The Very Rocks Will Cry Out

Vandalia Church of God 3/24/24.

Luke 19:28–40 “And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he 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. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ” So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 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, “B…”

Good Morning Church of God and what a blessed morning it is! We are so blessed on this morning, because the Lord is our God and we are His people. Amen? Amen! On this morning we are talking about the culmination of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the last week of his earthly life and teaching. In this final week, Jesus will cleanse the temple of the money changers, He’ll be challenged by the priests and scribes and his divine authority to teach the Gospel of salvation will be questioned. He will celebrate the passover supper with his disciples, one of whom has been paid to hand him over to the priests for death. He’ll weep tears of blood in the garden, knowing that His time is near. He’ll be arrested, questioned by the priests, by Pilate the governor and by Herod, mocked and mistreated by soldiers. Jesus life will be traded for that of a murderer by the same people who greeted his entry into Jerusalem less than a week earlier. He’ll be crowned with thorns driven into his flesh, made to carry his own cross and crucified. And on the third day, Jesus will rise again from the dead to make clear that death has no power over those who are in Him and abide with Him. All during this final week. That’s a long, cruel week for Jesus and His disciples and sometimes it’s easy to forget Palm Sunday. The Sunday before we celebrate the glorious triumph of Jesus over the grave, we celebrate his arrival for that time to begin.

Sometimes Palm Sunday Gets Lost

We sometimes forget about Palm Sunday in the shuffle of Easter and

getting ready for spring. We give the little ones palm fronds to wave and their so cute when we’re teaching them about Jesus, waving their palms and shouting Hosana! Honestly though, You should feel that way about this Sunday, too. This is Jesus preparing to do the greatest act the earth has ever witnessed, die as a sacrifice for man’s sin, in man’s place and rise again from the dead. This Sunday is a big deal because it gives us another opportunity to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord, in repentance and humility, knowing that He died for us.

The Story from Scripture:

This is a very brief story, but full of lessons that resonate in our time.

Jesus and His disciples are coming down the west side of the Mt. of Olives into Jerusalem. Besides the disciples, they’ve gathered a group of people travelling along the road and following Jesus as He teaches. Besides, these folks, the Jewish religious leaders are gathering along the road, as well. Some are friendly to Jesus, but many hate everything He stands for. They are corrupted by satan and their hearts are hardened to the truth He is proclaiming, that He alone is the Son of God. Jesus, knowing the entry He is to make, tells two of His disciples to go to someone’s house, untie a donkey colt and bring it along for Him to ride into the city on. When the owner asks why they are untying his colt, they are to tell him that the Lord has need of it. Simple, right? Just go check out a little donkey and bring it down to the road. Think about that for a moment: If you saw someone in your driveway opening up your car and about to take off, you’d wouldn’t even ask them why they were stealing it. You’d call 911. The more motivated among us might come along with a bat and try to scare off the intruders. The disciples told the owner that Jesus had need of the colt and the owner understood and let them lead it away. The owner of the colt was led by God’s Holy Spirit to allow the men to take the animal and go on their way. Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9–10 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” As God had ordained, the Messiah, the promised King of the Jews, would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey colt.

The word has spread down the mountainside and along the road. The

king is coming, the Messiah is entering the city. The people throw their coats into the road for Jesus’. That’s what ancient people did when royalty arrived on the road: they threw their coats and clothing down for the king to travel on. These people were convinced that their king was entering the Jerusalem, that the line of David was going on and that Zion would be restored by this promised Messiah. The people hadn’t had a king since the exile. They’d had provincial governors and Roman rulers. Their thinking was that of course they would honor this promised king, because he would defeat their enemies and restore the nation of Israel. Jesus is a Savior King, a king who would sacrifice Himself for God’s people, a Savior King who would call the people to repentance, faith, prayer and honoring the one true God. He is a King who would ask these people to love one another and bring the message that hope is only found in Jesus Himself. This was not the king these people were expecting, not the Messiah they’d set themselves for. They wanted the Messiah riding chariots into the city and commanding a great army, not bringing love and healing to a broken world. They’re soon going to turn on Jesus, because they’d realize He came here to die for the sins of man rather than create more sin and division.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law are present along the roads.

They’re getting nervous. Some of them have been transformed by Jesus’ teaching and some passionately hate Him because He is teaching truth. All of these priests and scribes know that Jesus is correct, that He is the long-prophesied Son of God. They know that everything He teaches is true and takes away their power and prestige. They knew that this uneducated carpenter’s son is going to shame them with the truth and expose them as Hippocrates. These priests and scribes start telling Jesus “Man, tell all these people to quiet down! We don’t need the Romans breathing down our neck! We sure don’t need these people worshipping you, Jesus. It’s embarrassing to us.” The people shout all the louder like they’ve got a hype man.

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39

Jesus gave the Pharisees the perfect response to their indignity:

“I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

The very rocks would cry out on behalf of the Son of the

Almighty. If Jesus disciples and the people crowded along the road don’t proclaim that Jesus is the Messiah, the chosen one to save Israel and all the world, then the rocks, the ground, the rivers will cry out “Hosana, Glory in the Highest!” If God is not glorified and Jesus is not proclaimed the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, the rocks and all of nature will proclaim His Lordship. The Pharisees don’t want that. They don’t want the truth out there among the people that Jesus is Lord and that the people are giving glory to Him and not bowing and scraping for them. They’re looking at each other and at Jesus knowing His time is at hand and their rule of law has passed. So, they do the only thing they know: “Jesus, tell these people to be quiet!” Jesus tells the truth: If the people who proclaim me king are quiet, the very depths of the earth will announce the coming of the Messiah. The Pharisees couldn’t stop the truth: Jesus is Lord.

Lessons from Scripture:

This is a brief passage, but we celebrate it each year, because It’s

the beginning of Jesus’ march toward the cross. The people proclaim Him Lord one day and call for His death on another. He’s shaking everything up in Jerusalem and there are many who want Him quiet. What can we take from the Bible for today? What does it mean to our lives today that these people are throwing coats over the mud for Jesus? Does it help us at all that nobody could stop the people from shouting “Hosana in the Highest!” The answer is YES! Here are three things that I want to share with you from this lesson in Luke 19:

Lesson #1: The World Will Always Tell You to Ignore the Lord.

We live in the age when nobody wants you to proclaim that

Jesus is Lord. Why would anybody want that? We make ourselves our own gods and we tell ourselves that we deserve the praise. I remember some years ago the champion bicyclist Lance Armstrong suffered from cancer. When he was interviewed after the cancer was in remission and was asked if he was thankful to God. He answered “Why should I thank God? I beat this cancer myself. God didn’t do anything.” That’s the sad fact is that people think like that. Why should we praise the Son of God when we do can do everything ourselves? They see Christians praising God and think “That’s weird and ancient and silly. We are the ones who do keep the world going.”

The truth of the matter is that we needed and we need even

now a savior. We need Jesus Christ. We can’t erase the effects of Adam’s sin, only Christ could do that on the cross as a sacrificial offering. We can’t buy our way into heaven, con our way into heaven, cry our way into heaven or use our genius to find a way to live eternally. Only the gift of God’s grace and true repentance and faith can lead us into eternity with God in heaven. Last week we looked at Matthew and the story of James and John’s mother working to bargain a place of glory for her sons with Christ. That’s not possible. Salvation is only possible through the gift that Jesus Christ was bringing on that colt: Himself.

The question is: What do you do about it when you’re told that

Christ isn’t real and that you need to pipe down about Him? What do you do when every person whose mind is clouded by satan and whose heart is hardened says “Stop shouting Hosana to the Lord, because Jesus was just a good man and not the Son of God?” That’s when you get loud. That’s when you stomp your feet and say- “No, the Jesus I believe in is the promised Messiah, the one sent by God to die for all of us.” It’s hard sometimes. Oftentimes, we just want to go along to get along. We don’t want to make waves, we don’t want to get anybody riled up or excited. Here’s the thing, though: If we don’t proclaim Jesus King of Salvation, the rocks, the earth, the entirety of creation will rise up and tell the truth: That Jesus Christ is Lord.

#2: The Coming of Jesus is the Greatest Arrival!

When you think about Jesus, His arrival is greater than

anything we can imagine, anything we hope for. Think about this: when a President arrives in town, his security comes into town weeks before and sweeps the city for trouble. They make sure that there are no troublemakers along his route. They do a background check on people who are going to be close to him. Only people with special passes can be anywhere near the President. They use magnetometers to ensure that nobody brings weapons to his events. The Presidents staff even sorts out the questions he’ll be asked so that nobody throws the leader of the country a curveball that embarrasses him. Jesus is the King that nobody has to screen for. We shout loud Hosanas! at His arrival because He is the King who embraces all people-Old, sick, children, hungry, poor, rich, righteous. Look a few verses back in Scripture and you’ll see this. At the beginning of Luke 19, there’s Jesus traveling the road and the crowds are pressing in all around Him. Picture the little tax collector Zacheus. I always imagined he looked a little like Danny Devito. The only way the little tax collector can see Jesus is to hike up his robes and climb a tree, because he was a wee little man. Jesus saw him and went to Zacheus’ house for dinner. Of course the Pharisees were all over that. “This man eats with sinners and tax collectors! He claims to be the Son of God incarnate, but then He hangs out with scumbags? The nerve of this Jesus!” Jesus sees the heart, not the wallet. He doesn’t need pre-screening for His arrival. He doesn’t allow only the rich with backstage passes to see Him. He is the King for all people, the redeemer of both the Jews and the Gentiles.

Have you ever seen how rock stars enter the arena? Their limos

pull up to a special entrance and they’re whisked away into the building, protected by body guards and handlers. They enter a secure, backstage room where only those who are privilege enough to have a pass can eat with them as they prepare to perform. I think back to 1987. The biggest Hip Hop group in the world at that minute came to Kalamazoo. I mapped out their route to get downtown and I could see it from my bedroom window. I waited anxiously. Whoosh! There they went. I saw a blur and that’s the closest I ever got. Jesus is the greatest human to ever live and He is the Son of the Living God. He was going to regular people’s houses. People who sinned. People who did rotten jobs. People like Zacheus whom everyone else in town hated and despised. Little Zacheus was able to confess and repent of his sin Humbly and Jesus forgave him in that moment and blessed his home. How many times do celebrities bless people’s homes? Jesus did and He was present and could touch every person along the road to Jerusalem, even those who hated and despised Him. Jesus is the King for all and we can reach out and touch Him.

#3: Jesus is Coming Again: Glorify Him!

Let me read to you Luke’s Words from Chapter 21 of His gospel:

Luke 21:25–28 ESV

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

We know that Jesus Christ will return for us with more glory

and honor than even on that Palm Sunday. On that day, no Pharisee, no non-believer, no atheist, no humanist, no self-involved human will be able to quiet God’s people. We who believe and faithfully stand in awe waiting for Christ to return will straighten our heads and bow on our knees because Christ our redeem is drawing near. Listen to John’s prophetic words in the Revelation 1:7

Revelation 1:7 ESV

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus

Christ is Lord! Even those who pierced Jesus, even those who persecuted our Lord and Savior, even those who mocked and spit on the Son of God, even those who cruelly kicked and whipped and mocked Jesus as they nailed his body to the cross-even those people will wail, because they know that the Lord draws near, that He Has returned. At that time, the Rocks will cry out His name, the earth will shudder. Those who believe, those who have repented and now worship the Lord our God will be assured because they’ve witnessed their Savior arrive. This won’t be a quiet dignified ceremony. Jesus isn’t coming straight from the limo into the arena. Every eye shall behold that He is real and present and the savior of mankind!

As we get ready to celebrate Good Friday and Easter, we are

reminded of the good gifts God has granted us in the arrival of Jesus Christ. We are also reminded of the depths of pain and anguish and emotional hurt Jesus would endure on behalf of humanity. Two Sundays ago we talked about faithful Abraham taking his only son Isaac to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him as the Lord God commanded. The late author A.W. Tozer wrote that even though Abraham was faithful to God, he was a human who spent that night before the sacrifice weeping and crying out to the Lord, because he was enduring tremendous pain and grief. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane was enduring the same pain. Both men knew what God had commanded and would faithfully fulfill their calling from God, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t agonize them. We look forward to the great gift of Easter Sunday, the remembrance of Christ’s rising from the dead, but this week takes us there.

This week pray in remembrance of the gift of life Jesus has

given you through His death. Pray for understanding of the sacrifice Jesus made on behalf of all of us who live in sin. Pray that you slow down, are able to take time out of the Easter preparations and can focus on Christ, both the gifts of His death and His resurrection. Pray for peace in this world, peace that only knowledge of the Son of God and repentance can produce. Pray that those who have heard Christ and His Gospel of salvation will shout out all week long as Easter is coming. Pray that one day even the rocks won’t be able to keep silent anymore and that the whole earth will shout for the Lord. Pray that God’s Holy Spirit gets into the hearts of this world and causes us to rethink what’s important and praiseworthy and what’s just trash and what doesn’t lead to salvation. Pray that your children, grandchildren and all generations will know Jesus and proclaim HOSANNA! at His arrival, during this Easter week and for every week in between.

Let us bow our heads in prayer.