Crying Stones
I have returned from my journey to the Middle East. It is great to be near my lovely wife and amazing children. It is also nice to have unlimited Internet, Dr. Pepper, and home-cooked food. As I sit back and think about the many memories I now have, I am humbled. That was such a great opportunity and I encourage this sort of trip to anyone. I cannot wait to go back. In the next few days, we begin celebrating Holy Week, kicking off with Palm Sunday. While I was in Jerusalem, we made a walk down from the top of the Mount of Olives towards the Garden of Gethsemane. This long, winding cobblestone road was laid out at a steep incline. The guide told me that this was the path Jesus took for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
Luke 19:29-31, 35-40 – When He drew near to Bethpage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, He sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as He rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As He was drawing near — already on the way down the Mount of Olives — the whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that 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 in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
The story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem fulfilled the prophecy we can read in Zechariah 9:9 — Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
As I walked down the long hill, I could see Jerusalem in the distance. The temple mount has the famous golden-domed mosque on it today. I could imagine what it would have looked like with the magnificent temple sitting there. I could almost picture all the people rejoicing and singing, “Hosanna!” I noticed, though, that there were no palm trees around. In fact, there were hardly any trees anywhere. On the south side of the path we were taking, stretching down the entire hill, lies an enormous graveyard — one of the more famous graveyards in Jerusalem.
I stopped to take some pictures of the impressive span of tombstones. There was hardly anything green or living in the whole place; just some tiny weeds. There were no expansive green meadows, leafy bushes, large trees or flowers like American cemeteries. On top of all the gravestones I noticed pebbles or rocks. Jewish tradition is to place rocks on the tombstone when you visit, not flowers.
We cannot know what bordered the road when Jesus was walking down the hill; probably not a graveyard such as there is today. But His words rang true even today, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” Even the stones on the graves would cry out. As we start off Holy Week, reflect on your King entering Jerusalem. Most of the crowds thought He was entering to create a political revolt. Instead, He entered the city to die and to declare victory over sin — your sin and my sin. Let us celebrate this victory! Thank you, Jesus!
PS: I have set up a complete online album of the pictures I took while in the Middle East. (http://zacsmith.com/photos)
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What an amazing experience! I was looking at some of the pictures you had taken…it’s incredible! Glad you are back safe and sound and that you had a great time! I am sure it’s nice to see your family again!