I have seen people sifting through the sand with metal detectors on a beach past its peak season. Curious about what they were looking for, I asked, and the man smiled broadly as he pulled out the things he had found that day from his pocket to show me. I was surprised to see a few rings and necklaces that looked quite valuable at a glance. Besides those, there were quite a few types of coins. He was picking up things that vacationers, who must have crowded the beach all through the season, had sadly lost and left behind.
While this person is smiling with the joy of his findings, if we were to turn back time just a few days, a completely different emotion would have lingered in this very spot—the despair of those who lost something precious. Rings or necklaces are not just pieces of gold; they are fragments of life that possess “sentimental value” far exceeding their monetary worth. Those precious items were dropped into the sand in a split second. How great must have been the sense of loss and frustration when they realized that no matter how much they groped, the items were hidden deeper and there was no way to find them? In the hearts of those who eventually gave up their search and left the beach, there must have been a deep pain concerning things that are irreversible and beyond help.
“Alas, my lord,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!” (6:5). In this cry, one can feel a mixture of the frustration of irreversibility, the helplessness of not being able to do anything, and the despair of a fear of being beyond recovery. It was started with a good intention—borrowing the ax. The disciples of the school of prophets were cutting down trees to build a new dormitory when the borrowed ax accidentally fell into the water. At that time, the value of an iron tool was likely equivalent to the price of heavy machinery today.
To use an analogy, it is like borrowing a friend’s pickup truck to do volunteer work for a church construction project and getting into an accident by crashing into a Mercedes-Benz. Furthermore, the insurance is only in the owner’s name, so no insurance money can be received. Even selling the pickup truck won’t cover the repair costs for the Mercedes. You have no money to pay back, and due to your mistake, your friend’s entire fortune is about to be lost. You can understand it as this kind of situation. The incident has happened, and there is no way to rectify it. There are endless examples of this. Perhaps someone fell slightly into debt, but the interest snowballed until there was no way to escape it for a lifetime. Or a marriage went wrong somewhere, and the relationship between the couple became so estranged that they don’t know how to fix it. A child might have run away from home. One’s faith might have gradually withered until not even a short prayer before a meal comes out, and one feels completely fallen into a state of unbelief without reading a single line of Scripture all day. There is also the anxiety and fear of time flowing away uncontrollably while the process of aging becomes increasingly sorrowful.
In the book Men in Mid-Life Crisis written by Jim Conway, there is a sentence that expresses this feeling well: “The sun quietly continues to rise, and regardless of love, we all grow one day older.” What can one do about the fact that the sun rises every day? And what can one do about growing one day older every day? There is nothing that can be done and it cannot be reversed, yet it is sorrowful. In most cases, the intention was not wrong at all, but somehow one falls into an irreversible and irrecoverable result. The iron axhead fallen into the water is a value beyond recovery. Now, the ax is not just an ax; it is your life, your car, your spouse, your children, and your bank balance. Is your ax doing well?
Hearing the despairing cry of the disciple of the prophets, Elisha threw a stick into the water, and the iron axhead floated to the surface. When we encounter such scenes in the Bible, our intellect becomes uncomfortable. How can an iron axhead float on water? If such a thing actually happened, would that not be God Himself violating the laws He ordained?
Whether we know it or not, and whether we acknowledge it or not, this world moves according to physical laws. The center of the earth pulls everything with mass, and since iron is much denser than the force of buoyancy, it has no choice but to sink in water. These physical laws were created by God. Humans may discover them, create formulas, and name the laws, but the Creator of these laws is God. Would it not be un-Godlike for such a God to violate the laws He Himself made? If such extra-legal events happened constantly, would the world not become unfair and chaotic? If physical laws are overturned, could common sense not also be overturned? For instance, if one could become rich without working hard, get a perfect score without studying, or achieve without effort—if such things were possible, would virtues like honesty, effort, and integrity not become worthless in this world? In this regard, extra-legal and transcendent miracles make us uncomfortable. However, on the other hand, all of us harbor the paradoxical thought that we wish God would perform such miracles for us. If I were truly the disciple who dropped the ax into the water, how desperately would I wish and hope for such a miracle? If one were diagnosed with terminal cancer, how much would one hope that, even if everyone else dies statistically, a miraculous healing would happen only to them?
God’s grace is largely divided into two categories: General Grace and Special Grace. General Grace is the general grace of God given to all people. God gives sunlight and rain to the righteous and the wicked alike without any distinction. The same goes for water and air. He has already bestowed upon all people the amazing grace of the changing seasons, the gifts of nature from mountains and seas, and the ability to eat, drink, and enjoy things that humans did not sow or cultivate. And this General Grace is naturally bestowed upon us within God’s laws. God does not need to break natural laws, namely physical laws, to deliver General Grace to us.
However, in God’s world, there is one more grace that goes beyond General Grace: Special Grace. Special Grace is a special grace that transcends all the laws God has planted within all things. The event in today’s text contains the spiritual principle of how this Special Grace operates. When the disciple lamented that the ax had fallen, Elisha performed a strange action. He threw a stick into the place where the ax had fallen. And the iron axhead floated up. There is one event that is overlapped and associated with this. When the Israelites who had exited Egypt found water in the wilderness, it was too bitter to drink. At that time, Moses threw a stick into the bitter water. And miraculously, the bitter water turned into sweet water. In both events, a stick appears, but the role the stick plays is completely unrelated to its physical properties. What does the physical structure or chemical composition of a stick have to do with making bitter water sweet? Similarly, what physical contribution does a stick make in making an iron axhead float? None at all.
If so, rather than a literal interpretation of what the stick symbolizes, an allegorical interpretation becomes necessary. Allegorical biblical interpretation was widely practiced among the early church fathers. It is a method of minimizing the literal meaning of words while maximizing the hidden spiritual meaning. For example, St. Augustine interpreted the Parable of the Good Samaritan in this way: The man who met the robbers is Adam. The robbers are the devil, and the Good Samaritan is Christ. The priest and the Levite are the Old Testament, and the inn is the church. The innkeeper is Paul, and the two coins the Samaritan left with the innkeeper are the New and Old Testaments. This kind of interpretation can sometimes be brilliant, but at other times it can be a forced stretch. Therefore, the Reformers strictly excluded allegorical interpretations. However, allegories certainly exist in the Bible. Examples include the Parable of the Sower, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and the Parable of the Fig Tree. Also, many types symbolizing Jesus Christ appear. Jesus Himself said that the ladder connecting heaven and earth symbolized Him. Therefore, rather than unconditionally rejecting allegorical interpretation, it is necessary to apply it wisely according to historical background and interpretive rationality.
If the text is interpreted completely according to the allegorical method, it would be like this: The ax fallen in the water is the human soul sinking due to the weight of sin. Because of sin, the human soul becomes increasingly heavy and eventually has no choice but to sink. The Jordan River is the river of judgment. Elisha is Christ, and the stick is the Cross. While one might find grace in such an interpretation, since I am a reasonable person and my MBTI is J-type, I do not wish to interpret it so allegorically. This is because there is very little biblical evidence for it. However, I do agree that the stick is a symbol of the Cross. This is not only because there is no other room for interpretation but also because there is biblical evidence to support it.
In Numbers 21, the Israelites who were complaining in the wilderness were bitten by fiery snakes and many died. When Moses prayed, God told him to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. It is recorded that anyone who looked at the bronze snake on the pole lived. Furthermore, in Deuteronomy 21, there is a verse saying that anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. Paul cited this verse in Galatians 3, explaining that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. I believe this is sufficient evidence to interpret the stick as a symbol of the Cross.
To explain the Gospel simply, it is that Jesus took upon Himself the sins of all mankind on the Cross. The Cross is the place where all sin, curses, and despair are collected and resolved. It sucks in the venom of the snake, sucks in the bitter water to make it sweet, and absorbs the despair of the ax fallen in the water to exhale hope. All sins disappear there and become righteousness. During a press conference with the President of South Korea, a plaque saying “The buck stops here” was seen on the President’s table. It is said to be a plaque given as a gift by President Biden. It was originally a phrase used by President Truman, meaning “all responsibility stops here”—that is, the President himself takes all responsibility. All sin, curse, despair, punishment, and even death stop at the Cross. It is because Jesus took responsibility.
Using the Cross of Jesus as a standard, we divide history into Before Christ (B.C.) and Anno Domini (A.D.). However, in the context of an individual, the Cross divides the era of General Grace and the era of Special Grace. Before understanding the Cross of Jesus Christ through faith, we lived only by General Grace. But as the Cross takes on personal meaning for me, from that moment on, I begin to live in the era of Special Grace. In practical terms, the Cross was a major revolution that overturned all common sense and all physical laws. Think about it. The Cross brought about the resurrection from death. The resurrection of the dead is an event that does not conform to physical laws at all. After the event of the Cross, the definition of righteousness was overturned. Righteousness used to be a declaration given to model citizens who strictly kept the commandments, but now it has been overturned to mean that one becomes righteous through faith, regardless of such upright living. From the declaration, “The righteous will live by faith,” the definition of life is overturned. A well-lived life used to require being diligent, enthusiastic, kind, and sometimes lucky, but from now on, the most important thing in the way of living is faith.
The meaning of truth is also overturned. Before the Cross, truth was a word that corresponded to ‘rightness’ between right and wrong. It corresponded to ‘fact’ between fact and fiction. But after Jesus proclaimed, “I am the truth,” truth is no longer a matter of right and wrong. Truth became a person. Jesus is the truth. There is truth only when the heart of Jesus is present, and there is truth only when the perspective of Jesus is present.
In physics, there is the Law of Entropy. It is the law that in order to grant order to one existence, disorder must continuously increase in the surroundings. For me to maintain order—that is, health—without dying or falling ill, I must create a vast amount of disorder around me. Eating up food, discharging a vast amount of waste, polluting nature, and so on. But even so, I cannot maintain my order indefinitely. Eventually, my own disorder must also increase, and thus I gradually fall ill, grow old, and die. This is the physical law. However, after the event of the Cross, a new law has emerged that flips this law: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16) According to the physical law, the outward self must grow one day older every day, but our inward self transcends the physical law. In fact, it flips it. We do not grow older every day; we are being renewed day by day. Physical laws wear down our flesh, but the law of the Cross fills that empty space with God’s glory. And eventually, it even transcends the law of gravity and leads us to the eternal kingdom of heaven. The attitude and value toward life are also overturned. 2 Corinthians 6:9-10 says: “...known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” Therefore, before the Cross, there is absolutely nothing that is irreversible.
Life after the Cross is a life within Special Grace that transcends common sense and physical laws. As the Lord promised to send the Holy Spirit after the Cross, He added these words: “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:24) This promise is no different from the promise that Jesus Himself will accomplish countless things that transcend natural laws according to our prayers. Therefore, within the Special Grace of the Cross, even today, the iron axhead is floating on the water. Countless irreversible pains are being healed, irrecoverable relationships and losses are being restored, and beyond-help lives are being rescued. Despair is turning into hope, and lamentation is turning into thanksgiving and praise. It is okay even if the iron axhead does not float on the water. If my soul floats up by overcoming the weight of despair even with the empty hands that lost the ax, would that not be a more amazing Special Grace than the iron axhead floating?
Regrettably, without faith, people enjoy grace but do not know it is grace. The sunlight and air enjoyed every day become a natural daily routine without knowing it is God’s meticulous care. And because they stop at the threshold of General Grace, they cannot even dream of the mystery of Special Grace beyond it. However, a person of faith enjoys both General Grace and Special Grace. They enjoy and give thanks for General Grace much more deeply and abundantly. It is not just the sun rising helplessly; it is a day given as a gift by God. Everyone lives and enjoys the same day, but the interpretation of and the emotion regarding that day are different. And furthermore, they begin to taste Special Grace that goes beyond General Grace. They experience the bitter water turning sweet and the iron axhead floating up.
However, because Special Grace completely transcends human intellect, it cannot be explained well. There is no pattern. No formula can be made. It is unpredictable. One does not know when, in what way, or how He will work. Therefore, every single day can be filled with a fluttering heart of holy expectation. The possibility of meeting unexpected grace in an unexpected place is always open. A miracle for me, a miracle just for me, is always before me. Therefore, what we have to do is simply enjoy it. God has no obligation to explain to us, nor can we demand an explanation from God. There is no need to complain that it is not understood or predicted. It is right to simply enjoy grace. Without this grace, what is irreversible is simply irreversible. A ring lost in the sand can never be found, an iron axhead fallen into the water is lost forever, and a broken relationship is beyond recovery. However, due to the grace of the Cross, hope arises in the midst of all irreversible things. We do not know when or how it will happen. We simply believe, ask, expect, and wait. And when a miracle happens, we just need to be thankful and enjoy it. Do not despair. After the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no longer any ‘irreversibility’ in this world. Amen.