Stones...

"If these were silent, the stones would cry out!" proclaims Jesus to the Pharisees as they demanded His disciples cease their "Hosannas!" Luke 19:37-40

During the course of Holy week, we see the disciples fall away one by one. No longer courageous followers but meek and fearful...What if they remember me? They might imprision or worse, kill me too! Why has it gone this far? Why does Jesus not call upon His Father for help? Why doesn't He protect us? I can't say all these questions went through their minds...but given their actions, it would not be surprising.

On Palm Sunday Christ entered Jerusalem to loud Hosannas...Bravely and boldly the disciples followed Him as He rode into town. But things turned ugly and they didn't know what to do. Even though He had warned them, more than once...they just weren't ready! So they fade into the background...less conspicuous that way. No longer singing Jesus' praises. But there were others. Regular people who, by their words and actions, take the place of the disciples to become the "stones who cry out" in Scripture...

**Blind Bartimaeus, who found his way to the road in order to be there when Jesus passed by...he cried "Have mercy!"
**The woman who anoints Jesus with Nard. We do not know her name but we know she stepped out in faith to prepare His body.
**The servant girl in the court of Caiaphas (again, no name) but she is the one who pointed out Peter as a follower of Jesus. She had a part to play in his first denial.
**Pilate's Wife who spoke out concerning a dream..."Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." (Matthew 27:19)
**The Women at the Crucifixion...Mary Magdelene, Mary the mother of James and others who had followed Jesus and attended His needs. They did not leave Him in His final hours but sat at the foot of the cross, even at their own peril.
**The Centurion who watched Him die. "Surely this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39)
**Joseph of Arimathea who went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus body (Mark 15:43). Not timid, not grovelling, not begging...BOLDLY as a follower of Christ.

There were more who are barely mentioned in the Bible and others whose stories are lost in time. Those who became the stones and cried out "Hosanna" in Jesus' last hours on earth.