Luke 19:37-40
I Will Praise Him!
April 10, 2022
Many years ago my wife and I took my parents to Israel and was traveling from the little village of Bethany, on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, down across the Kidron valley, and on up into the temple area of Jerusalem. We were, in effect, retracing the path our Lord took in the "Triumphal Entry," when he mounted the donkey in Bethany and rode down across the face of the mountain, through the Kidron valley, and up into the city. He was preceded by a crowd who threw palm branches into his pathway, praising God.
Psalm 148 teaches: Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all you stars of light! Praise Him, you heavens of heavens, And you waters above the heavens! Praise him, all you mountains and hills. Praise him, all you fruit trees and cedar trees. Praise him, all you wild animals and cattle. Praise him, you small creatures and flying birds. Praise him, you kings of the earth and all nations. Praise him, all you princes and rulers on earth. Praise Him men and women, Praise Him young and old!
I. V. 37 The Miracles – They praised Him for miracles and the power they had seen Him demonstrate. Some in this crowd were genuine in their love for Him, others were there because of what they had seen Him do. People are still interested in Jesus for what they had seen! Some only want the miracles, but we must want to praise Him! Jesus said (John 14:11) Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake…
• Jesus Turns Water into Wine at the Wedding in Cana
• Jesus Drives Out an Evil Spirit From a Man in Capernaum
• Jesus Heals Peter's Mother-in-Law Sick With Fever
• Jesus Cleanses a Man With Leprosy
• Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant in Capernaum
• Jesus Heals a Man with Palsy when His friends opened up a Roof
• Jesus Heals a Man's Withered Hand on the Sabbath
• Jesus Raises a Widow's Son From the Dead in Nain
• Jesus Calms the Wind and the Sea
• Jesus Casts Demons out of a man into a Herd of Pigs
• Jesus Heals a Woman With an Issue of Blood for 12 years
• Jesus Raises Jairus' Daughter Back to Life
• Jesus Heals Two Blind Men on the road
• Jesus Feeds 5,000 Plus Women and Children
• Jesus Walks on Water and Then calms the Storm
• Jesus Heals a Syrophoenician Woman's Demon-Possessed Daughter
• Jesus Heals a Deaf and Dumb Man
• Jesus Feeds another 4,000 Plus Women and Children
• Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
• Jesus Heals a Boy With an Unclean Spirit when his Disciples couldn’t
• Jesus Heals a Woman Who Had Been Crippled for 18 Years
• Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers on the Way to Jerusalem
• Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead in Bethany
• Jesus Restores Sight to Bartimaeus in Jericho
II. V. 38 The Message – The message of the day was simple - Praise Ye the Lord! They began to preach the Psalm of old quoting 118:26! “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 86:12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart; And I will glorify thy name for evermore.
Psalms 9:1-10 I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name O, Most High.
Psalms 34:1-3 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.
David said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”
III. V. 40 The Majesty - When He appeared on the donkey, riding down from the Mount of Olives, there was no doubt as to what He was doing. He was revealing Himself as the Messiah of Israel. Jesus is fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Zechariah (9:9) and the people knew it!
At this great event, you will notice that the multitudes are shouting and lifting their voices in praise of the Lord. They know what He is doing, and they believe that He has come to deliver Israel from the bondage of Rome. Therefore, they cheer Him and shout praises to God because of Him.
When the Pharisees in the crowd heard the people’s worship directed at Jesus, they said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” (verse 39).
The Pharisees had to know they were powerless to stop the excitement of the people, so they called on Jesus to stop what they believed to be blasphemy.
Jesus replied, “I tell you, . . . if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). The expression the stones will cry out seems to be proverbial and the meaning seems to be that it is more likely that the impossible would happen than for the King of kings to enter His capital city without honor.
Saying the stones or rocks will cry out is a more proverbial way of saying that Jesus is worthy of all praise. As the King of Kings, He will get the praise He is worthy of—and if people won't praise Him, the rocks will.
Stones! You hold your peace! Stones! You stay right where you are. I am not going to let you do my job! I’m not going to let you cry out because I stayed silent when God required praise!
I going to cry my own shout, my own God given praise!
I know that I have been listening to the naysayer, I have been listening to the Pharisee!
I’ve been letting the pandemic silence my praise!
I’ve been letting a president silence my praise!
I’ve been letting life’s problems silence my praise!
But Oh No, I’ve got my priorities straight now and no stone will praise in my stead!
The stone has its place in the biblical narrative but not today! Today I am going to praise Him.
In just a few days from today’s events there will be a declaration for a stone to be sealed at a borrowed tomb from Joseph of Arimathea. In just a few days there will be three women carrying spiced to anoint the body of our Lord and will cry. “Who shall roll the stone away?”
Oh stone! History has a place for you, but not today! Because I have found the only stone of importance today it is the stone that the builders rejected but has become the chief cornerstone! I am talking about Jesus! He is the Rock of my Salvation and a sure foundation! He is my Solid Rock.
Because history teaches that these same voices of praise because the unified voice of punishment! In just a few days they dried out “Crucify Him!” But Jesus knew His duty and He knew the people He came to save! We were unworthy of the gift of God but He gave His Son anyway! So today I call on you to praise Him for the rest of your life!
