Reading: Luke 19:28–48
The scene is the “Triumphal
Entry”. Jesus is on a donkey colt entering Jerusalem
as people spread their cloaks on the road in front of him. The
people joyfullly shout praises to God and say, “Blessed
is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Luke
19:37-38) This
declaration of Jesus as the king of Israel, the son of David, the One
who comes in the name of the Lord, provoked a rebuke from the
Pharisees.
39Some
of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your
disciples!” 40“I
tell you,” he replied, “if
they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
This
statement by Jesus is the subject of some choruses and has brought
about many statements about how we might see rocks singing the
praises of Jesus if we don't! Maybe... but, maybe not. Allow
me to suggest that Jesus wasn't saying that the stones will sing
praises if the disciples stop singing them.
In fact, the text doesn't say that at all. And you don't have to
know Greek to see it; I'm talking about what your English
translations say (just like the Greek). It
doesn't say the stones will sing praises if the disciples don't.
What
does it say? It says that the that if the disciples don't joyfully
shout these praises, the rocks will cry out. However,
it does not say what
they
will cry out.
To understand what Jesus means by the rocks crying out, I believe we
must understand the background to this statement.
The
first hint we have to anything like this comes after the first
murder. Cain has taken the fleeting life of righteous Abel. The
Lord declares to Cain, “What
have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries
out to me from the ground.”
(Genesis
4:10) What was Abel's blood crying out? It was crying out guilt –
Cain's guilt.
This
particular incident gets mentioned later. Hebrews 12:24 tells us
that we have come to the blood of Jesus which speaks “a
better word than the blood of Abel.”
Though
Abel's blood spoke of guilt, Jesus' blood speaks of forgiveness!
Both had fleeting lives; both were taken in the prime of life; both
were unjustly killed by a jealous older brother (figuratively in
Jesus' case).
In
Joshua 24, Joshua warns the people of Israel what the requirements of
serving the Lord are and what the consequences of turning away from
the Lord are. They choose to serve the Lord so Joshua set up a stone
under an oak tree and said,
“See!”
he said to all the people. “This stone
will be a witness against us.
It has heard
all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against
you if
you are untrue to your God.”
(Jos
24:27)
The
stone had been present when all the warnings were issued by Joshua;
the stone heard the people's commitment to serve the Lord. In
the event that the people failed to keep the covenant they couldn't
deny that they had made the commitment for the stone was present.
Therefore
the stone could serve as a witness in a court case against the people
if they failed to keep the covenant.
In
Habakkuk 2:9-11 we read of stones of a wall crying out against those
who had in their presence made and plotted their greedy plans. Here
again the stones hear and then testify against those who did wrong in
their presence.
Of course, this all seems to be a figurative way of saying, “you
will be brought to account for what you have done... and will not be
able to deny it. These stones will serve as witnesses against you.”
When
we arrive in Luke 19:40 I believe it is best to read this background
into the statement Jesus makes. In
other words, if after seeing all these miracles and deeds I have done
no one shouts out praises and honors me as the Messianic King, your
judgment is sure and the stones (possibly
the stones of the temple where Jesus did some teaching), will
cry out in judgment against this city!
This makes even more sense as we read what immediately follows (Luke
19:41-44 where stones are mentioned again). (See also Luke 21:6.)
When
I read Luke 19:40 I don't envision stones singing, I imagine stones
witnessing the rejection of Christ by those who saw the miracles and
deeds crying
out guilt in the face of their impending judgment.
May we respond and sing the praises of the King! His
sprinkled blood speaks better things...
(Hebrews 12:24).
Love the Gospel, Live the Gospel,
Advance the Gospel,
Jerry
