Luke 19:40

‘And he answered and said, “I tell you that, if these hold their peace, the stones will cry out.” '

Jesus' reply was simple and striking. If these men held their peace, the very stones would be constrained to cry out. It was an indication that there was One here Whom creation recognised (compare how the storm obeyed His word - Luke 8:24 - and how the unbroken ass's colt obeyed His will and retained its calm amidst the maddened crowd). We can compare with this Luke 3:8 where John declared that if need be God could raise up from the stones children to Abraham. There is the same general idea. What is happening is of God, and if necessary God could supplement it through a new work of creation using the very stones of the ground.

Alternately Jesus may have had in mind Habakkuk 2:11 where the stones would cry out against what was shameful, indicating that it would indeed be shameful if the people did not cry out to welcome Him.

But in view of what immediately follows it is probable that there is also an indirect reference to when the stones will cry out as they are left in a tangled mess after the destruction of the Temple (Luke 21:6). His words were thus another parable from which each was to read what they would, and which would have deeper meaning in the future.