DEVOTION BY LYN ROBBINS
It was a response with a twist of the unexpected, a surprise. What could Jesus possibly have meant when he said the rocks would cry out if the disciples were silenced?
Was he caught up in the moment? Was he giving a little “in your face” to the bad guys and reveling as Hosannas rang through the air?
Was he echoing the idea of nature’s praise found in Isaiah? “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
ISAIAH 55:12
Was he cautioning his disciples that they were the last hope for praise, that if they, and we, fail, there is nobody left but the rocks?
Was he foreshadowing a moment, only days away, when the voices of the disciples, deniers and fleers all, would be silenced? “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.”
MATTHEW 27:50-51
It was a response with a twist of the unexpected, a surprise. What could Jesus possibly have meant when he said the rocks would cry out if the disciples were silenced?
Was he caught up in the moment? Was he giving a little “in your face” to the bad guys and reveling as Hosannas rang through the air?
Was he echoing the idea of nature’s praise found in Isaiah? “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
ISAIAH 55:12
Was he cautioning his disciples that they were the last hope for praise, that if they, and we, fail, there is nobody left but the rocks?
Was he foreshadowing a moment, only days away, when the voices of the disciples, deniers and fleers all, would be silenced? “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.”
MATTHEW 27:50-51
I think the answer is yes, a moment of Hosanna amidst a world of accusers is worth a celebration. And yes, all creatures of our God and king, the sun and moon and stars, lift up their voices and sing Alleluia. And yes, we must not leave it to the stones to do our duty. And yes, when that terrible day came, the very earth cried out, not in praise, but in agony and anger and despair and… yes… in victory.
When Jesus first used these words, he immediately followed them by weeping over a Jerusalem that would, in fact, keep its voice silent among the mob and the priests and Pilate and the soldiers.