Stoned

By Jerry D. Ousley

            Nope.  I’m not talking about being high on drugs, or under the influence of alcohol or some other type of substance abuse.  I speak of a stone of much greater significance.

            But first, let’s examine a few stones, okay?  The first one that comes to mind, to me anyway, are precious stones.  These are rare minerals that can be found in creek beds, in the ground, and in caves and caverns around the world.  Because of their rarity, men will pay immense amounts in order to own them.  Gold, silver, diamonds, rubies and a several others can make one rich.  Over the centuries, men have fought and killed in order to possess them.  Still, despite their rarity, they are just rocks.

            Stones have been used as weapons.  As boys, living at Azalia, Indiana, close to the White River, we used to find arrow heads – remains from the arrows carved out by Native Americans in days gone by.  There’s an incident in the Bible in which a woman threw a millstone over the wall, striking Abimelech on the head and fatally wounding him (read Judges 9 for the full story). 

            The practice of stoning was a Biblical method of execution.  You can find instances of it throughout the Old Testament.  Perhaps one of the most familiar is that of the woman taken in adultery in John 8.  According to Old Testament Law, a married woman or man who committed adultery was to be taken outside the camp or the city and those accusing them were to cast stones at them until they were dead.  Seems like a rough way to go, but very effective.  Anyway, we aren’t told where the adulterous man was (she had to be with someone for it to be committed), but the woman was taken by the Pharisees and cast before Jesus, Who had been stooped and writing in the dirt.  As they pushed her to the ground in front of Him, they told Him that they had caught her in the very act of adultery.  They reminded Him of what the law said should be done.  Then, tempting Him to see how He would handle this, asked, “What do you say?”  Jesus continued writing in the dirt.  Some have suggested that perhaps He began to list sins that had been committed by her accusers (remember, we have all sinned and not one of us is innocent – Only Jesus).  Then, looking them in the eye, He said, “Whoever of you is without sin, cast the first stone.”  Then continued writing.  One by one her accusers left, leaving her alone with Jesus.  He then asked her, “Where are your accusers?”  To which she replied, “None my Lord.”  Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you, but go and sin no more.”  That’s a lesson for another time.  But you can see the example of stoning in the story.

            A stone is hard, merciless, and cold with a damp feeling to it – Just like sin. 

            In Matthew 28:1-2 we read, “Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.”  Joseph, of Arimathea, had taken the body of Jesus, after He had died on the cross.  Because Jesus had predicted that He would raise back to life on the third day, the Jewish leaders asked for a guard to watch the tomb and rolled a very large stone over the mouth of it. 

            Because it was the Sabbath, and no work was to be done on that day, the ladies mentioned in the scripture had gotten up early that first resurrection Sunday, intending to make certain that His body was prepared properly for burial.  One of the things that had concerned them (mentioned in other passages), was how they were going to roll the stone back from the mouth of the tomb.  But as they arrived the passage tells us that there was an earthquake, and an angel from God rolled the stone back.  When they viewed inside, His body was gone.

            That huge stone was going to be a problem.  As before mentioned, who was going to roll it away?  But God, by way of an angel, took care of that for them.  And God is still doing that today.  Oh, perhaps not with a literal large, heavy stone, but certainly with the stone-like obstacles in our lives.  We wonder how we will get through this month with our finances.  Or maybe we are in trouble in our marriage.  We are truly sorry for our part in the failure, but now, like a huge stone, how are we going to get it out of the way?  Perhaps it is a physical ailment, maybe even a fatal one, that we are worried about.  Let me tell you, Jesus is still rolling stones out of the way.

            They may be hard, heavy, and seemingly impossible to move.  But, one way or another, if we trust it God, it will move.  He will somehow get us through our financial difficulties.  He can heal our broken marriage if we are willing to do our part.  And, He will heal our diseases, if not now, later in our Heavenly Home.  You see, no stone is too hard, too heavy or impossible to move with God.

            When you feel like that woman who had been caught in her sin, hopeless, helpless, and all alone, facing a merciless, very painful death by stoning, Jesus is there to face our accuser – the devil himself – and He tells those around us, “Whoever is sinless, whoever is perfect before God, you throw the first stone.”  They can’t because they are none of these things.  In fact, in secret, they may be guilty of the very same thing.  And they will have to slink away.  But even if they lie to themselves and before God, and begin throwing those stones, just remember the greater stone that was rolled away.

            Jesus has the authority to do that because of one more stone.  Ephesians 2:20 says, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone…”  1 Peter 2:6 also says, “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’”  Using the example of a block building, the first, most important stone is the corner stone.  Jesus is that stone.  Our building will not fall because of Him.

            So, be stoned in Jesus.  Not drunk, not high, but founded securely in Christ.  He will not let you down.  He is the stone not made with hands that will crumble the empires of man (see Daniel 2) and roll away the stones that life places in our way.  In Him, being stoned is a good thing.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of "Soul Challenge", "Soul Journey", "Ordeal", "The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional" and his first novel "The Shoe Tree."  Newer books include "Finality" and "Dividing God's Church." Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge