First, let us look at what happened on
Palm Sunday. The time is the last week of the physical life and
earthly ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, the week of the observation of
the Jewish festival called Passover. The setting includes the city
of Jerusalem, the town of Bethany and the highway between them.
Passover was, and still is, a celebration held every year on the
first full moon after the spring equinox. Even though the religious
leaders in Jerusalem had already demonstrated their desire to have
Jesus executed, Jesus had determined to celebrate the Passover in
Jerusalem. As Passover approached Jesus had yet to make an
appearance in Jerusalem but on the first day of the Passover week
things suddenly changed. On Sunday morning (remember, the Jews
celebrated Saturday as their day of rest or Sabbath so Sunday was not
just the first day of the week, it was the first day of the work
week, too) Jesus instructed his 12 closest followers (or disciples)
to go into town and they would find a colt tied up like it was
waiting. They were to untie it and bring it to Jesus. He told them
that if anyone asked them what they were doing, they were to say that
the Master had need of it. That was all, no fancy explanations or
excuses, just "the Master needs it." And that's what
happened. The owner came out and saw them and asked what they were
doing. The disciples told him what Jesus had said to tell him and
that was that, no arguments, no if ands or buts, they brought the
colt to Jesus. Then some of the disciples laid their cloaks on the
back of the colt for Jesus to use as a humble saddle while the rest
of the disciples laid their cloaks on the road to symbolize what we
would call a red carpet. As Jesus drew closer and closer to
Jerusalem more and more people began to crowd the road way to see the
teacher and healer and miracle worker who was coming to Jerusalem to
celebrate Passover with them. They recognized because of the
miraculous things Jesus had done (healing the sick, making the lame
walk, causing the blind to see, and literally raising the dead) that
he was not just an ordinary man so they began to shout out, "Blessed
is the king who comes in the name of the Lord" and "Peace
in heaven and glory in the highest!" Now, in the crowds you
could also find the religious leaders called Pharisees (now the
Pharisees were a group who believed it was absolutely necessary to
obey every law, the laws of God and the laws of man, no matter how
trivial that law was) and when they saw how this huge crowd was
praising Jesus they were absolutely outraged. They pushed their way
over to where Jesus sat riding the colt and hollered up at Him (Ok,
a Southern phrase slips in a little) and said, "Teacher rebuke your
followers!" (A Southern translation would be more like,
"Teacher, tell this mangy mob to shut-up!) Jesus didn't get
upset or worried, He didn't even bat an eye. He looked that old boy
straight in the eye and said "I tell you, if these people were
silent, the very stones would cry out" Luke 19:40 ESV(emphasis
mine).
We
live in a world where we watch the economy change almost every day
and we don't miss a beat. We watch technology change over night and
we follow what's happening like our next breath depended on it. And
yet we, the most complex part of creation, the crowning glory of
God’s handiwork, go through our lives never recognizing the work
that God is doing around us every day and never acknowledging His
son, Jesus, who came into our world to show us God up close, and
suffered to make a way for us to have a relationship with the living
God, not just for now, but forever. And even though we are as blind as rocks, Jesus said
that even creation, even the rocks recognized who He is and they long
to praise Him. Years ago a lady by the name of Dottie Rambo wrote a
children's song called: "Ain't Gonna Let the Rocks Cry Out for
Me". The words were, Ain't gonna let the rocks cry out for me,
Ain't gonna let the rocks cry out for me. I'll lift my hands and
shout so the rocks will not cry out, and I ain't gonna let the rocks
cry out for me." This weekend, as we remember that Sunday long
ago when Jesus rode into Jerusalem being praised as a king, take just
a moment of your time and look around to see if you can see that King
and lift your voice to praise Him. Then listen real close, you might
just hear the rocks praising Him, too.
