The Very Stones Would Cry Out
As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:37-40)
As Jesus was preparing to enter Jerusalem, a whole multitude of His disciples begins to rejoice. This was a crowd of people who had seen the mighty works Jesus had done, had been following Him, and were rejoicing and praising God for all those mighty works they witnessed.
It’s interesting that the Pharisees who had seen much of the same mighty works as the crowd has seen, did not rejoice but instead admonished Jesus to rebuke His disciples. A Psalm of king David says that God is enthroned on the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). The Pharisees’ admonishment was a blatant disbelief in Jesus as Messiah and in reality, put them in a place of telling God to rebuke the praises of His people.
Psalm 19:1 tells us, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” And here we see Jesus’ answer in kind when He said, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” Could you imagine stones crying out with praise to God?? The very thought is beyond our imagination, yet the truth of it remains.
In our daily lives God is working and doing mighty works in our midst. Do we cry out, rejoicing and praising God for it? Or do we refrain from praising Him for one reason or another? Are there ever times that proverbial rocks are crying out in your silence?
I don’t know about you, but I never want to be put to shame by rocks over my silence and lack of praise to God for His goodness. Even if God never did any mighty works, He is still worthy of all praise. God is worthy of my praise and God is worthy of your praise.
I encourage you to take a moment and without any regard for what others think, meditate on Who God is and the mighty works He has done, and freely rejoice and praise Him aloud now.