Luke 19:40

“And he answered and said unto them, I tell you, etc.] As a truth, which may be depended on, and you may be assured of; this he spake with great earnestness, fervour, and courage: that if these should hold their peace; be silent, and not sing the praises of God, and ascribe glory to him, and profess the Messiah, and make this public acknowledgment of him: the stones would immediately cry out; either against them, or in a declaration of the Messiah: by which expression our Lord means, that it was impossible it should be otherwise; it would be intolerable if it was not; and rather than it should not be, God, who is able out of stones to raise up children to Abraham, would make the stones speak,…”

“the stones, &c.--Hitherto the Lord had discouraged all demonstrations in His favor; latterly He had begun an opposite course; on this one occasion He seems to yield His whole soul to the wide and deep acclaim with a mysterious satisfaction, regarding it as so necessary a part of the regal dignity in which as Messiah He for this last time entered the city, that if not offered by the vast multitude, it would have been wrung out of the stones rather than be withheld (Hab 2:11).”

“The stones would ...cry out - It is “proper” that they should celebrate my coming. Their acclamations “ought” not to be suppressed. So joyful is the event which they celebrate - the coming of the Messiah - that it is not fit that I should attempt to impose silence on them. The expression here seems to be “proverbial,” and is not to be taken literally. Proverbs are designed to express the truth “strongly,” but are not to be taken to signify as much as if they were to be interpreted literally. The sense is, that his coming was an event of so much importance that it “ought” to be celebrated in some way, and “would” be celebrated. It would be impossible to restrain the people, and improper to…”

“If these should hold their peace, the stones, which lie before you, would cry out - That is, God would raise up some still more unlikely instruments to declare his praise. For the power of God will not return empty. Luke 19:42”

“19:40 Compare Isa 55:12, in which nature is said to rejoice at the coming of God’s salvation, and Hab 2:11, in which the stones of the walls cry out against Babylon.”

“Psa 96:11, Psa 98:7-9, Psa 114:1-8; Isa 55:12; Hab 2:11; Mat 3:9, Mat 21:15, Mat 21:16; Mat 27:45, Mat 27:51-54; Pe2 2:6 Luke 19:41”