When Stones Shout

Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

psalm 118:1-2

Luke 19:28–40 ESV

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, “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:

When Stones Shout

The story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem is a story of extremes and changes in direction. And it’s all complicated by the fact that those of us who have read the whole story before – those who have been here for Holy week in the past – we know that it doesn’t stay this celebratory. We have spent the past 5 weeks or so in Lent – a waiting time of quiet, contemplation, inward reflection on our need for Jesus. It’s an in between space in which church time slows down. Suddenly today, the roof is blown off by shouts of “HOSANNA!” And Thursday, we turn around and begin the somber journey to the cross. All the while, knowing that on Sunday morning, the stone will be rolled from the tomb and death will be defeated once and for all. I don’t know about you, but it makes my head spin just a little.

Jesus is not the only one who would have entered Jerusalem with great fanfare in preparation for the Passover celebration. Coming in from the west to make sure the celebration was all done decently and in order in the holy city of Jerusalem, Pilate would have entered at the beginning of the week as well. Pilate – the one who will oversee Jesus’ trial in just a few days’ time. If ever there was a fitting time for upraising against the Roman occupiers of the country, it would be at the remembrance celebration of God’s deliverance of the Hebrew people from their captors in Egypt and this worldly leader would have wanted to keep the peace.

He would have come into the city with grand pomp – chariots, fancy robes and armor, and all sorts of flashy fanfare. Perhaps he made a passionate speech to get the people whipped into a frenzy of Roman pride. He would have had anyone who disagreed with him or spoke out against him removed from the crowds.

But entering from the East, came a much less flashy procession – that of the Son of God who healed and cared and forgave. No fanfare, no armor or chariots. No fancy clothes. Just the son of a carpenter in regular clothes riding on a donkey. Not even an experienced, adult donkey – a young one – a colt.

Pilate entered from the west with the pomp and circumstance that comes along with worldly power, military power, monetary power. Jesus entered from the east with the subtle, earthy humility that comes with true power – God’s power. As Jesus enters, those who are well-versed in the prophets, as Luke would have been when he wrote, see the echoes of words spoken long ago by men and women of God who spoke the lord’s words to the people of God in difficult times. These words gave hope for a future in which the pomp and circumstance of worldly power, military power, monetary power would all be overturned.

says:

9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim

and the warhorses from Jerusalem,

and the battle bow will be broken.

He will proclaim peace to the nations.

His rule will extend from sea to sea

and from the River to the ends of the earth.4

would have been well known by all the Hebrew people in Jerusalem. And they shout or sing these powerful words, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” Not when Pilate enters in all his wealthy and military glory, but when Jesus enters, quietly and on a young beast of burden. The twist in the story is not just about what’s coming in a few days when the crowds turn against Jesus, but right here when they praise not the one who comes in power and wealth and military strength. They are singing the words of at the entry of a small town man who speaks of peace and love, caring and compassion. Forgiveness rather than retaliation. Self-sacrifice rather than self-protection. Service to, not power over others. Does that make you a little uncomfortable given today’s American political climate? It certainly should. Can you imagine what would happen today if one of our candidates stood up and started talking about peace that comes not from war and money and power but from humility and service in the name of God who loves all people?

People would probably start to silence them pretty quickly. As a friend said this week when I posed this question, “We’d kill him all over again.” Forgiveness and compassion aren’t always very popular ideas and they are certainly not ideas that help the rich and powerful stay rich and powerful. The Pharisees see how subversive and dangerous Jesus is to their way of life and the crowd’s reaction is unsettling for them. So they tell Jesus to make the crowd shut up. As he often does in response to the Pharisees, Jesus quotes scripture to them. He quotes : “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out”.

There is nothing, no amount of money, no amount of political power or prowess, no amount of showmanship, no military strength, no walls or other shows of false power that is more powerful than this humble Jesus – totally human, yet totally God – riding into town quietly on a donkey. And even if the powers who be – those who think their ways of physical shows of strength and wealth are the ways to peace or success or whatever – even if they make the crowds who recognize the real peace stop singing Psalms of praise. . . those songs of praise are so powerful the rocks will shout out.

Jesus’ gift of reconciliation and peace with ourselves, with God, and with one another is so astounding that creation will take over singing about it if we stop. If we stop praising the one who comes in lowly, humbly, and as a servant to all, sacrificing his own life for our sakes. . . the very earth itself will cry out in praise. This is not just about how loud we sing in worship services. This is about the worship that comes out of every bit of our being. This is about the shows of peace and love and kindness that flow out of a heart changed by the humble Son of God.

One of my favorite commentaries puts it this way:

For all its joyful hosannas, Palm Sunday is a day of contrasts. We hear it in the hymns, pivoting as they do between happy triumph and inevitable crucifixion. We see it in Jesus, as the ruler of the universe chooses to ride a borrowed colt. The contrast is clear in the destination, as the city that welcomes him will later scream for his blood. For now, at least, the greatest hopes for peace are hidden from those who wish for it.

We have our own contradictions, of course. Someone tells us the best way to create peace is by initiating a war. The strong are strengthened by holding off the weak. Parents confront fear by buying a handgun for the dresser drawer. Schools encourage competition over cooperation. Governments and businesses seek to win at all costs, even if it bankrupts them. Jesus rides his lowly farm animal through all of it.

(Carter, W. G. (2009). Pastoral Perspective on . In D. L. Bartlett & B. B. Taylor (Eds.), Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C (Vol. 2, p. 154). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.)

The reason that we spend time in quiet reflection during Lent – marking this time every year as one in which we search our hearts and explore deeper relationship with God is that the peace that Jesus brings starts inside each of us. We all have conflicts and some might even say they have wars going on inside and until those conflicts are addressed, there is no chance of peace on the outside.

Our human desires for security, order, and predictability get in the way just like the Pharisees saying, “Tell that crowd to be silent!” We want to focus on the celebration of the crowd on Palm Sunday, because that looks nice. But in reality, that crowd will turn on Jesus in just a few days. They will scatter – even the 12 disciples closest to Jesus will scatter, betray, deny. And the very earth will shout – the ground will shake when Jesus dies.

The reason the Roman armies didn’t bring actual peace is that it was outward peace. Pax Romana is used to refer to that sort of enforced peace – the peace of Rome. But the peace that came riding into Jerusalem on a simple donkey is a peace that starts within when we quiet our hearts and allow him in. And once we have found that peaceful place, we are able to extend peace to those around us.