Even the Stones Will Cry Out
Pastors Mary Scheer and Patti Ricotta team up to fill in for Pastor Doug.
As Pastor Patti and I are sharing this message, we will be using the scripture Pastor Doug had planned on using today. When we realized on Friday that we would be preaching, we decided to split the scripture passage. I will be sharing the first part of the scripture from Luke 19: 28-34.
March 24, 2013
Luke 19: 28-40, Even The Rocks Will Cry Out
Pastor Mary Scheer and Pastor Patti Ricotta, Brewster Baptist Church
[vimeo 62611551 w=500&h=375]
[powerpress]
Sermon Scripture: “After he had said this, he 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.”
While on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus stopped in Jericho and taught about the kingdom of God. People thought the kingdom of God was going to appear at once, but he said, (Mt. 3:2) “it’s not like that, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Lk 17: 20-21)
Many people were on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover. This time, the journey to Jerusalem for Passover would be different, it would be his last, but he was the only one who knew it at the time.
On the way there, he stopped at the Mount of Olives, and sent a couple disciples into the next village to bring back a colt they would find there. In Mathew’s account it says they found a donkey and her colt (or baby or young donkey) who had never been ridden. (Mt. 21 1-9)
But they said, what if the guy who owns the colt asks us what we are doing? He said, tell him the Lord needs it.
Now, saying, “the Lord needs it” was an intentional statement. It was common when a king needed something to send his attendants out to procure it by saying, “the Lord needs it.”
There was an ancient custom called “angaria” which allowed figures of state and persons of note to impress property into personal use. This is a right that extended to Rabbis[1], which was also a way that people saw Jesus.
Additionally, this would have helped identified Jesus as king of the kingdom he has been preaching and teaching about.
Do you think the disciples were amazed when they just barely entered the next town and found a colt tied up just where Jesus said it would be?
And they were untying it when, just as they thought would happen, the owner came out of his house and said, what are you guys doing taking my colt? And they said, “the Lord needs it.” And he let them have it.
While the passage describes people praising Jesus as King.
This fulfills scripture from Zechariah 9:9 (& Isaiah 7:14), which 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.”
I think it’s interesting that tradition holds that just before Jesus was born, his mother rode on a donkey into Bethlehem where she and Joseph were going for the census. And now a few days before Jesus would die, he road on a donkey into Jerusalem.
By riding in on a donkey instead of a powerful horse as most kings would, it draws a picture of equal poverty and authority. He rides in as one in peace and not as one going to war.
This text raised at least two questions for me.
1. Why did Jesus send the disciples to go get a donkey instead of borrowing one from someone they knew, or even asking for one himself?
I think there are a few reasons.
By doing it this way, he allowed the keeper of the colt to partner with him in his next act of ministry.
The creator of the world does not need anything, yet chooses to allow us to partner with him in the work he calls us to in the world.
The disciples were doing their part making arrangements and preparing the way, for the ministry of Jesus.
And like the disciples, we participate in and make arrangements for the (on-going) ministry of Jesus.
I remember the first year I was here. I heard Pastor Kevin make a call from his office to a car rental place. He was renting two vans for the youth group to go somewhere, and I heard him say; tell them Brewster Baptist Church needs two vans. I instantly thought of this passage in Luke.
Whether we are fetching donkey’s or renting vans, even the not so glamorous details of the every ministry matters to God.
2. Why does Jesus want a colt that has never been used?
The colt that has never been used can in some ways be like our unused spiritual gifts or talents.
Some of you have heard me share before about how I am naturally shy. When our family were members of a church close to our house in Chicago, long ago before I was a pastor or had even thought of going to seminary, I was in a small group at my pastors house.
At the end of small group, everyone would stand in a circle and join hands and one at a time say a small prayer. I would sweat and shake and dread my turn. By the time it was my turn I felt so nervous about what I would say because everyone else had already prayed everything there was to pray and I could not think of anything new.
I just wanted to say “pass” when it came to me, but my pastor wouldn’t let me. One day he said to me, “you can’t pass. Everyone is blessed by each prayer. It does not matter if everyone said the same exact prayer. Every voice must be heard.” His insistence…strong encouragement, helped me to do what I did not think I could do, helped me to be able to hear God calling me to the next step and the next that would eventually lead me to being a pastor able to pray for all of you.
What if the Lord said, “I have need of it” to us?
How would you react if the Lord asked you to give or do something that you had not done before or weren’t sure of?
A few years back, the youth were getting ready to go on a mission trip to Washington. At the last minute the youth pastor was ill and not able to go. So, Pastor Doug called a day before they were to leave and asked me to go with the youth.
I am not a youth pastor, and though I have 4 children, I have no training in youth ministry. It is a specialized training.
That trip will always be remembered as a highlight in ministry for me. I had such a good time with our amazing students. We did some really good work. I will always be really grateful for the opportunity.
This church has felt called to a wide variety of ministries. Many people have heard in their heart the Lord say, “I have need of it.” Maybe there is something, or something new you might be sensing God calling you to.
When Jesus told the disciples to go get a colt and bring it back, they might have thought it just another part of an ordinary day, but we know that it was a part of God’s wider plan.
This Palm Sunday, my prayer is that we will be sensitive to the prompting of Jesus in us saying, “I have need of that.” And may each find ourselves in his story.
Maybe you identify with the owner of the colt as you help provide for needed ministries.
Or the fetcher of the colt? Or one planning, preparing or engaging in a ministry that lifts Jesus up.
This morning, we all join the crowd glorifying God, saying Hosanna to the Son of David. Amen, and Amen.
When Mary and I were looking at the passage together, we had a good time talking about the different things we each saw in these verses. Isn’t it fun to discuss the Scriptures with someone who loves the Bible as much as you?
As Mary talked about the un-ridden donkey being like our unused gifts, that made me think (as I read through my part of the passage) about who Jesus is as the one who invites us to partner with him in using our gifts. And who Jesus is as our King.
We pick up the Palm Sunday story at verse 35…
35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road.
37 As 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, 38 saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.”
40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
What we see in this passage is very different behavior from Jesus than we have seen before in his ministry. Up until this very moment, Jesus has avoided every attempt of people to make him king.
But now, not only is Jesus letting the people hail him as king, he is carefully orchestrating every detail of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Why do you suppose he has changed his behavior so completely—now? What was going on in Jesus mind that said, “Now is the time”? I would have loved for Jesus to stay on earth teaching for another 3 years. But something had happened that made him know this was the time to reveal to the world that he is the “one who comes in the name of the Lord.” Well, let look at what’s happening.
In vs. 35 his disciples make a soft saddle out of their cloaks, and the verse says “they set Jesus on it.” In Luke’s story, Jesus doesn’t just climb on the donkey; his disciples set him on it. They must have lifted him up the way a royal footmen would lift a king or a squire would lift a knight and place him on his trusty steed.
As he rode along, people spread out their cloaks. Other gospels say they threw branches on the ground. This was an ancient way of showing respect and honor to a king or dignitary. Fredrick Beuchner called it “a poor man’s red carpet treatment.[2]”
By the time he got to the path leading down from the Mount of Olives the whole multitude of disciples were praising God…joyfully…with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen Jesus do.
By now Jesus had many “disciples.” These are not just people on the street. Luke alone makes the point that the crowd included a multitude of disciples.
I think this is one of the important clues as to why Jesus chose this time to reveal himself as king.
Have you ever read “The Tipping Point” By Malcolm Gladwell? In this book, Gladwell writes about what he calls “a magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire.”[3]
It could be that Jesus knew he had a critical mass of disciples to carry on his work after he was gone. This multitude of disciples were people who had followed him and knew first-hand of the great things he had done.
When they said, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” This was messianic speech.
Jesus could finally come to Jerusalem as her king.
And after these three years of ministry, another tipping point had taken place. His followers finally understood that he was a different kind of king than anyone could ever have imagined.
Jesus was not coming as a ruler with a royal palace where he would summon his subjects and demand their homage. He was not coming as a monarch with a great treasury filled with money for building massive stone roadways or constructing miles of fresh water aqueducts.
Jesus’ royal place is in the heart of his followers. The roadways he builds are the paths of righteousness that are lit by the lamp of his word. And he is the aqueduct from which living water flows through us and into the world.
Jesus had no worldly or kingly goods to attract worshipers. He used his power, not to coerce political advantage or press his subjects into service, but to draw hurting, broken people out of the shadows and into abundant life.
Vs. 37 says that his disciples praised him because of all the deeds of power that they had seen Jesus do. What had they seen? What deeds of power could create such worship?
Just looking briefly at the book of Luke we see can see how this king Jesus rules.
- He comes into the world, not through a queen, but through a humble young village girl.
- He uses a locust-eating, hair-shirt wearing firebrand odd-ball named John to prepare the way for his ministry. (If you were going to be a mighty ruler would you trust someone like John to be your forerunner? King Jesus did.)
- This king’s mission statement includes giving good news to the poor instead of ignoring them, or exploiting them; freeing prisoners instead of creating more of them; giving sight to the blind, instead of pulling the wool over people’s eyes; and freeing the oppressed rather than thinking of them as a burden (4:18-19).
- He heals an outcast man with leprosy; sets people free from demon possession; heals a paralyzed man; brings back a little girl from the dead.
- He chose a motley crew, mostly made up of nobody fishermen, to help him change the world!
- He raised a dead man in order to offer social security to his widowed mother.
And that’s just through chapter 7!
In all these stories, Jesus is the kind of king that restores people who suffer at the margins of life, and brings them into full participation in the community.
He responds to his followers from his heart of love, and self-giving—and ultimately, self-sacrifice. That’s what he offers and that’s what compelled a whole multitude of the disciples to praise God joyfully with a loud voice.
There were now enough people who knew what kind of king Jesus really was. Jesus knew that his kingdom would prevail even after he was gone.
In our last two verses, the crowd was at the height of joy and gratitude. But that was just too much for the religious elite who are threatened by this kind of king who would expose their hypocrisy. Furiously, 39 “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’
40 He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’”
“The stones would shout out…” The fullness of the knowledge of the Lord and of the kind of king Jesus was had so filled the earth that nothing could stop the praise that was due him!
The tipping point had been reached so that even the lifeless world recognized life when it saw it. All of creation was aware of Jesus’ Lordship, except the leadership of the nation.[4]
It’s no wonder the disciples praised God with joy and the rocks were ready to cry out. Let me ask you this: Do we recognize the kind of King Jesus really is? Have you made this king your lord and Savior?
Let’s pray.
Lord, as we go about the coming week, may you fix us in a Holy Week frame of mind. As we see new leaves trying to peek out from their branches, let them remind us of Palm Sunday’s triumphant Lord riding in on a donkey and the Palm branches that paved his way. Let us hear you whisper in our ears, “I have need of your gift.” Remind us that we all have a part to play in partnership with you.
Lord, you are the king who brings us out of the margins and into life abundant! How can we be so blessed to have the Lord of Love as our Savior? Lord Jesus, would it be too much to ask you to prompt us to praise you every time we see a stone—whether in our yard, or the beach, as part of a fence, or even in a dump truck full of rocks on its way to a construction site. Wherever we see a stone, let it give us the courage to speak your praises to whomever we are with. It is in your name that we pray, Amen
[1] Bock, Darrell L. Luke: 9:51-24:53: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 1996. Print. Pgs. 1549-1550.
[4] Bock, Darrell L. Luke: 9:51-24:53: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 1996. Print. Pg. 1560.