The Triumphal Entry

In Luke 19 we read about the triumphal entry of Jesus in Jerusalem. I'm sure that, like I, you have known this story from a young age: Jesus tells the disciples to go and loose a colt that has never had a rider. They then spread clothing on the colt and on the ground, and Jesus rides in.

That's the end of the story, right?

Verses 37-40 tells us this:

"Then, as He was now drawing near 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 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 called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

I love that final phrase: If these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out. I have a question for you (and me) today: Who is making the noise in your life, you or the stones?

We should be giving daily, constant praise to our Lord and Savior, yet often times we're silent. We're spectators. Or sometimes, maybe we're even like the Pharisees, quieting efforts that other followers of Jesus are making. This cannot be! We must constantly and consistently point others to Jesus with our words. We cannot rely on the stones to cry out that God is our Creator!

My prayer for us all today is that we will be like Jeremiah, who said:

"Then I said, 'I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.' But His word was in my heart like a burning fire, shut up in my bones; I was wearing of holding it back, and I could not." (Jer. 20:9)

The apostles are great examples for us, too. When commanded not to spread the name of Jesus, they answered "we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20).

Who is forbidding you from speaking out about Jesus? Who is forbidding you from telling the world about His great love? We must be like Jeremiah and the apostles, where we cannot but speak the love that we know and have experienced.

One day it may be the case that people will try to silence Christians. The fact that they will try shouldn't be what scares us, though. We should be scared that it would be so easy to do, because so few Christians are speaking out about their faith and hope.

We must change. God has created us for a purpose, and that purpose isn't a silent one. We must speak out about Jesus, today and every day that we exist on this earth.