Petroglyphs at the Petrified Forest National Park, AZ
Luke 19:39-40 ISV
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd told Jesus, “Teacher, tell your disciples to be quiet.”
He replied, “I tell you, if they were quiet, the stones would cry out!”
There are tens of thousands of petroglyphs at the Petrified Forest National Park, AZ. In fact, there are over 650 petroglyphs on just one stone, known as Newspaper Rock. It is estimated that the oldest of these etchings is over 2000 years old. Over time, other travelers have left their marks. There are 17th – 20th century inscriptions in Spanish and English. There are so many messages on Newspaper Rock, it is very difficult to read, but modern Puebloan people identify family, spiritual, and boundary markers. You can recognize local animals, seasons, and geometric representations of weather. Some glyphs remain a total mystery, but archaeologists do agree that some of these represent prayers and a great or supreme diety.
Perhaps this isn’t what Jesus meant when he said, “the stones would cry out!” Still, I do find it interesting that while He was uttering those words on the other side of the world, Ancient Puebloan people intuitively knew that “someone” was in charge. Indigenous North Americans are well known polytheists, but then they wouldn’t hear the word of God for another 1500 years! The term “Great Spirit” was initially coined by Native Americans to try and describe the supreme being to missionaries that wanted to associate human attributes to God. The Supreme Being wasn’t a person, but power. We have the Word to guide us, but if you hadn’t heard of Jesus, you would feel the Power of the earth. The rumble of thunder, the crashing waterfall, the rushing river, the rise and set of the sun and moon, the flow of the seasons, the birth of new generations, and the ebb of the old ones. Power indeed.
The God that could make stones cry out is indeed the God of omnipotent power. The words, rock or stone, are used approximately 450-500 times in the Bible depending on the translation used. Time and time again, God is referred to as Our Rock, the Solid Rock, and Firm Foundation. A stone was rolled away on the day of resurrection. Rocks may seem to be silent witnesses, but in so many ways they cry out, “Jesus is Lord!” and I will too.
