April 13 – Silent

In Luke’s telling of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Pharisees tell Jesus to quiet his disciples’ boisterous singing. “Tell them to stop,” they say.
I think the Pharisees are nervous. It’s a very tense time in Jerusalem. The Passover is coming. The city is filling with pilgrims celebrating, remembering the way God freed them from the chains of slavery all those many years ago. And, remembering how they were freed back then, they might be reminded that what they have now, under the authority of Rome, is not much like what God promised them. They might get angry and rise up. Which means that Rome would, without doubt, clamp down. They had several crosses ready to use if need be.
So the Pharisees tell Jesus to silence his disciples. Because it’s all too dangerous. But Jesus turned to them and said, “If they were silent, the stones would shout out.”
This cannot be stopped. The cry for freedom cannot be silenced.

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