Bible Passage: Luke 19:2-40
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: April 13, 2025

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

We begin today at the end.  We take up something Jesus says at the end of our text.  The Pharisees have watched the events of Palm Sunday very carefully.  They have seen the reception Jesus received as he entered Jerusalem.  They have observed the royal-treatment given to Jesus.  The palm branches being waved, as if a conquering hero is coming to town!  They have listened to the crowds as they cheer the arrival of Jesus, using portions of Psalm 118 to welcome Jesus with Messianic overtones.  They don’t like it!  They don’t like it one bit!

So they tell Jesus to tell his disciples to put a lid on it.  To be quiet.  But Jesus says to them, I tell you, if these people would be silent, the stones would cry out. (v. 40)  Can you imagine that?  If the people would shut their mouths, Jesus says the rocks and stones along the road from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem would shout and sing as Jesus passed by!  I’ve never seen or heard singing, shouting stones.  It must be a very special thing, it must be something big – really big – to make stones sing.  Let us consider today what it is about this day that makes it So Big, Stones Could Sing.

It doesn’t look like a “big” thing.  Jesus riding on a donkey.  In fact, it looks like a “little” thing.  I mean, think about how dignitaries and celebrities like to make entrance.  They hire publicists and stage managers to plan something “big.”  A “big” moment with “big” staging and “big” effects.  Something to “wow” the audience.  Very few dignitaries and celebrities would be happy with what we see today.  It’s hard to make a “splash” when you arrive on the back of a little donkey!

Yet, is there more here than meets the eye?  There is!  Look at how Jesus came to ride this little donkey.  This was no accident.  Our text begins with Jesus sending two of his disciples to get this little donkey.  Jesus tells them in exact detail how this will go down.  He even tells them beforehand the conversation they are going to have.  If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” you will say this:  “The LORD needs it.” (v. 31)  And it happens EXACTLY as Jesus said it would!  They are stopped by the owners who ask what they are doing and they say, The LORD needs it. (v. 34)  The Lord needs a little donkey.  He doesn’t say he “wants” a donkey, or that he would “prefer” a donkey for his ride into Jerusalem.  He NEEDS it!  It is a necessity!  Why?

Jesus knew this arrival was “big.”  You see, the prophet Zechariah had foretold to Israel that when the Messiah would come, he would come riding into Jerusalem on a little donkey!  It’s true!  Zechariah had prophesied:  Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  Look!  Your King is coming to you.  He is righteous and brings salvation.  He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)  Jesus riding on a donkey isn’t merely clever stage-craft.  A carefully curated moment designed to go “viral.”  It fulfills prophecy and clearly identifies Jesus as the Messianic King!  That’s a big deal!

Some of those shouting that day had Messianic hopes for Jesus.  But they were the wrong Messianic hopes.  A few verses before our text, Luke tells us the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. (19:11)  Hopes were running high for some that the time had come!  Jesus was going to Jerusalem to defeat the hated Romans and reestablish a new Jewish kingdom, a Messianic-monarchy greater than David’s dynasty!  “The hour is at hand!”  They misunderstood the purpose of Jesus’ ride on Palm Sunday.

If we go back to Zechariah’s great prophecy, we are told that the one who comes to Jerusalem on the donkey brings salvation (Zechariah 9:9).   We look at Jesus on the donkey.  Let’s look for “salvation.”  He is bringing salvation.  Do we see an army with him?  Does he have a division of soldiers?  A brigade?  Even a regiment?  A sword strapped on Jesus’ side? Nope.  So it must not be a military salvation he brings.  Is there a Brinks truck filled with cash driving behind Jesus?  No?  Then he must not be bringing financial salvation.  There’s just nothing!  There’s just Jesus on the donkey.  There is the salvation!  Jesus is the salvation!  He brings himself.

And that is all he will need.  There is no human might or money that can contribute anything to the salvation Jesus comes to bring.  He must do it all himself.  Jesus must carry the cross, the guilt, the shame of sin himself.  Jesus must suffer the wrath of God for sin himself.  Jesus alone must be forsaken on the cross.  Jesus alone must suffer and die.  Jesus alone must pay the debt we owe.  Jesus alone must work salvation.  That is why Jesus, and Jesus alone, has earned the title “Salvador,” “Savior.”

That’s a big deal!  The Son of God is coming to town to work out our salvation!  That is why Jesus says if the people don’t shout and sing the stones will!  How are you doing so far this morning?  Are you shouting and singing?  Can you hardly contain yourself?  Are you bursting with joy and gratitude?  Or did you manage to mumble your way through the hymns?  Has it ever occurred to you how many times God’s people are called upon in Scripture to sing and shout and generally make noise?  The word “sing” is found 69 times in the book of Psalms alone!  Here is just a sample of how it is used:  I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High. (Psalm 7:17)  Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done. (Psalm 9:11) Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. (Psalm 30:4)  Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. (Psalm 95:1)   

Sounds like God’s redeemed people are a noisy bunch, doesn’t it?  We are!  What our dear Jesus rode into Jerusalem to do for us is a big deal!  So big, we must sing and shout and tell!  So big, even the stones could sing!

Amen.