Stones Will Cry Out

Luke 19:28-44

 

1. Today is Palm Sunday. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel, the crowd took palm branches and enthusiastically welcomed him, shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!”(Jn 12:13) When some Pharisees were angry with this shouting and asked Jesus to stop it, our Lord replied: “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”(40)

2. There is some word that cannot be silenced. It is the truth. Even though dictators oppress people to stop speaking truth, they do not succeed. Some human persecutors try to silence the Word of God, but man may not succeed it, because the Word of God is not silenced by any means. As Psalm 19 eloquently described, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge… Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”(1-4) 

3. Jesus Christ is the center of human history and the focal point of cosmic operation. God became man to save the world. Now after finishing all the public ministry of three years, he started his march to Jerusalem from 9:51 for this finale. He came to die for us, and he is approaching to the place of death, his destiny in salvation history. The crowd of disciples recognized this long-waited Messiah, the Davidic King prophesied in 2 Sam 7:12-16, Jer 23:5 and Is 11:1-10. This is the truth on Jesus, and therefore their shouting may not be silenced. If it is silenced, the world will be in darkness and false deception. Yes, it is the truth that Jesus is the Messiah and the King! Therefore, we continue to joyfully shout and sing this truth.

4. God called Abraham to form a people to serve Him. God gave Canaan as their land, but it took one thousand years to possess it fully by King David. However, they lost sovereignty gradually in one thousand years after David. They had waited Messiah as New David who will save Israel and restore the old glory. Jesus was the Messiah King, but he was the King not only to save Israel but the whole world. Shouting of people for the coming King is natural and necessary. It may not be silenced. If it is forced to be quiet, the inanimate stones will cry out, because it is the most important truth in the whole universe. If this word and truth should be silenced, what word is worth to speak? If we are allowed to speak only one sentence and die, what would you say? It will be difficult to choose, but I would like to use that opportunity to express my appreciation to my Lord Jesus Christ, because he is my Savior for eternity, my All in All.

5. Jesus saw Jerusalem and “wept over it.”(41) Why? It was because the city of Shalom will be totally destroyed soon, not leaving one stone on another. Jerusalem has not much wood but full of stones by which houses are built. But the stones will be struck down because they rejected and killed the Messiah. The hearts of Jews were like stones. The total destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was actually the punishment of God: “The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you.”(43-44) Even today we see so many stony hearts that reject the Savior, and they have no sense of the approaching punishment.

6. We often make mistakes that we speak when we should be silent, while we are silent when we should speak out. Don’t let the stones cry out! God gave us mouth and voice to tell the truth, not lie or false. Blind and ignorant humans teach and insist false with conviction. Only the Word of God is the truth. Save your mouth and shout the truth that Jesus Christ is the Savior and He is the King of kings!