Study 43. Luke 19:28-40. 12/1/24

 Jesus travels westward from Jericho, reaches Bethany at the eastward slopes of the Mount of Olives (2 miles from Jerusalem, Jn 11:18), and along the road to Jerusalem reaches a lookout point.

 

As in 22:13 Jesus either displays divine foreknowledge or prearrangement that His disciples were unaware of until called on to obey. So it is with our response to the Lord. We trust that He knows and has made arrangements that we do not see.

 

A colt never previously ridden was thus unspoiled by previous use and was suitable for sacred purposes (cf. Num. 19:2; 1 Sam. 6:7). Jesus adds the password to be used if anyone hinders them: The Lord has need of it.

The disciples obeyed instructions and the colt’s owners responded to the information that the Lord needed the animal. The plural, its owners, may point to poverty. Even so small an animal was shared. Matthew 21:3 mentions both a donkey and the colt. Luke only mentions the colt, on which Jesus was to ride.

Luke says nothing about the spreading of branches as well, though all the other Evangelists mention this (John says they were palm branches). (Morris)

 

13. Read Zechariah 9:9-13. What was Jesus proclaiming about Himself by the way He entered Jerusalem. (19:35-36)

 There is an audacity about this whole procedure. The authorities were hostile and had already given an instruction that anyone who knew where Jesus was should inform them so that he could be arrested (John 11:57).(Morris)

1. Jesus was proclaiming His prophesied kingship. 

2. This kingship was not one founded on worldly power, but on humility. It is consistent with the way He came and the way he would die.

The ass was the mount of a man of peace, a merchant or a priest. A king might ride on an ass on occasion, but he would be more likely to appear on a mighty warhorse. (Morris)

 

 

14. How did the Pharisees feel about the crowd treating Jesus like the Messiah (19:39)?

All four Evangelists tell us that the crowd cried "Blessed and he who comes in the name of the Lord" (cf. Ps. 118:26), but only Luke and John that they called Jesus the King (John adds ‘of Israel’). Mark refers to the kingdom but not the King. But, expressed or not, this is implied.(Morris)

 

They objected to this identification and expected a true rabbi to have the integrity to speak against what was to them obviously untrue. There was an implicit rebuke of Jesus. 

In their view, the crowd was certainly wrong. Their lack of any doubt was however totally incorrect.

 

15. How did Jesus respond to being acclaimed Messiah (19:40)?

 He emphasised the appropriateness of this identification in the strongest terms.

Even flawed worship (because of incomplete understanding) was necessary at that time.

 

 

16 a. What was hidden from Jerusalem's people that would have brought them peace' (19:42)?

 The identity of their visiting Messiah (cf. 2:14). They celebrated his coming, but did not recognise his person. 

There is an ignorance that is innocent, but there is also an ignorance that is culpable

There is irony here for the name ‘Jerusalem’ has ‘peace’ as part of its meaning (cf. Heb. 7:2). (Morris)

b. How would it have brought them peace?

 If they had believed Jesus' message and received Him as their true Messiah they would have both avoided judgment and received spiritual peace despite the Roman occupation.

The

 

 

How did Jesus feel about Jerusalem's well-deserved destruction (19:41)?

He mourned. cf. Lam 3:33 for "he does not afflict from his heart  or grieve the children of men."

In a sense, the failure of the people was ordained (or else how would the Messiah die?), but it was nevertheless a wilful rejection that merited punishment.