Last week we looked at Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. The excited crowd was laying down clothes and palm branches (Matthew 21:8) for a red-carpet entry into Jerusalem. They were shouting and screaming, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 21:9). The fuddy-dud Pharisees didn’t like all the chaos and so they turned to Jesus and told him to get his people in line and tell them to stop all this commotion. Jesus replied, “Even if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!” (Luke 19:40).
Jesus triumphal entry would soon turn to a tragic departure. Over the next week he would be wrongly betrayed, wrongly accused, wrongly convicted, wrongly condemned, wrongly beaten, wrongly humiliated. Mark 14 tells us that the Chief Priests were trying their best to line up some fabricated stories against Jesus so he could be convicted of a crime. But it’s hard to get stories to match when they are made up fabrications.
Shortly after his beat down and humiliation by the hands of soldiers, the Bible tells us that they nailed Jesus’ hands and feet to a cross and hoisted him up high for all the world to see. People walked by sneering and jeering and mocking. It’s hard to believe that just a few days ago the crowd was cheering and shouting Hosanna! Just a few days before Jesus told the Pharisees that the stones themselves would cry out if his people weren’t. And then it happened. After hours of trials, torture and humiliation….the Bible says this:
“Jesus cried out with a loud voice and gave up his Spirit.” (Matthew 27:50).
A few days earlier, Jesus told the Pharisees that if the people were silent, the rocks would cry out in praise of Him. But now, Jesus, THE ROCK himself (cf: Acts 4:11-This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone) has cried out. From “The stones will cry out” to “THE Stone that cried out” and gave up his life on the cross.
Wrongly crucified…but catch this….wrongly crucified, at just the right time. The Bible tells us that before time began, the plan for Jesus to die on the cross was formed (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9). Jesus was wrongly convicted and wrongly crucified, but was in total control the entire time. He tells us as much in John 10:18. Jesus speaking here says, “No one takes it [my life] from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” Jesus gave up his life for you and for me.
From the “stones will cry out” to “THE Stone that cried out” and now for “THE STONE that walked out.” Did you catch the end of John 10:18? Go back and look at it one more time. Jesus aid, “I have the right to lay it [my life] down, and I have the right to take it up again.” The Bible tells us that Jesus, the Stone, died on the cross, was buried in a tomb. That was Friday. But on Sunday, the stone was rolled away (Mark 16:4) and THE STONE walked out, fully alive. On that Sunday, death was delivered a deadly blow by The One who called himself the Way, the Truth, and THE LIFE. On that day, the ROCK of AGES rose from the dead!
And today, because of our faith in the sinless life of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead we can confidently stand and sing:
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!
Praise be to God that The STONE who cried out when he died, walked out when he came back to life. To God be the glory!