“When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.” (Genesis 29:10-11 NIV)
I’m reading along in Genesis with Jacob making his way to his uncle’s home when I stumble across a strange seen. Three flocks were already gathered at a covered well in the heat of the day. The shepherds hadn’t abandoned their post, they seemed content to wait on what ever was coming next.
Jacob is baffled, Sheep should be in pasture midday, so he inquires. Apparently local custom had all the shepherds gather their sheep together first, and then the well was uncovered and all the flocks were watered at the same time. The text infers that the stone covering was heavy and required many men to move it.
Imagine, being so close to water but so completely unable to access it.
The lack of access limited shepherds, kept them from their full purpose. Sheep should be on hillsides, not in courtyards.
Entire flocks suffered under the weight of this immovable stone.
Jacob was still pondering this strange custom when the beautiful Rachel drew near to the still closed-off water source, her parched flock in tow. Jacob was so moved with love for Rachel that he single-handedly moved the immovable stone. His love empowered him to a near supernatural strength.
This is a type of what Christ did for us. It’s a type of the stone rolled away from the tomb, but also a type of His extravagant love propelling Him from heaven to earth, from the manger to the cross, from the grave to His resurrected form.
We read of Jacob and we think of Jesus. We realize that love is indeed the strongest force in the universe. And think, our God moves heaven and earth on our behalf. He singlehandedly rolled way the stone of impossibility. We were stuck sitting at the well midday, wholly distracted from our purpose by our deep need for living water. We could not access the life-giving source apart from His strength. He came and removed our only obstacle in relationship with Him: sin.
“Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.” (Mark 16:2-4 NIV)
Lord, we acknowledge that love is the most powerful force the universe. We realize we were parched apart from You, drying out and dying in our sin. Thank You for rolling away the stone that we could not, for meeting our impossibility with more of Yourself. We are so grateful for the absolution of our sin. We are excited to stay in right relationship with You for always. Amen.