When Stones Cry Out

Topic: Palm Sunday

The Easter season is a time calling for praise and rejoicing. All nature sings and shouts and waves its praise to the Creator in the boldest, brightest colors it can find. And we who are Christians have a special reason to rejoice at Easter. For while Christmas heralds the birth of the Messiah, our Savior, and fires the opening shot in the battle with evil, Easter is the victory celebration, and makes us ask why there is not more praise in our hearts and in our churches — praise for the victory passed on to us; a victory over sin, death and the devil.

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When I look at the scripture before us, it makes me ask why there are not more amens and hallelujahs in the midst of our worship and in the midst of our daily life.

The Background of Their Praise

Consider the background. Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem. He pauses at Bethany, and through His symbolic actions, the crowd of disciples believe He is going to ride into Jerusalem as the long-awaited Messiah.

Here's what He does: in fulfillment of prophecy He sends for a donkey, then rides it down the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem while the disciples shout praises and lay their coats in the path. Zechariah 9:9 says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey." And so the excited followers shouted hosannas and cut down branches and flung them to make a royal path for the king. Now consider with me this outpouring of praise, then let us look at our own actions in the light of it.

Praise Outside the Church Walls

The first notable aspect is that, while praise was customary within the temple court, this concert of praise is raised outside the temple; outside the church, so to speak. They are coming down the side of the Mount of Olives, coming into town by one of the busiest roads. It is a secular setting. It is the kind of time and place where we don't expect to hear praise of God; it is coloring outside the lines of praise. I realize my poverty of praise of the Lord when I go outside the boundaries of being a pastor, a minister — like when I go to the grocery store, or have the car repaired — and in conversation with someone they openly and joyfully praise God for what He has done for them. It is then that I realize that most of us, myself included, do not praise God as we should, either within or outside the walls of the church. And surely His blessings extend beyond the walls.

It Was Unanimous Praise

It was, in the second place, unanimous praise. Verse 37 says the "whole multitude" lifted their voices in praise. My dear folks, if you had the view I have from the pulpit on Sunday mornings, you would, I think, be amazed at the folks who never open their mouth in song; never lift a hymn book to sing praise to God! God doesn't require us all to be beautiful singers, but He does expect us all to make a joyful noise in praise. Can there be much witness from a heart that feels no need to join with others in praise and song to God?