, fully God, fully deceased. Friday led to Saturday, Saturday to Sunday. And then, just as he said he would, Jesus emerged from within and behind the rock, fully alive!

It turns out that the only thing stronger than stone is the Word of the Lord. It is as alive as Jesus is, speaking to us, guiding us, protecting us. Within the arms of our resurrected Savior, we are rock-solid. And as surely as the sealed tomb was meant to keep him in and others out, we are sealed for eternity by the blood of the Lamb. Scripture assures us that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39).

As you garden this spring and grumble about the rocks, or your bike skids on a stone, or you are smacked in the face with an immovable obstacle, remember that God put the stones in our lives for a reason. They are there to give us a glimpse of the hope—which is set in stone—for forgiveness and eternal life. Praise the Lord for showing us the way. What is stone? Each one is a memorial, a reminder, of a love so great that nothing could move it.

And nothing ever will.