On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand

A Reflection on this Friday’s Gospel, John 14:1-6

Have you ever let Jesus’ promise of eternal life really sink in. Reflect on it! What else really matters? What else can we want except for that same peace for others? Considering Jesus’ promise, our troubles should melt away into a sublime joy. Unfortunately, we tend to exist in a world of shifting and blowing sand into which we often slowly sink. The way, the truth, and the life is obscured and with irritated eyes, we doubt. We ask the Lord, “We do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (John 14:5 NABRE)

     After hearing Matthew 7:24–27 proclaimed in 1834, young apprentice cabinet maker, Edward Mote, at his conversion, wrote the words to the popular hymn, “Solid Rock.” The refrain echoes over, and over again, Mote’s complete abandonment to the truth, the risen Christ,

“On Christ the solid rock I stand; All other ground is sinking sand,” (HymnCharts)

     Today’s Gospel marks a transition in Jesus’ relationship with His Apostles. Jesus knows He will no longer be physically accessible as He has been. The Apostles must now abandon all in faith for their Lord as the only truth. A reality that must encompass their lives with wonder at God’s mercy, the joy of His love, and the firm hope in eternal life. This they do! The Apostles’ lives and martyrdom give firm witness to their faith in Jesus and His promise. Do we allow ourselves to cling to the risen Christ as the singular way and truth that propels us from a world of “sinking sand” into eternal life, profound peace?

Sinking Sand

     If you have ever lived near a beach, you know that the shape of any beach is always in a state of flux. Depending upon the tides, fierce winds, severe storms, and even the health of vegetation that form part of the barrier dunes, what was a flat beach now has hills and is later again flat. What was a short beach is now broad and then is yet again short or has disappeared completely under relentless waves. The state of constant movement changes or sometimes destroys all that sits upon the beach. Sinking sand!

     Without a faith anchored in Christ, our solid rock, we too stand upon sand that slowly, insidiously, swallows us into the deadly currents of anxiety and doubt. Eroded by the ebb and flow of our own convictions and panic, we too are battered amongst the fierce winds and storms that seem to always swirl and threaten. The barrier of our faith, like the dune, is breached and swallowed up by the rising tides of every vice and those nagging, omnipresent, doubts. Is Jesus real? Is His promise truth? If we cling to the world of sand, we too are swept away, swallowed up in fear, hope abandoned. Cling to Christ! His promise is the way, the truth, and the life, a solid rock.

A Solid Rock

    Do not be troubled! Jesus calls to each and every soul on earth:

“I am the Way, walk with Me, not around Me, not ahead of Me. With daring self-abandonment give yourself to Me alone. “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NABRE) There is no other way! Know that I have already prepared a dwelling in My Father’s house for you. Be at rest!”

“Trust me. I am Truth, the only Truth. Unlike sand, I am solid, unwavering, the only fact that matters, the only firm foundation, a solid rock in a world of sinking and death-dealing sand.”

“Set aside trouble and let peace permeate your life. I am eternal life. I alone have vanquished death. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55 NABRE) What are you afraid of? I offer that life to you “so that where I am you also may be.” (John 14:3 NABRE)

     Amid a world of sinking sand, battered, bruised, afraid, and grasping, the Gospel today calls us to serene faith born of God’s overflowing grace and our own firm decision to abandon earthly desires and fears, sinking sand, and trust our Lord with a determined joy and faith. He who is the way does not lead us into by-paths or trackless wastes. He who is the truth does not mock us with lies. He who is the life does not betray us into delusions, which are death. As “The Way,” He guides us to truth. As “The Truth,” He establishes in us eternal peace, eternal life.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name

On Christ the solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

(Lyrics from HymnCharts)

Endnotes

Daigneault, M. & Boden, J. (2019, October 3). Good governance: An antidote for shifting sands. CU Management. https://www.cumanagement.com/articles/2019/09/good-governance-antidote-shifting-sands

HymnCharts Ministry. (2024, April 8). The Story Behind: The solid rock. Hymncharts.com. https://www.hymncharts.com/2024/04/08/the-story-behind-the-solid-rock/

New American Bible. Revised Edition (NABRE). Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011. Print.