“Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the LORD! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!”
It is only one word but it holds huge significance. Where does Luke get this word King from? Why does he introduce King into the text? The standard text is “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord.”That is what everyone was shouting because that is the Old Testament reference to the coming Messiah. But Luke inserts “the King” into the text and then John follows him. We will look tomorrow at the passage where Luke got it from. Remember he has taken the time to do a thorough study of the Law the Prophets and the Writings (all three parts of the OT Scriptures) and put it all together.
But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke Your followers for saying things like that!”
I.e. Rebuke your followers for giving the mantle of Messiah to Jesus. Don’t call Him Messiah! How this must have incensed the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.
He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, and encircle you, and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground – you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.“
But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Teacher, rebuke Your followers for saying things like that!”
I.e. Rebuke your followers for giving the mantle of Messiah to Jesus. Don’t call Him Messiah! How this must have incensed the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.
He replied, “If they kept quiet, the stones along the road would burst into cheers!”
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, and encircle you, and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground – you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
Luke 19:39-44
Wow, what an amazing passage! The major focus is Israel missing the appearance of this Coming King. If you, EVEN YOU, had only know on this day (the day of the Triumphal Entry) what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes. What an interesting statement! Then the extension to the thought which adds [these things will happen to you] because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you. What is Luke saying? Where does he get this idea from? We will investigate this in the next Gem as we look at the source. The source is found rooted in the Old Testament.
Note too the secondary theme of the “stones”. If you kept quiet even these stones beside the road will sing out. And if not then judgement will determine that not one stone will be left on another. I.e. the stones will cry out and speak to you in the aftermath of judgement. Then immediately Luke moves into the Cleansing of the Temple story. John takes the story and moves it forward in his gospel but still includes the idea of not one stone left on another – i.e the destruction of the temple. All of these elements and allusions are important to the rabbinical interpretation of Scripture. This is the essence of what happens in the House of Allusion (Beth Midrash).
Luke is staying something huge with all of this and John too has picked up on it. Continuing story in the next Gem as we investigate the source in the Old Testament.
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened ☺
Dr.Seuss
I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow. (It’s all about teamwork – Sidney Mohede)
Woodrow Wilson
I got a job at a zoo feeding giraffes, but I was fired because I wasn’t up to it.