On what we call Palm Sunday, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem while crowds waved palm branches and laid their cloaks on the ground before Him.

As twenty-first century Gentiles, we might not grasp the significance of this event.

Zechariah 9:9 foretells, “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.”

All through Jesus’ ministry, as He healed people, He told them not to tell anyone. Of course, for most, their healing would be obvious and foster questions. Some did slip up and tell about Jesus, resulting in His fame as a healer spreading, crowds increasing, and hindering His ability to go out in public. Some wanted to make Him king on the spot, thinking His rule would throw off Roman oppression.

But He said His time was not yet come.

Until Palm Sunday. Fulfilling ancient prophecy and accepting the accolades of the crowds, He took His rightful place as the predicted Messiah.

The Pharisees certainly got the message. They told Him to rebuke His disciples. But Jesus replied, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:28-44).

Perhaps Jesus was speaking literally. He could make the stones cry out if He wanted to.

But It’s probably more likely that He was speaking metaphorically.

How can stones cry out in praise of Him, in acknowledgement of who He is?

Here are a few testimonies of stones in Scripture:

Stones of righteousness and holiness. The ten commandments were written by God’s own hand on tablets of stone (Exodus 32:15-16). Although the law of God in itself can’t save anyone, because we could never keep it all, the law shows God’s holiness and character.

Stones of remembrance. God decreed that stones with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel engraved on them were to be placed on the garment Aaron wore in the tabernacle as stones of remembrance. Every time Aaron ministered in the tabernacle, he brought all of Israel before the Lord (Exodus 28).

Stones of promise. When Jacob left his family to escape the wrath of Esau and find a wife in Paddan-aram, he spent the night in a certain place and used a stone for a pillow. That’s where he dreamed of a ladder with angels coming up and down. God spoke to Him and promised him the land, a multitude of descendants, and His presence and keeping. When Jacob woke up, he made an altar of the stone where he experienced his dream and promised it would become God’s house (Genesis 28).

Stones for memorial and testimony. When the children of Israel finally crossed over the Jordan River into the promised land after forty years of wilderness wandering, God told them to gather twelve stones as a memorial and a testimony when future generations asked about them (Deuteronomy 27, Joshua 4).

Likewise, after the Israelites defeated the Philistines, Samuel set up an “Ebenezer,” a stone of help, to commemorate the victory God gave Israel (1 Samuel 7).

Stones of deliverance. David, a shepherd boy, killed Goliath the giant. All Israel’s soldiers had trembled before Goliath. But David, in simple faith in God and a desire to vindicate Him, was given the victory with one stone flung from a sling.

Stones of forgiveness. When the Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to Jesus, they said the law of Moses required her to be stones. They asked Jesus what He had to say about the matter, in order to test Him. Instead, he wrote on the dirt on the ground with His finger. When all the Pharisees left, Jesus told the woman He did not condemn her and to go and sin no more (John 8).

Stones of judgment. Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple, when one stone will not be left upon another, “because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:41-44).

Stone of resurrection. A large stone was rolled in front of the cave where Christ was buried to ensure no one could come and steal His body and then claim He had risen. But an angel rolled the stone away to show Christ was already gone.

Christ, the cornerstone. Many Old Testament passages foretell “a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” Peter declares Jesus is that cornerstone, which the builder rejected (1 Peter 2:4-8). “Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).

Stones of habitation. “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:3-5).

Stones of relationship. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it” (Revelation 2:17).

If stones can testify so much about God, how much more should we, with the whole canon of Scripture, the history of His interaction with people, and our own personal experience with Him. May we testify of Him abundantly!

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(This post was inspired by the Our Daily Bread radio program which aired on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2025, and our Sunday School lesson from that day on Mark 11.)

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