When stones cry out in worship
Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:
“‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:37-40).
When Jesus was born, not a voice was heard on earth in acknowledgement of the Saviour’s birth. But heaven spoke:
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:13-14).
When Jesus entered Jerusalem towards the end of His life on earth, His disciples had His song in their hearts and expressed it loudly and joyfully. The Pharisees did not take part in this joyful praise, and some raised their voices to stop the worship of Christ. The Lord replies with the remarkable words, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
It was on the night of the Lord’s betrayal, when the forces of rejection, envy and opposition gathered to plan the destruction of Jesus Christ, that He gave us the simplest expressions of worship: a loaf of bread and cup of wine. He was about to take the final steps to Calvary and, in love, lay down His life for our salvation. Peter was there on that Passover evening, and years later wrote: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).
We hear a lot today about the wonder of the universe as scientists explore its mysteries. As Christians, we see God witnessing to His greatness in the glory of creation. This is not only seen in the heavens, which declare the glory of the Lord (Psalm 19:1), but also in the mountain ranges, oceans, birds, beasts, trees and flowers, rocks and stones, sand on the seashores, and in things we need a microscope to see. The whole astonishing complexity of creation witnesses to the glory of God. Yet it is humans, who are so “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14, who increasingly reject the existence of God and resent and oppose those who do worship Him. The Lord tells us that, had the inanimate and simple stone a voice, it would shame us by crying out in worship.
It is difficult to think about something so dead as a stone. We once were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, without hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:1, 12). Yet we are now alive in Christ, built upon the Living Stone who suffered rejection and death, but who became the Great Rock of our salvation. Peter explains that, as living stones, we form a spiritual house, and, as holy priests, we can offer spiritual sacrifices of praise and worship to God.
One day, living creatures, elders, angels, creatures in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that is in them will say,
“Blessing and honour and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (see Revelation 5:8-14).
In the meantime, let the living stones cry out in worship.
