Deep Inner Springs of Magic
There’s a poem by Alfred Noyes that goes, “There’s magic all around us/ In rocks and trees, and in the minds of men,/ Deep hidden springs of magic./ Whoever strikes the rock aright, may find them where he will.”
The verse, “Deep inner springs of magic” resonated in my mind as a I read it because the poem reminded me so much of the lesson from the Hebrew Bible assigned to the Third Sunday in Lent (Exodus 17:1-7) where Moses strikes the rock to produce water for his thirsty and disgruntled people. And even more, the words of the poem reflect on “wonder.” Because certainly magic and wonder somehow go together and wonder is what we’re to think about this month as it correlates with our lectionary texts. Wonder and magic aren’t that far apart. And they’re found in both the profound and the ordinary things of life.
I found it interesting to read an early 19th century commentary on this Exodus story. Back then although Biblical scholars read it both as literal magic and allegory, what comes through is that sense of wonder. Adam Clarke in his Commentary (of 1842) told his readers more than a century and a half ago that his colleagues had found the actual rock upon which Moses struck his staff! It was located in the place called Massah meaning in Hebrew “temptation” or “trial” and Meribah meaning “contention.” So at that place and time, the People of Israel contended with the trial of thirst and the temptation to demand a return to Egypt. It was there that they put God and God’s designated leader Moses on trial.
Of course, the story was resolved when Moses struck the rock and magically rivers of water poured forth sufficient to satisfy the thirst of two million people, the number of Israelites these middle 19th century scholars believe were there. And according to their interpretation the magic rock that provided water was itself allegorically a kind of Christ and drinking from it allowed all believing hearts - then as now - to become partakers in the grace and mercy, the refreshment of God through Jesus. Clarke’s Commentary also references John 4 and the lesson that tells about Jesus offering “a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
So, at least for mid-19th century Biblical scholars the meaning of both the lessons assigned for the Third Sunday in Lent seems clear: Jesus is the rock that provides water that satisfies spiritual thirst. Today, in the early 21st century, most Christians would affirm the same.
(submitted by Ralph Ahlberg)
Rev. Ralph Ahlberg will be preaching at Immanuel on February 24, 2008.
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