‘”I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.'” Luke 19:40 NIV
Have you ever thought about this verse? Picture what it would sound like to have the rocks beneath your feet cry out for the glory and honor of God? It may not be as powerful an image for those living in paved cities or forested hills. But what about those in the mountains and deserts? Or the jagged ocean cliffs?
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Jordan as part of my education. Everywhere, there were rocks of all sizes. Even the beach along the Red Sea was mostly gravel rather than sand. When Jesus spoke this verse, men would have built their temples and palaces with stone.
In Jordan, there are whole valleys cut straight through solid bedrock. There are mountains without a single bush or tree, only pebbles and boulders to which short grasses cling too. At the very top of many of these mountains are small fossils, laying on the surface. Embedded in the tan, brown, or rust-colored valley walls are small, cream-colored stones.
When Christ said that the stones would cry out, it wasn’t something he said lightly, nor was it an image of something small. Christ was painting a picture of his might, of a world fully given over to him, of praise that would reach him from the very foundations of the earth. That which Israel had built their homes on, made their temples of, and even the stone caves in which they buried their dead would honor Him—if they did not.
Let Us Cry Out
Yet Jesus valued his disciples’ simple praise over that of a whole world of stone. He delighted in the worship of flawed men who would enter the grave before even a centimeter of Mt. Zion was worn down. A rocky cry which no one could ignore was chosen as second best to the adulation of people who would soon deny him.
He loved his small band of followers that much. He loves you and me the same.
