Luke's account of Jesus' passion highlights Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and His teaching there before His arrest.
Luke did not record Jesus' actual entrance into the city of Jerusalem. He stressed Jesus' approach to Jerusalem and His lamentation over it (vv. 41-44). This presentation has the effect of eliminating the triumphant spirit of Jesus' coming and replacing it with sadness over Jesus' rejection.
Until now, Jesus typically discouraged people from proclaiming that He was the Messiah. Now He not only allowed people to identify Him as such but encouraged them to do so. The time of His official presentation to Israel as her Messiah had come.
"Everything He did over the course of these days was designed to call attention to the fact that He is the Messiah."439
19:28 This is another of Luke's geographical markers that note Jesus' progress toward his goal, Jerusalem. He travelled west from Jericho, up the Judean wilderness, and toward Bethany. He walked in front of His followers leading them to the Cross.
19:29-30 Luke located what happened for his readers' benefit. Probably Mark and Luke mentioned Bethany because it was a better known town than Bethphage, though Bethany was slightly farther east.440Bethphage was "the village opposite"or "ahead"(Matt. 21:1). The mention of Mt. Olivet recalls the prophecy of Messiah's coming there (Zech. 14:4). The preparations to enter Jerusalem riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey, were to fulfill Zechariah 9:9-10. The disciples were to borrow or rent this animal for Jesus to ride on. Evidently such animals were available to assist travelers.441However this colt was tied up (cf. Gen. 49:11), and no one had ridden it previously (cf. Num. 19:2; Deut. 21:3; 1 Sam. 6:7; 2 Sam. 6:3). When a royal or sacred person rode on such an animal, its owners did not normally put it to customary use from then on.442
19:31 The term "Lord"probably refers to Jesus as the person the owner knew needed the colt, but Jesus was the real owner of it since He owns everything. Thus Luke's wording, as well as Matthew's and Mark's, conveyed Jesus' sovereign authority to his readers.
19:32-34 This record shows that things turned out just as Jesus led the disciples to believe they would. This would have strengthened the disciples' confidence in Jesus as they entered Jerusalem, and it helps the reader appreciate the reliability of all that Jesus predicted. Probably Jesus had previously arranged for the use of the colt. However the evangelists told the story to stress Jesus' knowledge of things to come.
19:35-36 Jesus sat on the colt, but its mother also accompanied it (Matt. 21:7). The disciples honored Jesus by using their outer garments to make a saddle for Him (cf. 1 Kings 1:33). The people who laid their garments down for the colt to walk on were the many people who accompanied Jesus (Matt. 21:8: Mark, 11:7). However, Luke stressed the disciples' part in this act of homage (cf. 2 Kings 9:13). Luke simplified the scene by omitting reference to the branches that others laid in the road before the colt (Matt. 21:37; Mark 11:8).
19:37 Luke alone specified that Jesus descended from the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem. He may have done so to associate Jesus with the prophecy of Messiah standing on that mountain (Zech. 14:4). However this was not a fulfillment of that prophecy. Fulfillment will come at the Second Coming. Jesus had predicted His entrance into Jerusalem (13:35). Perhaps Luke pictured Jesus descending toward Jerusalem as stage setting for His weeping over the city (vv. 42-44).
Luke continued to focus the readers' attention on the disciples' role whereas the other evangelists included the whole crowd. Obviously Luke wanted us to appreciate the part the disciples played in Jesus' glorification here (cf. 2:13, 20; 19:37; Acts 2:47; 3:8-9). Perhaps he viewed it as a preview of our participation in His second coming. He alone noted the disciples' reference to having observed Jesus' miracles (Gr. dynameon, evidences of spiritual power).
19:38 Luke omitted "Hosanna"from the disciples' praise. His Greek readers probably would not have understood it. The repetition of Psalm 118:26 from 13:35 points to one fulfillment of that messianic prophecy here. There will be another fulfillment at the Second Coming.443Luke noted that the King rather than the kingdom (Mark 11:10) was the focus of the disciples' praise. The kingdom was not yet to appear (v. 11), but the King was at hand.
The words "peace in heaven and glory in the highest"recall 2:14 where the angels expressed similar words in praise to God for providing a Savior. However there they thanked Him for peace on earth, not peace in heaven. Probably the disciples were honoring God as the author of peace as He is the source of glory in the highest (i.e., in heaven).
19:39 Some of the Pharisees did not like the disciples using messianic terminology of Jesus and suggesting that He fulfilled messianic prophecy (cf. Matt. 21:14-16). They asked Jesus to silence them. Obviously they thought He would agree that they were going too far. This verse occurs only in this Gospel. It provides a background for Jesus' strong statement in the next verse.
"The story strongly emphasizes the tension between the scribes-Pharisees and Jesus. Study of the references to scribes and Pharisees in Luke up through 19:39-40 (where Pharisees last appear in the gospel, although scribes will continue to play a role) shows that these groups are mentioned almost entirely in pronouncement stories or similar scenes in which they interact with Jesus by objecting, posing a testing inquiry, or taking a position which Jesus corrects. The only exceptions are the statements about Pharisees and scribes in 7:30, 9:22, and 12:1.:444
19:40 However, Jesus refused to silence the disciples. They spoke the truth. The figure of stones crying out (personification) stresses the appropriateness of the disciples crying out. If the disciples kept silence, the stones would need to declare who Jesus was instead of them. This clear messianic claim is unique to Luke. It shows the blatant rejection of Israel's leaders in the face of indisputable evidence that Jesus was the Messiah.
"All history had pointed toward this single, spectacular event when the Messiah publicly presented Himself to the nation, and God desired that this fact be acknowledged."445
The Triumphal Entry is only the second incident in Jesus' ministry that all four evangelists recorded, the first being the feeding of the 5,000. This indicates its great importance in God's messianic program.
This is a transitional section that bridges Jesus' approach to the city and His teaching in it. Luke first recorded Jesus' weeping over the city from outside its walls because He knew what lay before its people. Then the writer wrote of Jesus cleansing the temple and teaching there.
Luke presented Jesus' teachings in the temple as beginning with opposition from the religious leaders and leading on to Jesus' condemnation of them. He evidently wanted to highlight the reasons for God's passing over Israel and working with Gentiles equally in the present era. All of what follows in this section happened on Wednesday of "passion week."
The emphasis in Luke's version of this important discourse concerning the future, the Olivet Discourse, is a warning and an encouragement to persevere. Jesus gave this teaching so His disciples would be ready for the coming of the kingdom (cf. vv. 34-36). Remember that the Rapture is not in view in the Olivet Discourse. However this teaching is applicable to Christians who also anticipate Jesus' return for us at the Rapture. Luke had already reported much teaching about the future (12:35-48; 17:20-37). However some lessons bore repetition, such as the place of signs in signaling the end and the importance of faithful perseverance. There is also new revelation. Particularly the relationship of the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem to Jesus' return was not clear before. Jesus now clarified that these events would not occur together, but some time would elapse between them.
This summary is unique to Luke's Gospel. The writer included it to round off this phase of Jesus' ministry. During the passion week Jesus spent His days teaching in the temple area, probably Tuesday through Thursday. He must have presented Himself as the God-man and called on His hearers to believe on Him. At night He would go out to Mt. Olivet, probably with the Twelve, to pray and sleep. He may have stayed with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in their Bethany home, which stood on the mount (cf. Matt. 21:17). Possibly He slept out of doors, perhaps in the garden of Gethsemane. There were multitudes of pilgrims in Jerusalem at Passover time, and many of them slept in the open air.
Again Luke mentioned the eagerness of the people generally (Gr. laos) to hear Him (cf. 4:14-15, 22, 32, 37, 42; 5:19, 26, 29). Their response contrasted with that of the crowds (Gr. ochloi), who pressed Jesus to receive something from Him, and the nation's leaders, who listened to Him only to do Him harm. Perhaps Luke noted the people's eager responsiveness to the gospel to encourage his readers in their evangelism.
