Undoubtedly you have read of some of the findings of archeologists, things they “dig up” from the most unexpected places. I visited and viewed the Dead Sea scrolls, and came away knowing little more than when I arrived. Admittedly, I was not totally ignorant of what to expect prior to that visit, yet, I realized how dependent I was on another’s intelligence and labors.
A friend, an engineer for RCA in those years, was trying to explain to me how some of these new found gadgets of those days worked. After realizing I was not responding in an understanding way, he said: “It is like putting that information into a very, very small rock.” I thanked him for his patience but told my beloved wife, Patsy, how I was as wise at the conclusion as I was at the beginning.
When Jesus was entering Jerusalem on what we celebrate as “Palm Sunday,” (Luke 19:38) the crowds were shouting: “Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Naturally, there were those who found it objectionable and said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” Not only did they object, but notice how they made sure to disassociate themselves by saying, “Your disciples.”
Jesus responds: “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” (v40) I have thought often of what might be hidden in those stones that would allow them to “cry out”! I am aware that our archeologists can learn much from the stones that they unearth, but to hear those “stones cry out” would be another thing!
That moment was surely one that would cause anyone to wonder, “Could this really happen?” But something else is added by Dr. Luke that bears repeating; He was approaching Jerusalem and beholding it, “wept over it. Saying, if you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
While He spoke about the stones that would “cry out”; He now speaks of the stones that would be demolished and speak in a different manner. Those stones are still speaking and confirming the Word of God and the Savior of men, JESUS!
They did not recognize the time of His visitation then, but the stones carry the message to you and to me… Believe ON the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
ETCetera 