After he had said this, he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. 29 As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. 30 He said, “Go into the village opposite you, and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 And if anyone should ask you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you will answer, ‘The Master has need of it.’” 32 So those who had been sent went off and found everything just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying this colt?” 34 They answered, “The Master has need of it.” 35 So they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks over the colt, and helped Jesus to mount. 36 As he rode along, the people were spreading their cloaks on the road; 37 and now as he was approaching the slope of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to praise God aloud with joy for all the mighty deeds they had seen. 38 They proclaimed: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”
Jesus was completing his journey back to Jerusalem and back to his Father that began in Luke 9:51. After his Passion, death, resurrection and ascension, his disciples would finally come to understand all that he tried to teach them. We were previously told of Jesus’ coming passion (exodus) in the Transfiguration (Lk. 9:28-36) when, “Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem (Lk. 9:30-31).” Jesus has foreknowledge of the events that were about to take place (vv. 29-30), knew his Father’s plan, and willingly obeyed. His followers at that point obeyed his instructions without fear of reprisal from the religious leaders (vv. 31-34). A cloak was the most expensive garment that people possessed, and Luke used the cloak instead of palms to indicate the esteem to which Jesus was held by his disciples.
When they approached the Mount of Olives, the place from which Jesus ascended to Heaven (Acts 1:9-12), the crowd praised God for the “mighty deeds (v. 37)” that Jesus had done as foretold by the prophet Isaiah and read by Jesus in the Temple (Is. 61. 1-2; Lk. 4:18-19). The crowd chanted from the Psalms, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Ps. 118:26)” and Luke combined that (v. 38) with Mark’s version, “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest (Mk. 11:10)” and proclaimed the kingship of Jesus.
The Pharisees wanted Jesus to order his disciples to stop praising God for the wonders his Father had done through him, but Jesus responded with another quote from the OT, “For the stone in the wall shall cry out, and the beam in the frame shall answer it (Hab. 2:11)!" If the disciples were to keep quiet about the truth of Jesus’ ministry, then the stones, which represented God’s defense against injustices, would testify on his behalf.
Almighty God, give us ears to hear the truth of your Word and well-trained tongues that we might boldly speak your Word. Give us hearts that are strong which will not be stirred and most of all a mind to understand what Jesus did for us on the Cross. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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