Rock solid

He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out."

Luke 19:40

Jesus’ disciples were still in the blush of adrenaline, probably still waving the palm branches and slapping each other on the back, when the Pharisees scolded Jesus: tell your disciples to stop this!

Religious leaders then didn’t care for fanaticism then any more than we do today – at least in reference to Jesus.

However, I digress. I want to focus on Jesus’ response. He defended the joyous display: if these followers were quiet, the stones would shout out. I have assumed that Jesus was saying, if people didn’t praise me, creation will.

Jesus had a bigger message than that for the Pharisees. Stones have an interesting heritage in ancient Hebrew writings. From Abraham to Jacob to Joshua, stones were raised up in remembrance of God’s great work. Responding to God’s covenant of protection and offspring, Abraham set up stones at Bethel. (Gen. 12:7) Jacob set up a stone – the pillow where he’d laid his head – after pledging that the Lord was his God. (Also at Bethel. See Gen 28:21-22).

After the Israelites settled in the Promised Land, they pledged their loyalty to God. Joshua erected a stone to mark that decision. (Joshua 24:27) In each case, God had initiated the promise; he had come to his people with his provisions and protection.

In Habakkuk 2:11, we learn that stones of the wall testify against evil. One of the roles of stones was as a memorial, a testimony of a past decision.

So Jesus was telling the Pharisees that if his followers didn’t celebrate his coming, the memorials of the past would testify. God had planned the incarnation of Jesus from the beginning. God’s interaction with his people was consistent and his covenant clear: I will be your God and you will be my people. My part of the covenant is to protect and provide. Your part is to love and obey me.

If followers didn’t shout the celebration of the covenant, the stones served as a testimony. Israel’s very history celebrated the work of God and his great plan of redemption through the Messiah.

Jesus’ words to the Pharisees were compassionate. He reminded them of their own history. They could know the joy and freedom of the Messiah if they only looked at the testimony of their own stones. God had reached out in his covenant of love many times before. The stones cried out.