Living Stones

 I used to collect stones of different shapes. I don’t know what happened to my collection, but I do remember the fun of collecting. My grandfather collected and polished hundreds of stones. I have a handful of his beauties. My sister and I were going to learn how to turn them into jewelry, but never got to it. I have a fountain on my deck that has many of Grandpa’s stones. The light and the water really make them stand out. I found a good home for them.

You can find rocks everywhere, in every size and shape in every country all around the world. Sand on the beach once was larger rock worn down by the ocean. People find interesting use for rocks. Many use the largest rocks to climb on for adventure. Stones have been used to build buildings over the centuries. Stone mason families designed and built magnificent cathedrals from stone. Artists have found marvelous inspiration in huge blocks of stone. Michelangelo’s David comes to mind, chiseled out of marble. Boundaries have been marked by stone hedges, designed to keep livestock in and predators out.

Why the interest in rocks? For one thing, they really are ageless. Even when whittled down to sand, they still exist. Not much else in life can claim that. Rocks are everywhere. I read that rocks are the recycling of earth’s materials, born from lava, compression, heat and pressure. Mostly rocks lay around us and we walk right by. They get kicked around, picked up, thrown, stacked up and knocked over. We have even come up with idioms like, ‘dumb as a rock’ or ‘dumb as a box of rocks’. ‘Solid as a rock’ is more complementary, but most are fairly negative: ‘between a rock and a hard place’, being ‘on the rocks’, he has ‘rocks in his head.’  Obviously our language compares rocks mostly with little or no intelligence, capable of being used to put pressure on us even as we also recognize their solid, dependable, creative properties.

The Psalms refer to God as our Rock – a foundation, a secure hold. In reading through the Psalms recently I counted at least 15 references to God being our Rock. Rocks are mentioned a lot in the Bible, from Moses speaking and striking a rock for water in the wilderness to Peter’s name meaning rock. Rocks hold a very visible place God’s creation.

Today is Palm Sunday. Today we remember a glimpse into Jesus the King and Messiah entering Jerusalem. Jesus’ followers believed He was riding in to claim his throne; instead He was riding into his death. For a brief second, though, we get to see a glimpse of the Old Testament picture of the King, even though the people shouting ‘hosanna’ on this day would, a few days later, be shouting ‘crucify him’. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem sets it all in motion. But first we have the parade and celebration.

Jesus and His disciples came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover together. Jesus sent two disciples ahead, telling them they would find an unridden colt tied there. “If anyone asks you, ‘why are you doing this?’ say ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back shortly.’ (Mark 11:3) And so it went. People spread their cloaks on the road and others laid down palm branches. And they shouted ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ‘Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven.’ (Mark 11:9, 10) Luke 19:38 adds ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest’.

All this shouting and celebrating one Man riding a donkey into the city – what’s going on? The Pharisees in the crowd were not happy. They come up to Jesus and say, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” (Luke 19:39) Like the disciples had organized this parade. They were just coming into the city as they had many times. But Jesus wasn’t walking, he was riding a young colt, and the people were not just gathering around him, they were yelling praises, celebrating Him. They were seeing in that moment Who He was, and praise burst forth.

Zechariah 9:9 says, “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.” Then the prophecy goes on to say “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” (:10) The Psalmist wrote, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is God and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God and I will praise you; you are my God and I will exalt you.” (Psalms 118: 26-28) See why the confusion. The Jewish people knew these Scriptures, certainly the Pharisees did. And here these verses are coming to life. The Messiah is here. He will save His people from their oppressors and reign forever.  And He will, but first He had to die. First he had to do battle with spiritual oppressors. He will ride right up to “the horns of the altar” to be a sacrifice in our place.

The Pharisees know what the people are thinking, and they want it stopped. John tells us that some were even shouting “Blessed is the King of Israel.” (John 12:12) Dangerous words in the presence of Roman soldiers. Even without the threat of Rome’s reaction, dangerous words to the religious leaders of the day. John goes on to tell us “the Pharisees said to one another, ‘see, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him.” (John 12:19)

John also tells us many in the crowd were there when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. They had seen a man dead several days come back to life. This Jesus was a man to follow. Others in the crowd had seen Jesus do other miraculous things. Imagine a leader who could make bread out of nothing and heal horrific wounds as well as raise the dead.  You couldn’t lose. So they gathered and shouted their excitement. And the Pharisees wanted them hushed.

Luke gives us Jesus’ response, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40) Those rocks on the road, lying there quiet as always. Things to stub your toe against, or trip over, too small to build or sculpt with. Plain, old dusty rocks – would cry out?  What? Rocks can cry out? Maybe ‘dumb as a box of rocks’ really means speechless, rather than brainless? Or both. But Jesus is saying this day is of such importance that all of creation, even the rocks, would shout if the people would have been quiet. The King of Heaven is entering here, Hosanna!

Paul wrote in the book of Romans, chapter 8, of all creation being held in bondage by sin in this world. Nothing is as God created it to be. All is broken. All creation is waiting for God’s remedy that gives hope and liberates. “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” With those of us who know Christ, we all await the day when everything will be redeemed and made whole again. (Romans 8:18-25) Even the stones are part of groaning creation, and if not for the people shouting praises that first Palm Sunday, even the stones would have been unable to remain silent as the King passed them by.

Everyone on that road recognized His greatness, even the Pharisees. For most it was just a temporary, getting carried away by the moment. For the Pharisees it was a digging in to their plan to get rid of the competition. For Jesus it was a moment reflecting His incarnation – God with us, God on the colt showing a bit of His glory. Did you note that He’s on a donkey colt, not a huge war steed?  Jesus, humbly entering the City of David, yet even the stones recognize Who is riding by.

John tells us that the disciples really didn’t understand all of this until after Jesus’ death and resurrection. They were caught off guard with His going to die, rather than going to battle against Rome. But Jesus had a greater battle to fight, a greater kingdom to win – our hearts and souls. What we could never do for ourselves, God in human form came to do for us. The Old Testament teaches that one day God will indeed redeem His Israel, but first He stopped to die on a cross for all humankind. The people that day didn’t know what they were praising, not just a temporal savior, but an Eternal Savior of our souls.

Isaiah and the Psalms refer to the coming Messiah as a Corner Stone to be built upon. This Stone was rejected by many – still is today. The Stone causes many to stumble and fall (see Isaiah 26:16, Psalms 118:22; Isaiah 8:14) But for believers I Peter 2:9-10 says, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are a people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  All this because “as you come to Him, the living Stone – rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him – you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ Jesus.” (I Peter 2: 4-5)

We are “living stones”! And we can shout out and sing God’s praises. God is using us to build His spiritual Kingdom. The Jews believed God’s plan was all about a physical Kingdom, and certainly the Bible teaches that this is indeed part of God’s plan. But the plan was so much more – Abraham’s children include all who believe and have placed their faith in God, through Jesus Christ.

Palm Sunday reminds us that we believers in Jesus are part of God’s plan. He entered Jerusalem that day knowing He was riding ultimately to His death on the cross in our place. He also knew that a new week would dawn with His Resurrection. He rode into the city that day to make a way for all of us to be part of God’s Kingdom. A Kingdom so Great that even the stones sing its praises!

Welcome to Holy Week. Let’s spend the week remembering and thanking God for His marvelous work on our behalf. Let’s be praising stones this week.