Rocks Cry Out

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as we continue on in our series here, you know, looking at some of these Songs that have really spoke to me this last year. You know, this is another one in, if you start to look at the scripture, she based this song off of, it comes from Luke 19:40 in particular, where Jesus states. He and I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.

You know, in this happens in the middle of what we commonly refer to as the triumphal entry when Jesus is entering into the City and the people are celebrating. So I'm going to read Luke chapter, 19 verses 39 through 44 that describes it more detail. Since some of the Pharisees in the crowd said that Jesus teacher rebuke your disciples. I tell you, he replied if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out as he approached true slim and saw the city. He wept over it and said, if you even you had only known on this day what would bring you peace. But now it is hidden from your eyes. 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 Gods coming to you.

You know, it's kind of a mixed seeing that we see in this passage of scripture because The Pharisees are upset. I mean, they're outraged because the crowd is reacting and a very enthusiastic and excited manner to Jesus, as he enters the city. I mean, they're proclaiming him to be the long-awaited Messiah and all these things. There cheering and screaming, waving palm, branches laying their coats. On the road, doing all these things. In the Pharisees, they don't like it. They consider it all blasphemy that they're giving him this title because they don't like the idea that the people are giving him this title. They think they should be the only ones who can decide who is in that. So, out of desperation, they basically said it. Jesus see no teacher rebuke your disciples because the disciples are going along with it. And all these people gathered a lot of them are believers in Christ and They don't know what to do. when you know, things are pretty bad when the Pharisees are willing to resort to asking the person who they consider their enemy their opponent to help them, Okay, can you get these people to quiet down? Cuz they realize this crowd is so excited that that's beyond their control to do anything, to get them to stop. So plead with Jesus. Hey, get them to stop.

But the way Jesus replies to them, doesn't do that. And in fact, it kind of marks a dramatic turning point in this triumphal entry story. Because Jesus response back to them. Shows us The Dramatics striking difference between what the people wanted and expected and what he was telling them was going to happen.

It's the contrast between what the people anticipated and what they would they would receive is so extreme. It's hard to explain. I can only imagine what the scene must have looked like as you have all these people shouting and screaming joyously praising God, for Jesus coming as the Messiah. But yet if you turn and look at Jesus, he's weeping. He's crying. So I would think for the disciples, the ones close to him that had to be hard. Because they had to be excited by the crowd, being all pumped up and excited, but yet they turn and look at Jesus, knees, crying and they've been around him long enough to know okay, something's wrong. Why is he reacting this way to their praise?

Because, you know, the people are proclaiming glory on Jesus and yet he's talking about their destruction, he's talking about coming Doom. So it's a huge contrast. Then when Jesus says, I tell you at the beginning of his statement, you know, that's kind of the Old Testament way of saying, hey y'all better listen to what I'm about to say. It's really important.

and then, when he talks about the phrase there, if these become silent, he's talkin about all the people, Who are praising him and rejoicing and it's something that he's not saying. If? Like it may happen, it may not happen. It is something that is inevitably going to happen. so in effect Jesus is saying if these become silent and they will

At that point, the stones will cry out. You know what it means is quite literally that if the people are not willing to acknowledge and praise God, for who he is. Even the inanimate objects in the world will Proclaim who got is they will give him the glory that he deserves. If the people aren't going to do it,

But what Jesus is realizing is that when even those stones cry out, they aren't going to be crying out in joyful, praise, but they're going to be agreeing with God's judgement on Israel's wickedness. And it's turn on Jesus. And on God, when he came, And it's that that drove Jesus tweet. He could see all that as he saw the people here celebrating and praising him. He knew that was temporary. you know, okay, if you're happy to see me right now, That's going to change soon. He knew that and that's what made him. So sad.

That's why when he saw the city he wept over it and if you look at the word that's translated wept from Greek it's actually the strongest sense of the word. It's talking about an agonized sobbing. I mean this is ugly crying. You know, this is the point at which he is just sobbing uncontrollably over. His grief for what he knows is going to happen. To the city of Jerusalem.

You know, he is God, he is omniscient. He can predict, and he knows the future. I mean, he's not just predicting it. It's what he knows will happen. I mean, the people are looking for a military leader who's going to come in and, you know, finally, get rid of the Roman. So they're no longer under Roman rule. So they and their oppressors will be gone, they'll have control of their country. Again, they'll have control of their Destiny, and that's what they're looking for.

The problem is that has Jesus comes in, he's not talking to them about political freedom. Social PC know, the things that they were after. He's talking to them about peace with God and telling them that that is what's most important. It doesn't matter if they're being ruled by the Romans or whoever as long as they have peace with God, they have what they need. That's what he keeps offering them through repentance and faith, in Christ, you know, believing that message of Salvation that he's been preaching throughout his entire Ministry. But they just don't get it.

You know, they thought they knew what they wanted. They thought they knew what the Messiah was all about and they love Jesus when he is coming into town and they think that's what he's going to give them. But once they figure out that Jesus is not going to deliver on what they want, how they want it when they want it. They turn on it. so on Monday, we see them celebrating him and by Friday we hear them shouting for him to be crucified and even though pilot tries his best to avoid that because he doesn't find him guilty of anything. He says, you know, I'll have him punished and selling his way. But the people insist

You know, their unbelief had blinded them all throughout his ministry because they just didn't catch on that. The piece he was offering was so much more than what they were looking for.

You know, I always think about it that is He came in and they were celebrating him. Nana's sting shift throughout the week and they get to that point where okay, if this guy is not going to do what we want to do, we don't want him anymore. Do you think they realize that?

They were rejecting in their rejection of Christ. They were essentially forfeiting peace with God. Minutes a piece that the nation of Israel still doesn't know, because they haven't accepted God in that way.

But I mean, if we're honest about it, how many of us?

Sit and wait out the spiritual implications of our decisions. All too often we probably don't do that. I mean, You know, we often should but we don't. I mean, when we get ready to make a decision about something, do we think? Okay, how is this going to impact my personal relationship with God?

And how will this impact my witness for Christ? How will this impact my ability to be able to give generously to my church or two missionaries? You know, how will it impact my ability to be a blessing to others? How will this impact future generations of my family or future Generations in my community? We just don't think about those things. And the truth is it wouldn't be practical to run through all those questions in your head for every decision we make.

We make most of our decisions on a much more, superficial level and foremost decision. That's okay.

but when we Face bigger decisions in life, we need to think about it a little bit more.

You know, the crowd that day that we read about, you know, I think they failed to take time to process things on a deeper level. What was Jesus really offering? Cuz the truth was, they didn't care. They knew what they wanted and they wanted it now. I mean if you really think about it, they wanted freedom from Roman rule in the ability to control their own destiny as a nation. Those are bad things necessarily. The problem was just how they were wanting it and how they were going about getting it.

but really if you think about it, but if they had considered the thought that, okay, we might get those things but in order to do so, our way, we have to Forfeit being at peace with God, I think if they honestly thought of it that way, they might have responded a little differently.

but, you know, despite this Joyous celebration is going on like setting a Jesus weeping because he knows what's going to happen. Not just that week but for all the years that come after he knows the whole history of what's going to happen in Jerusalem, what's going to happen to these people?

I mean. their spiritual blindness didn't allow them to see that everything they ever wanted was literally standing right there before then They had God incarnate in their midst, offering them the greatest thing they could ever receive peace with him and they turned it down.

That's why we see Christ use that phrase. The days will come upon you, and that's an Old Testament expression for you. No future judgment. It's going to come. And in fact, you know what Jesus was talking about was about four decades later in 70 AD, the Roman military crushed, the Jewish Revolt in Jerusalem where they were trying to under their own power, take control back They leveled the city including the temple, which still hasn't been rebuilt on the Temple mount. In fact, now there's a Muslim Mosque on that location instead of a temple to God and he saw all that Jesus knew that that's why he was weeping as he came into the city. He knew that this was all going to happen and it all could be avoided if the people would simply seek after peace with God. But they didn't. John chapter 1 verses 10 and 11 says he was in the world. And those, the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that, which was his own but his own Did not receive him.

I mean, why didn't they?

Because he wasn't what they wanted at the time. Jesus was not their greatest desire, they valued other things over having peace with God. and I think for us, that's an important question for us to ask ourselves,

You know. That's what I really thought about it in that song. Is he know, what's our response going to be? When we have hard times in life, when we Face challenges or big decisions, Will this? Take your praise. You know, we all have our this right? Some tough circumstances that were experiencing some ongoing problem. We have to deal with all the time, you know, are we going to allow? Whatever are this? Might be to take our price.

You know, where we going to let our peace with God? Hinge on that particular thing. Saying, you know, I could be at peace with God but as long as this continues to happen I can't.

Man, that is essentially where the people in the crowd. Went that day.

They decided they could have peace with God if he gave it to them on their terms, if he gave it to them the way they wanted.

and for each of us, when we're in, tough situations, when we're facing major challenges, We need to think about that, too.

You know, we going to allow this one thing to keep us from peace with God. Are we going to let the hard days when you know, will we allow it to change? Our praise and Adoration of God. And to anger and frustration like it did for that crowd. They went from praising and worshipping God. To asking. For him to be crucified.

So will this take your joy? You know, whatever it is, that may be a significant challenge for you. Is it going to rob you of the joy that Jesus wants you to be filled with the joy that you should have as a child of God? Who knows that they have been saved because of what Christ did on the cross.

you know, as I thought about that, I was trying to recall and couldn't any Bible verse that tells us to react and just shout out in anger and frustration.

I mean, the Bible tells us we can share our frustration with God. We can let him know that we're angry.

But that's not how we're supposed to respond to the situation. We're supposed to let him know those things that anger us, those things that frustrate us and then leave it with him. Trust that he's going to take care of it, that he's going to provide what we need.

but instead, we let whatever our problems are take our peace.

And I understand I have those days in those moments to where something is stealing my piece. But you know, that's when we need to go to the Lord and say, you know, Heavenly Father, help me to deal with this. Help me to be able to lay it at your feet and allow you to take it because nothing In this world is worth my peace with you. You know, I think if the people of Jerusalem had thought about it on a deeper level, or if they could have had the insight to see what they were forfeiting. When they were crying out for Christ to be crucified, I don't think it ever would have happened. but yet again, in his Divine knowledge, God knew that this Was the plan that had to take place? This is how events had to happen in order for Christ to be able to go to the Cross to die on the cross for our sins.

So he was willing to deal with the people being upset with him and even crucifying him on a cross, so that he could bring peace to everyone.

Says we have been working through this year, he's talking about how God is always there for us that God will never leave us or forsake us that Christ offered us. Everything we could ever possibly want or need or imagine through what he did on the cross.

And I'm not talking about money or power possessions but that true, peace of heart. Peace of mind that we know we're right with God. We know things are good in that area. That's really the greatest thing any of us could ever have and we are all offered that.

But we will be faced with things that happen in life. That make us question that things that can take, our praise that can steal our joy that can take our peace. But we have to choose how we are going to respond to those things. Please pray with me.

heavenly father as we come before you Lord we thank you that

What Jesus did for us on the cross. Lord has immeasurable value.

Lord that when we face so many different tough and challenging things in life.

Nordic can be easy. For us to not Praise You. It can be easy for us to lose our joy and to not be at peace.

Lord help us to never lose sight of the fact that as long as we are at peace with you,

We can endure whatever might come our way. Knowing that you work all things for the good of those who love you. And Lord that in the end.

You win. That Christ defeated sin and death, so that we could spend eternity with you. Lord, I pray that you will help us to keep that in mind as we go throughout our days.

Lord, and that we Will truly value, peace with you over everything. You pray, that's all in your most, holy name. Amen.