Replies

From: Luke 19:28-40 (At the Procession with Palms)

The Messiah enters the Holy City

[28] And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. [29]
When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet,
he sent two of the disciples, [30] saying, “Go into the village opposite, where on
entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and
bring it here. [31] If any one asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say
this, ‘The Lord has need of it.’” [32] So those who were sent went away and found
it as he had told them. [33] And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to
them, “Why are you untying the colt?” [34] And they said, “The Lord has need of
it.” [35] And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt they
set Jesus upon it. [36] And as he rode along, they spread their garments on the
road. [37] As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the
whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice
for all the mighty works that they had seen, [38] saying, “Blessed is the King who
comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” [39]
And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your di-
sciples.” [40] He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would
cry out.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

28. Normally in the Gospels when there is mention of going to the Holy City it is
in terms of “going up” to Jerusalem (cf. Mt 20:18; Jn 7:8), probably because geo-
graphically the city is located on Mount Zion. Besides, since the temple was the
religious and political centre, going up to Jerusalem had also a sacred meaning
of ascending to the holy place, where sacrifices were offered to God.

Particularly in the Gospel of St Luke, our Lord’s whole life is seen in terms of a
continuous ascent towards Jerusalem, where his self-surrender reaches its high
point in the redemptive sacrifice of the cross. Here Jesus is on the point of ente-
ring the city, conscious of the fact that his passion and death are imminent.

30-35. Jesus makes use of a donkey for his entry into Jerusalem, thereby fulfil-
ling an ancient prophecy: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O
daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is
he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass” (Zech 9:9).

The people, and particularly the Pharisees, were quite aware of this prophecy.
Therefore, despite its simplicity of form, there was a certain solemnity about the
whole episode which impressed those present, stirring the hearts of the people
and irritating the Pharisees. By fulfilling the prophecy our Lord was showing eve-
ryone that he was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. Other aspects
of this episode are commented on in connexion with Mk 11:3.

38. Christ is greeted with the prophetic words referring to the enthronement of the
Messiah, contained in Psalm 118:26: “Blessed be he who enters in the name of
the Lord!” But the people also acclaim him as king. This is a great messianic
demonstration, which infuriates the Pharisees. One of the acclamations, “Peace
in heaven and glory in the highest”, echoes the announcement made by the an-
gel to the shepherds on Christmas night (cf. Lk 2:14).

40. To the reproaches of the Pharisees, who are scandalized by the people’s
shouts, our Lord replies in a phrase which sounds like a proverb: so obvious is
his messiahship that if men refused to recognize it nature would proclaim it. In
fact, when his friends were cowed on the hill of Calvary the earth trembled and
the rocks split (cf. Mt 27:51). At other times our Lord imposed silence on those
who want to proclaim him King or Messiah, but now he adopts a different atti-
tude: the moment has come for his dignity and his mission to be made public.

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.