The Stones Will Cry Out

As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting: “BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” Luke 19:37-40

There is so much to consider about Palm Sunday: the donkey that is waiting for Jesus; the jubilant crowd; the parade; Jesus weeping over Jerusalem; and the visit to the temple.  Jesus entered Jerusalem, not as a Warrior Messiah, but as the Sacrificial Lamb who was to disappoint His followers by not claiming an earthly kingdom, but dying to provide an eternal one.

As Jesus approached Jerusalem, the crowd began to gather.  First it was disciples, which likely meant more than just the twelve.  They praised God for Jesus because of the miracles which they had seen.  The crowd rightfully cited Psalm 118:26 in shouting, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”  Finally, Jesus, who had previously wanted anonymity, was being recognized for who He was.  This parade was not arrogance on the part of Jesus; it was a recognition of His authority and a necessary step in the progression of His ministry and of the week to come.

I have heard preachers and read commentators who state that the same crowd that hailed Jesus on Sunday called for His death on Friday.  I have heard others say that, while there may have been some overlap, they were not the same people.  The crowd on Palm Sunday was mainly followers of Jesus.  The crowd on Good Friday included only a handful of followers that we know of (Mary, Mary’s sister, Mary wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene and John) and may have included some of the Palm Sunday welcomers.  Those folks, who went from shouting “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him,” would have been disappointed that Jesus did not meet their expectations, which were to defeat the Romans and reestablish Jewish rule.  The fact remains that the crowd on Palm Sunday recognized the uniqueness of Jesus, although it’s likely none of them had any idea what His purpose was and what was coming in a few short days.

Pharisees were also in the crowd.  In this last week of His life they always seemed to be present to challenge Jesus.  Here in this moment of glory and recognition they told Jesus to tell the disciples to hush.  They did recognize Him as “Teacher,” but that rang hollow given their hypocrisy.  They said, “Rebuke your disciples.”  To rebuke means to “express sharp disapproval or criticism of someone because of their behavior or actions.” In the Pharisees’ minds, the disciples had gone too far in claiming Lordship for Jesus.

Jesus likely quoted Habakkuk 2:11 in His response.  In crafting a taunt regarding the tyranny of Babylon and its ultimate destruction,  the prophet Habakkuk wrote:

Because you have looted many nations, all the remainder of the peoples will loot you—because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land, to the town and all its inhabitants.  Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house to put his nest on high, to be delivered from the hand of calamity! You have devised a shameful thing for your house by cutting off many peoples; so you are sinning against yourself. Surely the stone will cry out from the wall, and the rafter will answer it from the framework. Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with violence. Habakkuk 2:8-12

Habakkuk is noting that the houses and cities built by the Babylonians at the expense of those they had conquered and captured would testify against them when the Babylonians were, in turn, conquered.  In citing this verse, Jesus states something similar.  If His disciples’ mouths are shut it won’t matter because creation will testify to the glory of Jesus.

Creation does testify to the magnificence and glory of God.  I have seen great beauty in the world from the Grand Canyon to a star-filled night at sea.  I subscribe to an Instagram account from the National Park Service and am amazed every day at the beauty captured in their photographs.  Creation can be glorious and it certainly reveals a glorious Creator.  But stones?  Was Jesus looking at a wall, perhaps a street, or a house, or even the Temple itself when He said this?  The Temple was certainly magnificent, but it was created using stones and timber.  Jesus said inanimate rocks would cry out to glorify Him.

This gives me tremendous hope: if a rock can testify to the glory of God, then I certainly can.  At least, I hope I’m more expressive than a rock.  But it also makes me realize what Jesus knew:  I will be silent more often than  not.  I will miss opportunities to share the gospel.  I will fail to show love.  I will keep my mouth shut when it should be open, and open it when it should be shut (can I get an “Amen?”).

But these verses are not about me.  They are about a person who was fully God and fully man.  A person who was about to give His life as a payment for the sin in my own.  A person who was going to pay a price for me that I could not pay.  A person whose blood would drop onto the stones of the road leading to Calvary.  In the face of that overwhelming love of course the stones would cry out … and so must we.