The Stone 

          This coming Sunday, many of us will celebrate the most significant day in the Christian calendar – Easter. And while the Easter story is one of the best known, let me share the Easter story from a little different perspective.

           I am one of the central characters in the Easter story, and though you don’t know my name, you know who I am. I am the stone; mind you not “a” stone but THE stone. I am the stone used to seal the tomb of Christ, and as stones go, I'm one of the best known in history.

           If you glance through your Bible you’ll find my name mentioned repeatedly. Here are some biblical quotes concerning me. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance of the tomb . . . And they made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone . . . and he rolled back the stone and sat upon it.” Stone, stone, stone. Yes, I’m one of the most prominent characters in the Easter story.

           Still, despite my notoriety, I’ve been relegated to a place of insignificance in the Easter story. You’d think, given my fame, people would decorate Easter rocks instead of Easter eggs; but that’s just not the case. Though I was prominent in that first Easter story, these days most people simply ignore me.

           Perhaps I’m ignored because people don't like what I stand for. That’s why people looked at me with such disdain in the first Easter story. Though I was a rock with impressive credentials, the people in the first Easter story viewed me as the villain. To them, I symbolized the end of all their hopes, the end to all their dreams. On Good Friday, when I rolled in front of that tomb, Jesus’ disciples believed I marked the end to everything good.

           Perhaps you know what Jesus’ disciples felt like on Good Friday. Some of you know the pain of watching your hopes and dreams sealed away behind some immovable force. Maybe your hopes came to an end when divorce sealed your fate. Maybe your future seemed to disappear when disease rolled into your life. Maybe the rock that crushed your joy was a rock named depression. And yes, for some of you, the rock that devastated your life was that stone-cold figure of death. For years, you anticipated a bright and happy future, and then almost out of nowhere, death put an end to all your hopes and dreams. Yes, people tend to hate me because I symbolize a permanent end to their hopeless situation.

           But there’s another reason I tend to be ignore in the Easter story. I’m ignored because I failed. That’s right, nobody remembers a failure.

           My job wasn't particularly difficult. All I had to do was hold back the body of a dead man. That shouldn’t have been so hard, should it? But still, I failed.

           I'm not even sure how it happened. For three days I had comfortably situated myself at the door of the tomb, and as I had expected, nothing happened. Then, as the sun began to rise on the first day of the week, I began to feel a quiver, and then a jolt, and before I knew what was happening, I was in the midst of a full-blown earthquake. As I sat there, a power began to push upon me like the power of God Himself. And though I tried to stay still, I couldn’t help but roll away from the face of the tomb. Quickly, I looked back, knowing that the dead man must still be there, but he wasn't. He was gone. I had failed and Jesus had won. 

           When you come to think about it, the story of my failure is the story of your hope. If a man named Jesus can move me from my firm foundation, none of the immovable forces you face in life are strong enough to withstand the power of The Risen Christ – not divorce, not disease, not depression, and not even death. As Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians, “because Jesus rose from the grave, death is swallowed up in victory.” Obviously, there is no power strong enough to withstand the awesome power of the living Christ, not even the power of death!

           Well, that’s my Easter story. For me, it’s a story of failure; but for you, it’s a story of victory, victory for all humankind. So the next time you feel like life, or death, has put you between a rock and a hard place just remember; regardless of what you face, there is no force too great to withstand the power of The Risen Christ. And that, my friend, is truth that’s rock-solid.