Luke 19:40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

The foundation of the New Testament is the Old Testament. The foundation of the Old Testament is Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.” St. Francis of Assisi wrote our foundation hymn for February 3, 2013, “All Creatures of Our God and King”, 788 years ago in 1225. He used Psalm 148 for his text.

7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.

In Luke chapter 19 we find the disciples and followers of Jesus leading him down the street on a donkey. They are shouting and praising the Lord. “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Pharisees did not like hearing the people proclaiming Jesus as the “The King who comes in the name of the Lord”. So they told Jesus to make his followers “Stop saying things like that”. Jesus then presents the “Law of suppression”. He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!” Meaning that all of nature knows that He is the King who comes in the name of the Lord and if men will not say these things then nature will.

I remember as a kid swimming in my pool in the backyard. We would always have a beach ball or two to play with. You could play tag with a beach ball. Play volleyball with a beach ball or just float on the beach ball. One thing you could not do with a beach ball was hold it under water for more than a few seconds. It would always pop up. And it would not pop up quietly. It would come shooting out of the water like a man desperate for air.
This is what I think Jesus meant. If mankind stops praising Him all nature will CRY OUT! Not in a quiet whisper. The rocks and stones will shout loud so everyone will hear. “BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!”