St. John’s Lutheran Church, Toluca, IL – Palm Sunday
Luke 19:28-40; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 22:14–23:56
Gospel: Luke 19:28-40
28After he had said this, [Jesus] went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying,
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”
39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
NRSV
Speaking Stones
People who have been to the most touristic places in Europe usually describe this feeling of walking on history. It is something they feel when strolling on stone-paved streets, moving through the hallways of old castles, crossing medieval bridges, or being in the presence of any construction belonging to a different time. I am confident the feeling is not reserved only for those visiting the old continent. I suspect those of us who have been to places such as the ancient cities of the Aztecs, Incas, Mayans, Egyptians, the Ancient Near East civilizations, India, South East Asia, China, and Japan, may have had a similar experience.
Their stones tell a lot of stories.
The way civilizations build things can tell a lot about them. We can speculate about their level of technology. What tools they may have. We can infer what was important to them. How they organized themselves by the way buildings are distributed etc.
Take our churches, for example. Almost everyone has a symbolic brick with a date. A thousand years from now, someone will be able to guess that it was important for religious people in the late 1900s and early 2000s to mark the time of their accomplishments. If there were no high walls around, safety wasn’t a big concern. If there was a nursery, they probably had a lot of kids. The size of the fellowship hall may indicate that social activities were important. An outside shelter construction could cause one to say they liked the outdoors. You get the picture.
Stones, in particular, have a lot of voice because they can endure the elements for a long, long time. They bear witness to what a people once were centuries and centuries afterward. This brings us to the question: what could the stones of Jerusalem be shouting as the Messiah enters the city walls on the back of a colt, the foal of a Donkey? What have they seen? What would they testify to?
The oldest stones would certainly speak out of God’s mercy. How they were assembled in remembrance of the God who heard the people’s cry and gave them freedom from slavery in Egypt. The God who protected them in the wilderness. Who gave them food from the desert and water from the rock.
The stones would remember when their hosted Godself, the commandments and the laws, all the instructions necessary to live well in wholesome relationships with God and their neighbors. They would tell of the times when the people worshiped God, honored their covenant, and everything God had provided to them.
The old stones would also remember when they were scarred, burned, and destroyed. When the people turned their backs on God. When they took for granted the duty to be righteous and just to their own and all the nations. When they were disgraced, scattered, exiled, and their legacy almost lost.
But the old stones will testify that God heard the people’s lament once more. That God rose Ezra and Nehemiah and prepared the highways for the people to return. How they cried over the sight of those whose they once protected. They will speak of the joy of the rebuilt.
The next generation of stones would then take over. They would remember when they were assembled with the old, one by one, clan by clan. They will bear witness to the people’s struggles until they are completed. They will remember Ezra’s recitation of their journey, Nehemia’s dedication of the new city, and all the joy and celebration.
The young stones they would speak not of glory but of shame. They would remember the stories told by the first stones of Jerusalem, the wickedness of King David, and how God was loving and gracious with the king because of his contrite and faithful heart. Those stones would cry out in repentance and confess not have been assembled to bring good news to the poor, healing to the sick, liberty to the captive, and relief to the oppressed. They would shout about not having been built to repair anything but to serve as a witness to the glory of Herod, an unfaithful and vassal king.
All the stones of Jerusalem had seen the “rises” and the “falls” of the people and bore witness to God’s faithfulness, mercy, and love. They had seen a lot, endured a lot, and would be unafraid to proclaim the glory of God. Most importantly, they knew they would never be silenced.
When they saw the rabbi from Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, after listening to everything about him, they would certainly shout out:
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”
What about us, oh community of sinners made saints, oh church of living stones. When the Christ comes to our gates, what stories we will tell? What we will shout out for the world to hear?
Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
Bridging Faith 