7 August 2025 - shout with joy to the rock

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Then, raising his hand, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff,
and water gushed out in abundance for the people
and their livestock to drink.

The rock that Moses struck followed them through the desert, providing water to sustain their journey. This was a prefigurement of Christ, the true rock, from whom flowed springs of living water (see First Corinthians 10:4). It was in fact probably a mediated experience of Christ himself sustaining his people even during the time of Moses and the exodus. The rock that Moses struck in the desert was a representation of God who was the rock of their salvation, as today's psalm says of him. As another psalm reminds us, it is God who "turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water" (see Psalm 107:35). Moses was allowed a special level of access to God, mediating the life that flowed from God to the people under his care. If that was the case it is easier to understand why his failure meant more than we might expect. If he was to provide water by issuing an order to the rock he ought not to have allowed his anger move him to the violent act of striking it instead. He allowed his anger at the people to impinge on his duty to treat sacred things with due reverence.

And so I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

Although Moses facilitated water coming from the rock Peter was privileged to participate in the being of the rock itself. In other places we read about how Jesus himself was the cornerstone or the keystone and this is the, shall we say, bedrock truth. But Peter, who on his own did not possess the solidity of a rock, was transformed to become one through his faith in the revelation of the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. He was changed from one who was motivated by emotion, quick to strike, quick to run in fear, to one who could reliably obey God, going, not where he desired, but where he was led. He was changed from being protective of his life to being able to offer his own life as Jesus had. Because he had been conformed to Christ, and because his martyrdom was in union with Christ, it too served as a channel through which living water could flow into the world. After the resurrection of Jesus and Peter's tears of repentance he became able to faithfully proclaim the truth of who Jesus was without error. He became the source of strength and the point of unity for the other apostles, faithfully fulfilling his commission to strengthen his brethren.

The chair of Moses was a great blessing to the people of Israel, and the authority it possessed helped keep them anchored in the will of God. But those who sat upon that chair were fallen men, even from the start. The chair of Peter that took the place of the chair of Moses was different. Although the men who occupied it were still (sometimes very) fallen men, they now had access to the true and life-giving living water of the Spirit. Transformation of their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh was not only possible but expected. Those who, like Peter, walked with fidelity, would become profound instruments of God's grace. But even though some would not walk with fidelity, God nevertheless guaranteed that the solidity he gave to his Church would never been entirely undone. It would remain rock solid, providing access to the grace of the Spirit in every age. We must not begin to take it for granted and abuse it just because not everything in the church or the world matches our ideal reality. There is nothing we need more than the Spirit. We should be grateful for every sip.

Craig Musseau - Good To Me