Luke 19, Part Two

The triumphant entry into Jerusalem (vs. 28-40)--Here are my thoughts on this event as recorded in Matthew 21:1-11: "Jesus makes His final trip to Jerusalem. He sent His apostles after a donkey and colt, and rode into the city. A great multitude thronged Him and “spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road” (v. 8). They shouted praises to Him as well: “Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!" (v. 9). The word “Hosanna” means “save now,” or “save, we pray.” Jesus' entry into Jerusalem in this manner was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Matthew quotes Zechariah 9:9: “Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (v. 5). Interestingly, some people didn’t know Him (v. 10), but Jesus hadn’t spent much, if any, time in Jerusalem the previous two years."

Luke adds something in verses 39 and 40 that Matthew and Mark do not have. Anytime Jesus was honored by the multitudes, the Pharisees were incensed, so they asked Jesus to "rebuke" His disciples (v. 39). His response was "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out" (v. 40). "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord (Ps. 150:6), and in this case, Jesus says even the stones would do it. We see again here the prejudice of the Pharisees and the ignorance of their own book. As noted, this event was the fulfillment of prophecy. They should have been aware of that and recognized Jesus as their Messiah. But they didn't.

Weeping over Jerusalem (vs. 41-44)--Jerusalem had been God's city for almost 1,000, ever since David conquered it in the 10th century B.C. The people He had done so much for would reject Jesus. Even though the masses were still with Him, most of them, once they learned the true nature of His mission after His resurrection, would not accept Him. This constant, centuries long rebellion against God, with the final act being the crucifixion of the One Who came to redeem mankind, would lead to Jerusalem horrid destruction by the Roman armies in 70 A.D. Jesus references this in verses 43 and 44: "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another." He will go into more detail about this is chapter 21, which is Luke's parallel to Matthew 24 and Mark 13. "The things that make for your peace" (v. 41) was the acceptance of Christ, of course; they would not have been punished had they done so. But they did not know when He "visited" them, though they should have. They had no one to blame but themselves. And if we reject Him, the same is true.

Driving out the profit makers (vs. 45-48)--Jesus did this twice in His ministry. It obviously angered to see the calloused hearts that would make money, greedily, off the religious needs of others. And, for many who came and bought the animals being sold, it was convenient. They didn't have to sacrifice anything they owned; they could just buy what was offered when they arrived at the temple. His anger, and His teaching "daily in the temple" (v. 47), was simply more incentive for “the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders,” who “sought to destroy Him" (v. 47). But again, they were restrained from doing so, "for all the people were very attentive to hear Him" (v. 48). Their time would come, of course, and it would only be a few days in the future.