Living Stones

“And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” — Luke 19:40

I’ve never looked at rocks as living organisms. Stones don’t move on their own. They are inanimate objects. You can’t say they were ever dead because they were never alive. For example, pet rocks are not really pets. They sit there and do nothing. I love to grill on my back patio, but it is just pavers assembled in a design and function that pleases me. It never hugged me, nor did I speak to it. Such actions would be considered odd.

The most common use of rocks is for constructing walls, buildings, or walkways. For example, you build a wall, and it could last for thousands of years. The Great Wall of China is a prime example. It doesn’t move. It doesn’t have a will. It doesn’t want to be anything else. It’s a chiseled hard mass placed in a location by humans to make a durable barrier.

Stones can be used as weapons. I was hit in my right eye by a rock at the age of seven and blinded in that eye. In the Bible, two notable stonings were Stephen and Paul. Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 7:54-60). Paul miraculously survived a stoning in Lystra. (Act 14:19).

In contrast, large rock formations are admired. Our favorite vacation was traveling from the Canadian Rockies south through Glacier, Yellowstone, and the Grand Tetons. The mountain ranges are majestic and beautiful. Georgia has Stone Mountain, an unfathomable mound of pure granite. It is massive, magnificent, and, for argument’s sake, utterly lifeless! Stones, no matter how small or grand, do not breathe, eat, or walk around.

From a spiritual perspective, we talk about living stones. What does Jesus mean, “the stones would immediately cry out?” Scholars would say that this is poetic. Stones would not actually cry out. However, the symbolism is extreme. Could Jesus be saying rocks, by their very nature, glorify God? Rocks can’t choose. They are doing exactly what they were created to do. When humans decide not to worship their creator, are they less than stones? I think so. Have you heard the expression “dumb as a rock?” Well, that’s us when we reject our Creator; only rocks are smarter.

There is also a contrast. Why does Peter call Jesus the “Living Stone?”

Peter is saying when we come to Christ, the Living Stone, our rock-like existence comes alive. We are no longer stone dead. We are eternal, living organisms, part of an active, breathing house. We are living stones cemented together into the house of God. We are only alive because he allows us to be alive. What a vast chasm between being an inanimate rock and a living stone. It’s not exaggerated. That’s what salvation does for us. We come alive and become “living stones.”