Some
of the Pharisees from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” He answered them, “I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”
Luke 19:39-40
Luke 19 [32.] Those who were sent went away, and found things just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” They brought it to Jesus. They threw their cloaks on the colt, and set Jesus on them. As he went, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was now getting near, at 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 which they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!”
Luke 19 [39.] Some of the Pharisees from the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
Luke 19 [40.] He answered them, “I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out.”
Luke 19 [41.] When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had known today the things which belong to your peace! But now, they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side, and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation.”
Meaning:
As Jesus rode down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples praised God with a loud voice, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:37-38). Only Luke records this short exchange with the Pharisees. A similar complaint came from the chief priests in the temple, when children shouted “Hosanna” and Jesus answered from the Psalms (Matthew 21:15-16).
- “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
The Pharisees call Jesus “Teacher,” not “King.” They were alarmed that the crowd was openly hailing him as the Messiah. Perhaps they also feared that such shouting near Jerusalem at Passover would bring the Romans down on everyone. Whatever their reason, they wanted Jesus to silence the praise. They did not accept the claim that the disciples were making, and they expected Jesus to reject it too.
- “If these were silent, the stones would cry out”
Jesus refuses. He accepts the praise as right and true. The moment had come for the King to be proclaimed, and nothing could stop it. If his disciples were silenced, creation itself would announce him. The Scriptures often picture creation praising God: “Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together” (Psalm 98:8), and “all the trees of the fields will clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12).
The saying may also echo Habakkuk, who warned the one who builds his house by injustice: “For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork will answer it” (Habakkuk 2:11). There the stones bear witness against wrongdoing. In the next verses Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and foretells that its enemies “will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44). The very stones of the city would testify that its people had refused their King.
- The stones and the children of Abraham
John the Baptist had told the crowds that “God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones” (Luke 3:8). God does not depend on any group of people to accomplish his purpose. If those who should praise him refuse, he can raise up others.
The Significance of Luke 19:39-40
- Praise that cannot be silenced
The world may try to quiet the worship of Jesus, but it cannot. Jesus is worthy of praise, and God will see that he receives it. Paul writes that one day “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11).
- Do not stay silent
The stones would cry out if the disciples were silent, but Jesus wants his people to speak. Believers today are invited to praise him openly and to tell others who he is.
Cross-References:
Matthew 21:15-16: Jesus answers the chief priests who objected to the children’s praise in the temple.
Habakkuk 2:11: "For the stone will cry out of the wall" Stones as witnesses.
Psalm 98:8: "Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together." Creation praising the coming King.
Conclusion: When the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke his disciples for proclaiming him King, he answered that if they were silent the stones would cry out. The praise of Jesus is right, and God will not let it be silenced; creation itself bears witness to the King.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible