“The Stones Will Cry Out”
(Luke 19:28-40)
This week on Friday, George W. Bush flew into Milwaukee’s Mitchell Field on Air Force One, made his way in a limousine to the new home of the Brewers, Miller Park, threw out the first pitch, ate a hot dog, waved to the crowd, and left early so that he wouldn’t block traffic on the way out. You and I can’t begin to imagine the amount of preparation that goes into a simple presidential visit. The security, the traffic control, the press, even the air traffic control around the airport are scrutinized and interrupted for such a visit.
Sometimes I think it would be easier if they just didn’t tell anyone where he was going on any particular day, that way, no one would be able to plan any kind of attack or protest, and the spontaneity would be kind of fun, don’t you think?
When Carol heard that the president was going to come and visit Milwaukee, she said, “Oh, we should invite him to church!” And that started a whole conversation about how fun it would be to not tell anyone that he was coming, and just have him show up. I think it might have been something like this:
[Scene from The American President, when president stops in to purchase flowers at floral shop and cashier faints.]
Can you imagine what that would be like? It would be an incredible event, needless to say, but I think in many ways it might be better to be surprised than if you knew he was coming, because we’d drive ourselves crazy getting ready wouldn’t we?!
This week I heard a little story on the radio about a young man who invited his fiancée over for prayer at his apartment. When she arrived, she sat on the couch, and closed her eyes to begin praying, but she heard papers shuffling, and her fiancée walking around, so she opened her eyes and saw him cleaning the apartment. She asked him what he was doing, and he said, “If the president of the United States was coming to my apartment, I would certainly do all I could to make it as nice as possible. We are about to invite the Creator of the universe into my apartment, and I want it to look good for Him!”
Today is Palm Sunday, a day when the church reflects on the day nearly two thousand years ago that was the closest Jesus has come, so far, to being recognized by the world for Who He really is. It is a familiar story to most of us, but let me review just briefly. It was one week before Passover, the greatest holiday in the Jewish year. People were already filling Jerusalem for the great feast. The buzz around town was about this Galilean named Jesus. Would he show up? Everyone was talking about His miracles, and His teachings. Some were vehement in their anger at this one who was challenging their religious traditions and leaders, others saw Him as a prophet along the lines of Elijah, or John the Baptist. Some others even went so far as to wonder if He could be the Messiah. Many thought that He might choose not to attend Passover because the heat was on – everyone knew that His life was in jeopardy.
But Jesus was coming. Let’s read the story from Luke, chapter 19 beginning with verse 28.
As I said before, this was as close as the world has gotten, so far, in recognizing Jesus for who He is. There will be a day when He will enter the world stage again, and every knew will bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, but until that day, this is as close as we, as human beings, have come to giving Him the public recognition He deserves.
As we look at this story, let me just point out a couple of quick observations:
First, it occurs to me that even though they had seen His miracles, and heard His teachings first- hand, there were still those who did not believe. Look at verse39 – the Pharisees, those religious leaders of the day, refused to see Jesus for who He is. If you read the gospels, you will find that the Pharisees watched Jesus very closely from the earliest days of His ministry. They listened, they saw the miracles, they debated His message, they accused Him of being a puppet of Satan when he cast out demons, they charged Him with violating the Law when he healed on the Sabbath, when He claimed to be the Son of God they called Him a son of something else entirely.
It is easy to say, “Had I been there, and seen all He did, I would believe.” Carl Sagan, the astronomer and thinker who denied the existence of God, stated, “If God is God, He could write it so across the sky, and I would believe.” You know what? I doubt it. There were plenty of people who, despite all they saw and heard, refused to believe. Their eyes were shut, their hearts were hard. Nothing would have caused them to recognize Jesus for who He is.
And look at their response. See how they not only don’t believe, they don’t want anyone else to believe either! “Stop!” they cry. “You can’t claim that this is the Messiah, the Son of God! You’ll offend someone!” Sound familiar? Of course they were concerned that he Romans would be offended. But the truth is, it offended them! All through the ages from that first Palm Sunday til this one, it has been the same. Perhaps now it is as strong as ever – “don’t proclaim your Jesus to be Lord! How dare you claim that He is the only way to God!”
There are always people who will attempt to hush true worship. They will sit back in the crowd, fold their arms, cast a critical eye, waggle a finger and say, “Stop that! It’s inappropriate! You can’t be ‘rejoicing and praising God with a loud voice!’” Go to church, if you must, sit on a bench, but be quiet about it! Don’t tell me about it!”
But there was another group there that day. Look at verse 37. It says,
Then, as he was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen…
These were ones who had seen the works, and had heard the teachings, just like the doubters. For three years Jesus had been moving in and around Israel. He had been teaching His radical message of personal devotion to God. He had shown His authority through His powerful teaching and His miracles, and it was here, at this specific instance, that it all came together for these followers. The light suddenly went on for many of them. They knew their history. They knew that Solomon had come into Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt when he became king. They knew that Zechariah had prophesied that the Messiah would ride into this city on a donkey. Maybe it was seeing Him on that donkey that finally made it all “click.” Perhaps it was because of all the signs and wonders. Whatever the reason, the people suddenly recognized what was happening.
And they did what anyone would do in that situation. When the realized who Jesus was, when the recognized His presence, the erupted in an outburst of spontaneous worship! They began to throw down their outer cloaks, and branches from palm trees on the ground before the donkey on which Jesus was riding. It was the equivalent to our “Red Carpet Treatment.” They honored Him as Lord and King, they worshiped God! They quoted scripture from the Psalms:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Here in the last week of Jesus life He hears earthly voices shouting out words very similar to words that angelic voices shouted out on the first day of His life:
“Glory to God in the Highest, Peace on Earth, Good will to men!”
Just as those angels erupted with an outburst of worship at his birth, now humans are shouting out their praise and worship.
When that first group we talked about asked Jesus to quiet the worshipers, He answered, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out!”
What a moment! Paul tells us that when man first sinned, all of creation was subject to the punishment that followed. He tells us that “the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs from then until now…” waiting for the day of deliverance. The very earth is waiting for the day when Jesus will come and deliver us all from the bondage of sin and death. I sometimes think that this was a day of false labor for the earth. Jesus was coming into Jerusalem – it was a day when Israel came as close as they would ever get to accepting Him as the Messiah, and the earth was just ready to shout out its freedom! What a wonderful day of worship! What a remarkable day for Jesus!
But in the next few verses, we read that Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem. He, too, knows how close they have come to truly recognizing Him, but He knows their heart.
Look at His words, they are filled with emotion. And why not? The word that we read as, “Jesus wept over Jerusalem” in the original language carries with it the meaning of “wailed, “ one commentator I read this week said that Jesus burst in to sobs as he thought of the missed opportunity.”
“If you had only known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!”
Do you sense that this could have been a day that would have made all the difference? Can you see why the stones were ready to cry out in worship? And yet it was not to be. While they were worshiping today, Jesus knew that tomorrow, and the next day, and all that week, they would turn from Him. Their shouts of worship would turn to screams for blood. Their worship today was convenient, emotional, but not a reflection of their heart. They were ready to hail Him as king of Jerusalem, but they would not make Him King of their heart. They were looking him to deliver them from the oppression of Rome, but would not allow Him to deliver them from the tyranny of sin.
How will you receive Him today? Will you be one of those who fold your arms, and wishes that everyone would just shut up? Or will you join in with the crowd and worship while it’s popular? Or will you crown Him King of your life? Allow Him to take up royal residence in your heart?
Don’t let the opportunity slip away from you like it did Jerusalem! Crown Him the King of Kings in your heart today! Come to Him for deliverance from sin, direction for your life, and the assurance of eternal life to come!