His Stone and Ours

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a truly remarkable, joyous thing, isn't it? Our eyes widen in childlike amazement, shocked like the women, a little scared like the disciples, and initially doubting like Thomas. But we see the marks on His hands and we see the empty tomb, and we marvel.

Now pause for a moment with me and think about that empty tomb. The tomb was owned and offered by Joseph of Arimathea (the ESV Student Study Bible suggests that Joseph was "a member of the Sanhedrin who did not consent to the actions against Jesus"). This tomb was really a cave, guarded by a large, very heavy stone, and a collection of soldiers. When we read of Jesus' resurrection in Matthew 28, we see the stone supernaturally rolled away by "an angel of the Lord." The soldiers guarding the tomb were (naturally) freaked out and "became like dead men" verse four says.

That stone heard Jesus' first new breath of glorified life. And that is pretty much the opening line and premise of the song below. A husband and wife duo, called Gray Havens, released this song, "The Stone," in conjunction with this Easter. The music is beautiful (I think), but its message even better.

The song is about life, the joy of Christ's resurrection and the hope destroying the despair. It's about the stone being rolled away from the tomb, and Jesus' victory over the grave.

But it's also about more. David Radford, the lead singer and husband of Gray Havens, as well as the writer of this song, explained the second meaning of the theme "stone":

As I continued writing, I thought of another kind of stone the bible speaks of.
 
Charles Spurgeon, England's most famous preacher of the late 19th century, wrote "Man's heart is by nature like a stone; but God, through his grace, removes the stony heart and gives a heart of flesh."
 
This idea turned into the words:
 
We were far, yet
We were taken from the dark, yes
Turned from stone to flesh, new hearts, yes 
Curse is broken
 
Licia [my wife] and I are thankful this Easter season for the new hearts we have been given in Christ. We hope this song will serve as an encouragement both to those who believe in the reality of the resurrection, and for those who may not yet believe, but have a longing for the story to be true.

The stone guarding the tomb signaled life's victory over death, and Jesus' power over the grave. But the glory of the gospel, the good news of the cross and the tomb and the life of Christ, supplants the stone within us with a new heart of flesh, one that desires to glorify God.

I'm reminded of God's words to His chosen people in Ezekiel 36:26-27:

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Easter is a celebration of the gospel, of life above all else. Let us celebrate the new life of Christ, but even more, recognize that because He lives, we live too. Because He is God, we can have true hearts to serve Him. Think about His stone, the symbol of His victory, and ours, the symbol of our failure to save ourselves. Then think about Him, and rejoice that His victory wins over our failure. Easter is about life. Let us never forget.