NL 336: Triumphant Entry - Luke 19:29-44

image: “Palm Sunday Dance Vanuatu” by Jim (flickr) At Pakarua Presbyterian the youth celebrate Palm Sunday in a traditional dance. "The people gave him a wonderful welcome ..." (Mark 11:8 The Message)

March 28, 2021

Luke 19:28-44

Initial Thoughts

  • The Narrative Lectionary adds vs. 41-44

Bible Study

  • Same setup 

    • Disciples heavily involved

    • Secure the colt

    • Place Jesus on the colt

    • Called him the King

    • No general crowds - named specifically disciples

      • As opposed to John, where crowds were there because of Lazarus and Matthew’s crowds there because it is Passover.

      • “His disciples did not fully understand his messiahship, to be sure, but neither are they person who sing praise and scream death in the same week. The portrait of such a fickle crowd must come from some account other than Luke’s.” (Fred Craddock, Interpretation: Luke,  p. 227).

    • In Mark: 

      • Jesus enters Jerusalem on the colt no one has ridden. 

      • People cheer “Hosanna Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David. Hosanna in the highest.” 

      • Goes to Temple, goes home because it was late, and returns to Bethany. 

      • Comes back next day he curses the fig tree and clears the Temple.”

    • In Luke:

      • Jesus enters Jerusalem on the colt no one has ridden (in Matthew it is a donkey and a colt.)

      • People cheer “Blessings on the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens.”

      • Pharisees tell people to be quiet.

      • Jesus weeps and predicts Jerusalem’s destruction.

      • Enters the Temple, throws people out.

  • Differences

    • No Palms. Not even cut branches on the road.

    • No Hosanna.

    • According to Fred Craddock, these are symbols of nationalism. They are intentionally left out of Luke’s story. The “King” to whom they refer is a call for peace, not a call for rebellion. 

      • In Luke especially, the King is associated with peace. Think back to Jesus’ birth. Jesus is worshiped as King, but deeply connected with the heavenly host's promise “Peace on earth.”

  • Colt

  • Wild horse - uncastrated, never ridden. Colt or donkey? Only Matthew says donkey.

    • Never ridden - typical for sacred events.

    • Colt is a name for a young donkey or a young horse. Matthew says it is a donkey and a horse, but John points back to Zechariah 9:9 which tells of a king coming "humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." 

    • Jesus behaving like a King

      • The Colt that “no one has ridden” is a Kingly prerogative. 

      • Disciples are to go and “obtain” a horse. They follow without question.

      • If they are pressed, they are to exercise his authority.

      • Disciples are asked to make a great act of faith on behalf of Jesus’ authority.

    • Mike Baughman has another interesting take on the “colt that no one has ridden”

      • An unridden colt would be unneutered and untrained. Riding and unbroken colt would be a dangerous task, and the exact opposite of what a conqueror would ride - a trained and seasoned war horse.

      • Jesus coming to Jerusalem in a new way - with a new ride. He is bringing in an untamed, unknown way of doing things.

  • There seems to be some foreknowledge. 

    • Did Jesus set it up beforehand? 

    • Did a disciple own the horse?

    • Divine foreknowledge?

    • This has been dismissed as Jesus having made “the necessary arrangements. This probably misses the point of the story, which is precisely to indicate that the events about to take place in Jerusalem are not the result of change but are part of a larger and mysterious plan...He is a strange king who conquers by means of suffering and apparent defeat” Justo Gonzalez, Luke, p. 225

  • Zechariah 9

    • Messianic age of peace

    • God will overthrow the oppressive nations

    • All will dwell in peace

    • eschatological proclamation which “breaks” the militarism of human nations and will “speak peace to the nations”

    • Not a foretelling the coming of Jesus but the coming of a divine kingdom (on earth as it is in Heaven) ruled by God not by human interests

      • Mighty will be brought low and the low will be exalted- for the purpose of liberation and peace

      • What does God want? Zech. 8:16-17 “Speak the truth to each other; make truthful, just, and peaceable decisions within your gates.Don't plan evil for each other. Don't adore swearing falsely

  • Procession

    • Parody of a conqueror entering the city in a display of power

      • Roman generals returning from victories would be celebrated with a triumphus, a grand procession in which the victor, crowned with laurels, would ride a chariot pulled by white horses and go to the temple to offer sacrifices. The spoils from his victory would be displayed in the procession and along the way the crowds would sing hymns and shout acclamations to the victor.

      • This practice even redacted Rome, when Alexander the Great conquered Jerusalem, entered in triumph and offered sacrifices at the Temple.

      • The parodies are clear - he is riding a donkey, not a chariot. He will be crowned with thorns, not laurels, he will weep over Jerusalem, not celebrate it, and he will drive out the oppressive sacrificial system in the temple, not participate in it.

    • How does Jesus show his power? (James O’Duke,  Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide.)

      • “Lordship, indeed even messianic lordship, is here defined in terms of servanthood. Gentleness, humility, peaceableness, mercy, and self-giving acts of generosity and compassion are marks of God's domain.”

      • Jesus is not aligned with any political party- then or NOW

        • Jesus is not a republican or a democrat (or an American for that matter)

        • Jesus is challenging the political and social state of the world

    • Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week

      • Two Processions: Pilate from Jaffa Gate and Jesus from Galilee

      • Kingdom of God vs Empire of Rome

      • The stage is set for the week

  • Multitude of the disciples not Crowds

    • These are not the nameless crowds but the disciples - the students - of Jesus

    • Palm Sunday is often focused only on Jesus, but it is a very communal event

    • Disciples get the donkey

    • Donkey is donated

    • Crowds chant and gather

    • Crowds lay cloaks on the ground. “To greet a king” (see 2 Kings 9:13)

    • Crowds proclaim who Jesus is...kind of

      • prophet from Nazareth in Galilee (not the Son of God)

    • “For peace and reconciliation become possible when common folk with uncommon courage oppose exclusionary practices and policies and together stand with "the one who comes in the name of the Lord" [v. 38]. History is replete with the stories of common folk who have recognized that we are able to accomplish more together than we can alone; stories that we might reclaim and rehearse as we continue our Lenten journey. They include the women and men who provided safe passage on the Underground Railroad for persons seeking freedom from chattel slavery in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. Remember also Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others in the Confessing Church in the 1930s, who took a definitive stance that their loyalty was to Jesus as Lord, not to Hitler and the Nazis. Youths in South Africa stood against apartheid and formed the African National Congress Youth League in 1944 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, envisioning a world in which racial domination would no longer exist.” Veronice Miles, Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide

    • “Acting on  behalf of freedom is a dangerous undertaking. The more visible Martin Luther King Jr. became, the more crowds he attracted. The more the crowds lauded him, the more the enemy pursued him”...(other examples include Malcolm X and Nelson Mandela)...”Fighting for freedom is a dangerous endeavor. These men realized it. Jesus realized it. Nonetheless, the fight for freedom must continue despite its cost. That is the message behind Luke’s portrayal of Jesus’ ministry.” Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, True to Our Native Land, p.179

  • Objection by the Pharisees

  • “While not supporting the Zealots, they valued the measure of religious and political freedom Israel had, and sought to prevent anything that could arouse the ire of Rome.” Justo Gonzalez, Luke, p.227

  • Unknown motivation, but it fits with their previous action (in Luke 13:31) that they wish Jesus to preserve his own life.

  • They fear reprisal.

    • Selfish - because they fear greater wrath will come down, possibly even unsettling their position.

    • Care for Jesus - misunderstand his mission, and wish only for him to play it safe and survive.

  • “That stones would shout is, of course, a figure of speech, but the expression does remind us that in biblical understanding, the creation is involved in events that we tend to think affect humans alone” (Craddock, p. 228)

  • Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, again

    • Adds a somber note to the triumphal celebration that usually mark Palm Sunday worship

    • Perhaps exposes another paradox - Jesus is lauded as King, yet has no interest in establishing a political Kingdom

    • “You will not recognize the things that make for peace.” - The Pharisees and other Jewish leaders have accepted the Pax Romana - a false peace which maintains the status quo of a few being lifted up at the expense of the many. Jesus offers a new peace- a just peace - in which all people are celebrated as equally beloved and cared for children of God.

      • “[The religious leaders] are so afraid of what Rome might do that they cannot see what God is doing.” Gonzalez, p. 227

Thoughts and Questions

  • Difficult to faithfully separate the entry into Jerusalem from going into the Temple - especially since in Luke it all happens in one day. 

    • Luke’s understanding of clearing the Temple is not directly connected to the plot for his death nor is it directly tied to its destruction. They seem to take umbrage with the fact that he set up his own operations there. 

  • Pharisees want to silence the people from rocking the boat. Who wants to silence us? The disciples were making so much noise that the leaders wanted to keep thing quiet.They feared reprisal. It is important to wonder - who is fearful of us? This is not to say we must be loud just for the sake of being loud, but if no one hears our churches, our preaching, our service, what’s the point? If we are doing things that upset the status quo, there will be retaliation.

  • Palm Sunday - if you want to call it that - doesn’t happen with Jesus alone. It happens because the disciples are faithful. They carry out Jesus’ orders, but they also help him - literally - carry out the plan. They get the horse. They put him on it. They cheer him when he enters. They praise him “for all the great things they have seen.” They might not completely get it, but they know they have seen something special. They cheer for this King - not because he is going to come and conquer - but because he will usher in peace. Some wish they would just be quiet, but in the end, they cannot be silenced.

Year 3Eric FistlerLukeComment