David Gornoski’s phrase “Hercules Jesus” gets at the kind of hero we instinctively want when we feel threatened. He rides in, overpowers the bad guys, and makes our side win. Luke gives us a king who rides into Jerusalem on a colt, accepts the crowd’s praise, and then weeps over the city. What brings him to tears is that Jerusalem cannot see the things that would make for peace.
When some of the Pharisees ask Jesus to quiet his disciples, he tells them that if the disciples fall silent, “the stones would immediately cry out.” Even creation would take up the praise. But listen to what happens a few verses later. Jesus says Jerusalem’s enemies will tear the city down, leaving no stone upon another. The stones that could have joined the celebration are also the stones Jesus sees scattered in the coming siege. Luke 19:28–44
There’s an echo of Habakkuk here. A stone cries out from the wall of a house built through injustice. The very thing its owner built to secure himself becomes a witness against him. Read beside Luke, that echo gives the stones a second resonance. They can acclaim the king who comes in peace, and they can bear witness to what violence leaves behind. Habakkuk 2:9–12
The clearest picture of Jesus’ power comes when they arrest him. One of his followers draws a sword and cuts off a man’s ear. Jesus stops the violence and heals the wounded man, who came with the party taking him away. The king the stones would praise uses his power to heal someone his own side has wounded. What do we actually want Jesus to do when we call him King and our side has the sword? Luke 22:47–51
