Christ: The Living Stone

"Coming to [Christ] as to a living stone" (1 Pet. 2:4). Jesus is the only source of eternal life and the foundation upon which the church is built. Peter's description of Christ as "a living stone" is paradoxical because stones aren't alive. In fact, we sometimes speak of something being "stone dead." Yet Peter's symbolism is profound because it beautifully incorporates three realities about Christ. First, Jesus is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. The Old Testament referred to the Messiah as a stone, and Peter incorporated those texts into His description of Jesus in 1 Peter 2:6-8: "Behold I lay in...