Luke 19:28–48
28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”
47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.
Section Overview
The trip to Jerusalem is now nearly completed, and in these verses Jesus enters the city. He sends two of his disciples into the city to fetch a colt on which no one has ever sat. Any objections to the proposal would be satisfied when the objectors hear that the Lord has need of the colt. The plan takes place just as Jesus has indicated. He sits on the colt, and people lay their garments in the road. People begin to praise God for all his mighty works as Jesus rides into Jerusalem, calling out blessing for the King coming in God’s name. They rejoice because of peace in heaven and exclaim, “Glory in the highest!” The Pharisees are offended by what is happening, asking Jesus to reprove his followers. But he replies that the stones would cry out if his disciples fell silent. Upon seeing Jerusalem, he weeps over the city because it has rejected the way of peace. A day of destruction is coming on which the city will be razed and completely destroyed—all because its people do not know or acknowledge that the Lord has visited them in Jesus. When Jesus enters the temple, he drives out those selling items since they have turned a house of prayer into a marketplace. Jesus continues to teach in the temple, and religious and political authorities seek to destroy him, but the people side with him and hang on his every word.
Section Outline
V. Death and Resurrection in Jerusalem (19:28–24:53)
A. Entrance into Jerusalem (19:28–48)
Response
Jesus is King, but he is not the king the people expect, as he does not immediately destroy Israel’s enemies and vindicate his people. Instead of coming into the city on a war horse, he comes on a colt as the King of peace. Many do not recognize him as their King because this fulfillment of prophecy is contrary to their expectations. We can make the same mistake. We may expect our lives to turn out a certain way. We may have a plan we think God will fulfill, and if things do not turn out the way we expect we may question his faithfulness. But we must remember that Jesus brings peace to the world through suffering, that he is a King who fulfills prophecies in a way no one had anticipated. In that sense Jesus’ kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36). Our call is to put our trust in God, even when we do not understand fully what is happening, trusting that he will bring to pass all that he has promised.
19:28–34 The final trip to Jerusalem is about to commence, and the journey undertaken and begun in 9:51 will be concluded. Jerusalem is the place at which the prophecies and predictions about Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection will be fulfilled. From the villages of Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sends two disciples ahead of him. As they enter the city, they will find a colt tied there. We are not told if Jesus has made prior arrangements or if he knows this by virtue of his divine nature. The colt has never been ridden by anyone, and Jesus asks the disciples to untie the colt and bring it to him. The fact that no one else had sat on the donkey shows it to be fit for a king. The prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 is about to be fulfilled:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Jesus rides into Jerusalem not on a war horse to judge (cf. Rev. 19:11) but on a donkey, indicating that he is a gentle and humble King (cf. 1 Kings 1:38). He has come (Zech. 14:4, 9, 16) from the Mount of Olives as the King to rescue his people, but the city as a whole does not acclaim him as such.
Jesus also anticipates people’s questioning the disciples for untying the donkey, but they are instructed to say that the Lord needs the colt. The disciples discover that everything is just as Jesus said it would be (cf. Luke 22:13), which confirms that everything is happening according to the divine plan. When the owners of the colt question the disciples for untying the colt, the disciples say that the Lord needs the colt, and they permit the disciples to take it.
19:35–40 When the colt is brought to Jesus, his disciples throws their cloak onto it and place Jesus on its back, enthroning him as the King prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 (cf. 1 Kings 1:33). At the same time they place their cloaks in the road as Jesus enters Jerusalem (cf. 2 Kings 9:13) in order to celebrate him as their ruler. Jesus as the Messiah is coming to the city of David. As he descends the Mount of Olives, the disciples voice loud praise to God for all of Jesus’ works of power, because his miracles have testified to his status (cf. Luke 2:13, 20). The messianic nature of the celebration is clear in 19:38, in which they herald Jesus as the King coming in the Lord’s name. This is an allusion to Psalm 118:26, which celebrates the victory of the King over his enemies, as those who come in the Lord’s name are blessed. The King returns to the temple in victory and with praise for the Lord’s deliverance.
We should note that not all of the people are rejoicing, only Jesus’ disciples. The coming of the Messiah to the capital city signifies peace in heaven and glory and praise to God in the highest (cf. Luke 2:14). When kings and dignitaries visit cities they are welcomed, and we see the disciples welcoming Jesus—but the leaders do not receive their King. Some of the Pharisees, failing to see God’s work, instruct Jesus to rebuke his disciples because they reject the notion that Jesus is the Messiah. Anything suggesting such an idea is wrong in their minds. But Jesus in turn rebukes the Pharisees, saying that the stones would cry out in praise if the disciples were silent.
19:41–44 As the King enters the city, he weeps over the tragedy of Jerusalem’s rejection of his messianic claim (cf. Jer. 9:1). The people of the “city of peace” could have known the things that bring peace; they could have embraced the “Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6), the one who will bring everlasting peace (Isa. 9:7). In the days of the Messiah, “peace” will “abound” (Ps. 72:7). He proclaims the good news of peace, the news of God’s reign (Isa. 52:7). But Israel on the whole, and Jerusalem in particular, has rejected such a message. The people do not know the things of peace because they do not know the one who brings peace. As a consequence, they now face judgment; God is hiding the truth from them because they have already rejected it (cf. Luke 8:10; 10:21; Isa. 6:9; Rom. 11:8, 10).
Instead of peace, Jerusalem will face war (cf. Luke 13:34). Enemies will descend upon the city and besiege it, offering no means of escape. Jesus clearly predicts here the destruction of the city in AD 70 (cf. 21:20–24; 23:28–30). The city will be leveled to the ground; the devastation will be so complete that no stone will be left upon another (cf. 21:6), though the language here is clearly hyperbolic. Children will not escape but will experience the consequences of their parents’ sins. Jerusalem is being judged because it does not “know the time of [its] visitation.” Visitation in the OT can signify God’s deliverance and help (Gen. 50:24, 25; Ex. 3:16; 13:19) or his judgment (Isa. 10:3; 24:22; Jer. 6:15; Ezek. 7:22). The visitation here is actually positive (cf. Luke 1:68), for Jesus as God’s Christ brings peace, good news, and the kingdom. But since Jerusalem does not acknowledge him but instead rejects him, the citizens will face judgment.
19:45–48 Jesus arrives in the temple, fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi 3:1–2:
This coming is a moment not of celebration but of judgment, for things at the temple are not as they should be. The past sins of Israel in the temple have been repeated by a new generation (Jer. 7:1–15; Ezek. 8:1–18). Luke’s account of Jesus’ coming to the temple is brief, as the Lord comes to drive out those buying and selling. The temple has become a place of financial profit instead of meeting with God in a place devoted to prayer (cf. Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11). Perhaps the cleansing of the temple anticipates its destruction that Jesus predicts (Luke 21:5–6); if so, this cleansing is a prophetic action symbolizing the temple’s destruction.
Jesus continues teaching the people until the end, instructing them in the temple (cf. 13:10; 20:1; 21:37; 22:53). But the people of influence are determined to do away with him—the chief priests, the scribes, and those with political heft (cf. 20:19; 22:2). Yet the leaders are stymied, as the people have a very different view of Jesus and hang on every word he says. The people by their attention to Jesus’ teaching show their spiritual perception to be far greater than that of those who are supposed to be leading Israel. Jesus has come to his temple, and it is clear that his opponents will not be able to endure the day of his coming.