Luke 19:28-44

In these verses, Luke tells the same story that John told in John 12 that we looked at yesterday. Even though they both tell the same story, they differ slightly, as does any story when told by two different people. John tells us of how the disciples didn’t understand what was happening when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem; Luke doesn’t mention that, but then John was one of the disciples and was in a position to know what they were all thinking; Luke wasn’t there. Yet Luke is able to show us why the Pharisees were so concerned.

Let’s go back to Jesus entering Jerusalem; He’s on the donkey colt, the people are shouting and waving their branches when you can hear rising up from the crowd:

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (19:38)

Do you see the problem?

“Blessed is the king who comes…”

The Romans are not going to like that, and the Pharisees have good reason to fear their reaction. Let’s be honest, and once again, fair about the Pharisees; they might be religious jerks who were overly impressed with themselves and all that. You might not like them very much, but they weren’t stupid! I described their political situation yesterday; it was a very real danger for everybody in Jerusalem, so they said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

Looking at the situation from their point of view, I can’t say that I blame them for this. Jesus was having none of it, however. His reply to their request is classic Jesus, whose agenda is so far removed from what everyone else expects…

“I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (19:40)

The whole of Creation had been waiting for the day to come when the Messiah would ride into God’s Holy City, and that glorious day had finally arrived; this was not the sort of thing that could be hushed up!

Everybody knew when the Messiah was to come, the prophet Daniel had given them a timeline for His coming, and that’s why the Gospels are full of speculations about His coming, and of all people, the Pharisees would have known better than anyone, but there was a problem in all of this. The problem of course, was one of theological understanding, for their understanding of the Kingdom of God was based upon a false premise.

For the three years leading up to this climactic moment, Jesus had traveled the countryside preaching the Kingdom. Before that, John the Baptist had prepared His way. Jesus was the very embodiment of the Kingdom of God, and where ever he went, He preached the Kingdom, healed the sick, made the lame walk, restored sight to the blind, chased out demons… and made the authorities nervous. No one had ever taught as He taught, no one had ever done the things that He had done, and it would seem that no one quite comprehended what He was doing. Luke gives us a clue in the verses that follow, and we’ll have a look at them in the next post…