“It’s a Miracle: Stones Cry Out”
Luke 19:37-40
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Everyone loves a parade. It’s easy to understand why. After all, parades are one of our best-loved American traditions, with our flags flying, marchers marching and drummers drumming.
Think of the Tournament of Roses Parade, for example. It’s held, each year, in Pasadena, California, on New Years’ Day. Not only can you watch it live on TV, you can see it in more than two hundred countries around the world. Just to decorate one float, they say, takes sixty workers working ten hours a day for ten days!
Or there’s the Presidential Inaugural Parade. That parade’s been one of our nation’s traditions ever since the time of our third president, Thomas Jefferson. It’s all of 1 ½ miles long and features groups from all fifty states as well as, of course, the District of Columbia.
And there’s the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It lasts three hours, and is known for its elaborate floats and its huge inflatables, like the Pillsbury Doughboy, Snoopy and Charlie Brown, each of them five stories tall.
And let’s not forget about New Orleans and its Mardis Gras Parade, New York and its ticker tape parades or even our own local parades, like Webb Lake and its St. Patty’s Day Parade, Shell Lake and its Town and Country Days Parade and Spooner and its Rodeo Parade.
Everyone loves a parade.
But of all the parades past, present or those yet to come, there could never be one more important, more exciting, or more inspiring than this one that once happened in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
And it all began with this. Listen to the words of Luke chapter 19: “When Jesus drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.’”
And just as soon as they brought it to Jesus and spread their coats on the road, the Bible says the whole multitude of His disciples, literally thousands of those who loved Him and believed in Him, began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had heard and seen.
And with one voice, they shouted, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!”
It was a time of joy, of commemoration, and of celebration, for Jesus, the Lord, the Savior, the Messiah had come!
There was just one problem. In the midst of the people’s great joy and celebration, of wonder and adoration, there were words of conflict, argument, discord and disagreement--the words of Pharisees. “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples,” they said. In other words, “Better settle down, Jesus. You’re causing quite a stir, Jesus. There’s going to be trouble, Jesus. Better stop now, Jesus, or else…”
So why would they say such a thing? What had Jesus ever done to them?
Well, a lot, really.
He called them what they were—whitewashed tombs--beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, full of dead men’s bones. He said they strained gnats, but swallowed camels.
Listen to what He said in Matthew 23: “You pile heavy burdens on people’s shoulders, but won’t lift a finger to help. Everything you do is just to show off in front of others. You even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on your foreheads and arms and wear big tassels for everyone to see. You love the best seats at the banquets and the front seats in the meeting places. And when you’re in the market, you like to have people greet you as their teachers.”
No wonder they said to Jesus, “You’re causing quite a stir, Jesus. There’s going to be trouble, Jesus. Better stop now, Jesus. Or else…”
And think of the many other parades and public demonstrations just like this. Zealots often led violent rebellions against Rome, and none of them ended well. Every one of them turned into a bloodbath that led to even deeper persecution by Rome. So for the sake of stability, for the sake of peace, there had to be some sense of quiet and control.
And into this melee came Jesus of Nazareth, the supposed son of a Jewish carpenter, who claimed to be the Son of God. He healed on the Sabbath. He touched lepers. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He even claimed the right to forgive sins, something no one but God could do.
So this Jesus was not simply some teacher or miracle worker or lunatic to be shunned. He was a threat to the very fabric of Jewish religious and political society. People flocked to Him. Rome took notice of Him. And the leaders of the Jews were afraid.
No wonder Caiaphas said to the fellow members of his Sanhedrin, “Do you not realize that it is better that one man die for the people than the whole nation perish!”
Yet, here He comes, over the crest of the Mount of Olives, sitting on the foal of a donkey, surrounded by a ragtag throng of people. “Hosanna!” they cried. “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
And as the Pharisees command Him to rebuke His disciples, what does He say? “If they keep quiet, even the stones will cry out.”
That’s strange. What do You mean, “the stones will cry out”?
Interesting choice—stones. Why not trees? Why didn’t Jesus say the trees would wave their outstretched arms toward heaven, showing the colors and rhythms of God’s beautiful creation? Or why not the waves of the sea, roaring and crashing their mighty chorus of praise? Or why not the sun, the moon and the stars praising God from their high heights? Surely they could speak of the wonder of Jesus.
Why stones?
Maybe it was because stones could do what none of them could do.
Remember? When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai in the thunder, the lightning and the smoke, the Lord took stones and wrote with His hand, “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not.” And from that moment on, those stones would always remind them of God’s love.
Think of Jacob, fleeing from his brother Esau, who used a stone as his pillow as he slept through the night. And as he laid his head on that stone, he dreamed of a ladder reaching up to heaven, with angels descending and ascending to God.
Think of David as he picked up five smooth stones from the riverbed to face Goliath. “You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel,” he said.
Or think of Jesus who went out to the wilderness to pray. For forty days, no one was there to witness His hunger and His struggle with temptation, except stones. That’s what Satan said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Or think of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Caught…in the act, the Bible says. And as those smug, self-righteous Pharisees picked up stones to stone her, He wrote on the ground and said, “He who is without sin may cast the first stone.”
Or think of the stone on which He fell in the Garden of Gethsemane, that sensed His anguish, that heard His prayer, “Father, if there is some possible way, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not My will, but Thine be done.”
Or think of the stones that would tell of Jerusalem’s destruction, Jesus’ prediction soon to come true. “Do you see all these things?” He said. “Truly, I tell you, not one stone will be left standing on another.”
Of course, if the people kept quiet, the stones would cry out.
Even more, let me ask, if the stones could cry out, what would they say?
Would they tell of the compassionate care of Jesus, how He strengthened the lonely and gave hope to the discouraged? Would they tell of His kindness toward women and children, the poor and the oppressed? Would they speak of how He challenged those in authority and His wise teachings? Would they worship Him as Savior and King?
We can only guess. But what we do know is what Jesus said: “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
It was April of 1975, and Gary Dahl was sitting in a bar in western California. And as he sat, sipping his drink, he listened to his friends complain about their pets and the time and money they spent walking, grooming and feeding them.
That’s when he had an idea for the perfect pet, something no one would ever have to feed, bathe, groom or walk. Even better, it would never die, become sick or disobedient.
What’s the perfect pet, you ask? A pet rock, of course.
So he bought some rocks, some hay and some boxes and printed a 32-page instruction manual on how to properly train and care for your new pet rock. “Sit” and “stay” were easy, he said. “Roll over” took a little more effort, “shake hands” was nearly impossible, but “attack” was pretty simple, with a little help from its owner.
Believe it or not, in the next six months, Dahl sold some 1 ½ million pet rocks and became a millionaire.
But we don’t need a pet rock or any other rock for that matter to give praise to God, for even we, by the grace of God, are privileged to say, “Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
We thank You, dear Father, for the wonder and the miracle of that first Palm Sunday. Grant us now the privilege to walk with our Savior from the mystery of the Upper Room, to the anguish of Gethsemane, to the horror of Good Friday and finally, to the joy and the wonder of Easter Day, for Jesus’ sake. Amen