The Rock and Moses [Septuagesima; St. Matthew 20:1-16]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus speaks to you His words saying,

“These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.”

Originating from the 17^th century is the proverb: "you can't get blood out of a stone" or "you can't get water out of a stone". Jesus is the Rock of our salvation, yet today we hear the workers in the vineyard complaining that they are like rocks, having born the scorching sun all day in their labors.

In the epistle, St. Paul calls Jesus the “spiritual rock”. We are not to be fooled, however. This does not mean metaphor, it means that the Rock was of spiritual origin, i.e. from God, as Jesus was. St. Paul also calls the Manna received in the wilderness "spiritual", yet it was real enough to need physical collecting and staved off genuine hunger.

Thus, when we get to the OT reading and hear of Moses striking a rock, we hear that he is not just striking a rock, but striking Jesus. Moses represents the Law. Jesus was struck, or crucified, by Israel for presuming to violate the Law, for claiming to be God, which He is! When He was struck, "crucified", living water for all humanity was poured out.

For Israel wandering the wilderness, water flowing from the rock is life, in a desert with no water. And this rock was with Israel all the way. The same Rock followed Israel from Horeb (our reading today; Ex 17:1-7), the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula, to Kadesh all the way around to the NE part of the peninsula, to Nebo, back south a bit then all the way to the northern tip of the Dead Sea, where all Israel would cross the Jordan into Israel.

To do all the wonders in front of Pharaoh, God told Moses to use his rod. This is a physical means God told Moses to use to accomplish God’s will on earth. This is the same rod Moses uses to strike the rock for water to gush out for the people.

The reason this is important is because this same incident occurs again where the people are thirsty in the desert and blame Moses and Aaron for leading them to their deaths. This second time, though, God tells Moses not to strike the Rock, but to take his rod and speak to it, then water will come out.

Moses, having his doubts, reverts not to God’s Word here, but to God’s earlier command to strike the Rock, which he does, twice, and water comes out. This is understandable, because God’s Word before was strike it and Moses had also struck the Nile to make that water blood. There is even a Jewish interpretation of this incident from the 2^nd century that says Moses hit it twice because the first time blood started dripping, in stead of water gushing out.

Now, this would all be making a mountain out of a mole-hill if this were not the incident that gets Moses barred from entering the Promised Land. Because he is, we have something greater going on here and that is Moses has not kept the Lord holy in front of His people.

Moses has not just disobeyed, but has thought to himself that striking Christ twice is just as good as speaking to Him. But that’s just it. Christ is stricken once for all time. He suffers and dies on the cross once for all. He will not suffer a second time, nor will He be subject to smittings of any kind. His humiliation is over. It is the time of His exaltation.

Jesus is always the One who is persecuted, even when He is smitten and afflicted by God and especially when men esteem Him stricken. It is then that they scatter as a flock when the shepherd is struck. The Judge of Israel has been judged with the rod. Wrath and punishment has been placed upon Him for the forgiveness of sins.

Notice how when Jesus is struck again by Moses, water still comes out. Only grace allows entrance into heavenly places. The Law only brings guilt and shame. Moses representative of the Law, is barred from the Promised Land, because only God's Grace incorporates you into "the Promised land”. This is why it is Joshua that takes them in! Joshua is Hebrew for Jesus! The Law is the 1st five books of the Old Testament, called the Torah, but the very next book is "Joshua".

“Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?” (Ps. 78:20). Indeed. As Jesus turns the other cheek towards Moses and the people of Israel in this second smitting, He not only gushes out spiritual drink, but spiritual food even this day.

The Son of God is struck on behalf of sinners, and out of Him comes water and blood. Water to fill the fonts of His Church and Blood to fill her chalices. The Rock of Israel no longer wanders around seeking a place to rest His head. He dwells with the baptized in His Church, whom He has purchased with His Body and His Blood.

It is on the rock of Golgotha that the Rock takes His final stand, putting sin and death to death and giving the final judgment to the father of lies: guilty! Jesus is the one Who does the striking, the judging, and the saving.

Jesus strikes Himself, judges Himself, and saves Himself and all others, on the cross. He tears, and He heals; he has smitten, and he will bind up. Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for His mercy endures forever. Let us return to the One Who endures with marks in His hands from those in the house of His friends and find forgiveness instead of judgment.

For now the same cloud and sea that covered Israel’s transgressions, flows through this font, into which we are baptized. The same food and drink that preserved Israel, preserves us in the forgiveness of sins. The same Good Shepherd that was struck for our iniquities, now grants us eternal rest in the true Promised Land of His resurrected body.

For today, in Christ, we fulfill the command Moses was unable to bear. We speak and do not strike. We labor and do not grow tired. We receive from the hand of the Lord and do not complain. We carry our cross and lay it at the Altar, agreeing with the Lord that life is a good trade for sin and death.

In Christ we receive the denarius of salvation because Jesus has been stricken, but will never be again. The picture of the crucifixion that Moses gave us is played out once upon the cross so that whenever we are brought in to the Vineyard, we find the same full payment made ready for us as did Moses and all who went before us.

Not because we have borne equal amounts of duty or labor, but because we have been given equal amounts of the Savior Who rose again having borne the burden of His people’s sins and the scorching heat of their grumbling. From the side of our Rock, our Lord Jesus, comes only the forgiveness of sins.