37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:37-40 ESV)
In order to address the stone-cold hearts of some of the Pharisees, Jesus points to stones. The image, however, is far richer than we may have imagined. I. Howard Marshall notes that Jesus’ phrase in v. 40 has been read by Christians in four different ways (NIGTC, Luke, 716-717). Each reading opens up fresh ways of looking at our spiritual lives through the unexpected lens of rocks. Using Marshall’s list, I’ve added my own twist in this four-part series.
#2 Rock as Mediary
Some Christians have read v. 40 in this sense: “Even if my disciples stopped rejoicing and praising, these stones would never cease.” Rocks, it turns out, are our closest companions in the pursuit of praise and joy. We do not sing alone. We do not worship alone. We do not rejoice alone. Rocks, as does all of nature, join us in this project.
David proclaims this in Ps. 19:
The heavens tell about the glory of God. The skies announce what his hands have made. Each new day tells more of the story, and each night reveals more and more about God’s power. (Ps. 19:1-2 ERV)
Elsewhere we read…
Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! (Ps. 148:7-10 ESV)
While we humans are uniquely equipped to rejoice and praise, we are nonetheless part of a larger chorus comprised of the heavens, the skies, the great sea creatures, fire, hail, snow, mist, wind, mountains, hills, fruit trees, cedars, beasts, birds and, yes, stones. These, too, take up the great occupation of all creation–praise and rejoicing.
This means that when circumstances hit which prompt us to press “pause” on our own rejoicing, rocks continue what we cannot. Stones become our mediary, our surrogate, our stand-in. When we cannot find the energy, the enthusiasm or the will to praise and rejoice, they do it for us.
In the book Stories for the Journey, William R. White tells about a European seminary professor named Hans and his wife, Enid. World War II forced them to flee to America where he found a job teaching. Nearly every day Hans and Enid took long walks together, holding hands, and they always sat close in church, until Enid died, overwhelming Hans with sorrow. Worried because he wouldn’t eat nor take walks, the seminary president, along with three other friends, visited him regularly, but he remained lonely and depressed. Experiencing the dark night of the soul, Hans told his friends, “I am no longer able to pray to God. In fact, I am not certain I believe in God any more.” After a moment of silence the seminary president said, “Then we will believe for you. We will make your confession for you. We will pray for you.” So the four men met daily for prayer, asking God to restore the gift of faith to their dear friend. Many months later, as the four gathered with Hans, he smiled and said, “It is no longer necessary for you to pray for me. Today, I would like you to pray with me.” The dark night of the soul had passed. Instead of carrying Hans to Jesus on a stretcher, they had carried him on their prayers. (William R. White, Stories for the Journey, (Augsburg, 1988), 47-49)
When those moments come, stones do for us what Hans friends did for him. They believe for us. They make confession for us. They pray for us. They praise and rejoice when we cannot.
In the Bible’s closing book, John pictures this:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:10 ESV)
This is the same word Jesus uses. Jesus pictures a whole multitude of rocks crying out praise to God. Doing for us what, at times, we cannot.
