Water From the Rock
One
Water from the Rock
One very interesting set of episodes from Israelites’ wandering in the desert has to do with the rock from which God, on two different occasions, brought life-giving water. The first occasion occurs in Exodus 17, when the Israelites become upset that there’s no water. So God commanded Moses to take his staff and strike the rock that stood before them, so that water would come out of it, that the people might drink. So far so good.
But then, years later, in Numbers 20, after the people had refused to enter the promised land, and were now wandering aimlessly in the desert, they end up in the same spot. Again, no water. But this time, the Lord commands Moses not to strike the rock, but instead to tell the rock to yield its water. Moses only needed to speak the word, and water would have flowed out. But Moses didn’t follow the Lord’s decree. Instead of speaking to the rock, he struck the rock, as he had done before.
We don’t know why he hit the rock instead of speaking to it. Maybe he was just giving vent to his frustration. Maybe he figured that, no matter what God had said, he should just repeat what had worked the first time. Fortunately, water did come out from the rock that second time, and the people drank. But God was greatly displeased with Moses. God decreed, right there and then, that Moses would never enter the promised land. And no matter how much Moses begged God to relent from that punishment, God stood firm. Moses, because of his disobedience at the rock, would never leave the desert.
Two
Why Such a Punishment?
God’s punishment to Moses seems pretty severe, until you think about what Moses actually did. Because what Moses actually did was needlessly place the lives of every single man, woman, and child at risk. After all, without water, the entire race of Israelites would have been exterminated, right then and there. They would have all died of thirst. And God, who alone had the power to save them, gave Moses clear instructions on how to bring the people the water they needed. And then Moses goes and messes with the instructions! As though he has the power to produce a life-giving stream out of a hunk of rock!
Moses played around with the lives of all God’s people that day. And that was a serious sin. And it’s also a serious sin when mere human beings play around with the instructions for God’s sacraments, on which the spiritual lives of God’s people depend.
Three
The Sacraments
The story of the water from the rock is really important for an understanding of the Catholic Sacraments. When the people are thirsty a second time, they need water from the rock again. But the rock doesn’t need to be struck again, rather, God’s minister needs to speak the word in front of the sacramental sign, and the water will flow.
So too with the sacraments, which are God’s chosen mechanism for the distribution of the grace won by Christ. Christ is the rock, and when He was struck at Calvary, all the graces of salvation flowed like water from His pierced heart. And even though we weren’t there for that event, we still need those graces. So the Lord has ordained that His chosen ministers will speak the word (which we call the form of the sacrament) combined with the sacramental sign (which we call the matter of the sacrament). And the saving grace that first flowed from Christ on the Cross will flow again to us.
The Catechism teaches that the saving events from the past will be made present for us, so we can be kept spiritually alive.
Four
Fidelity to the Matter and Form
Every sacrament consists of matter (the physical sign) and form (the words spoken). For example: In Baptism, the matter is water; the form is, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” In the Eucharist, the matter is bread and wine; the form is Christ’s words of consecration. In Holy Orders, the matter is the laying on of hands by a bishop, ordaining a baptized with the consecratory prayer.
The sign must signify what the sacrament does. Water cleanses, bread and wine nourish, and a man alone can signify Christ the Bridegroom, who gives Himself to His Bride, the Church. As St. John Paul II taught, the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Bridegroom and the Bride. A woman cannot sacramentally represent the Bridegroom; the sign would be inaccurate, and the sacrament invalid.
Faithfulness to Christ’s design safeguards the sacraments’ power and meaning. Therefore, fidelity to the matter and form instituted by Christ is essential. The sacraments are not human creations; they are physical signs and words established by the Lord Himself. When Moses deviated from God’s command at the rock, it placed the people at grave risk. How much more serious would it be to alter the signs and words Christ Himself entrusted to the Church?
The Church does not invent the sacraments. She receives them, guards them, and faithfully hands them on.
Five
Making Use of the Life-Giving Sacraments in Lent and in Life
Finally, if the water from the rock is a sign of the sacraments, then it teaches us how to live in the desert of Lent, and in the greater desert of this life. The sacraments are not mere symbols. They are the true source of Living Water in a dry and thirsty world. Through them, Christ sustains our souls.
Go frequently to the Eucharist Go frequently to Confession. Return again and again to the place where grace flows. But it is not enough to stand at the river. It is not enough to reach the well. The river of grace flows from the pierced Heart of Jesus through the sacraments. If we want to live, we must drink. And we drink by prayer, by daily meditation, by opening the soul to receive what the sacraments pour out.
The sacraments bring us to the river. Daily meditation enables us to drink deeply. The two belong together. In the desert of Lent and in the desert of life, this is how we remain spiritually alive: We go to the river. And we drink.