Shouting Stones

Today, many Christians celebrated Palm Sunday, remembering how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. There’s a bunch of stuff packed into this one story, but I find one detail in Luke’s version of the events interesting. Jesus’ disciples are making a lot of racket about how Jesus is the promised King, the long-awaited Messiah. The Pharisees, naturally, are a little put out by this:

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

I’ve always wondered what shouting stones sound like. We know that all of creation praises God with every fiber of its being. That’s one of the things I’m looking forward to in the new heaven and earth, to hear all of creation joining in the praises of angels and archangels, God’s people of every age.

But I think that there’s a greater lesson for us to learn here, one that’s repeated in this old song:

Jesus said that if the disciples didn’t praise Him, the stones would. But that’s not the job of stones. That’s what we are called to do. May we join the shouting stones. May we praise God with everything we are.

One Comment:

  1. Sorry about the confusion. This was supposed to go out tomorrow morning, not today. But it’s been edited now.

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