Luke 19:28-48
New Catholic Bible
The Activity of Jesus at Jerusalem[a]
28 Jesus Enters Jerusalem as the Messiah.[b] After he had said this, Jesus 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 off two of the disciples, saying, 30 “Go into the village directly ahead, and upon entering it, you will find tied there a colt on which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ simply say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”
32 The two disciples who had been sent went off and found everything just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They answered, “The Lord needs it.”
35 Then they brought the colt to Jesus, and after spreading their cloaks over the colt, they helped Jesus to mount it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 And when he approached the downward path of the Mount of Olives, the entire multitude of his disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen him perform, 38 proclaiming:
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest heavens.”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out.”
41 The Lament over Jerusalem.[c] As Jesus drew near and beheld the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “If only you had recognized on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your sight. 43 Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will raise up fortifications all around you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will smash you to the ground, you and your children with you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
45 Jesus Cleanses the Temple.[d] Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were engaging in selling, 46 saying to them, “It is written,
‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’
but you have made it a den of thieves.”
47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people plotted to kill him. 48 However, they were unable to do so because all the people hung on his every word.
Footnotes
- Luke 19:28 The Messiah reaches Jerusalem, where he is to complete God’s plan. His encounter with the city is a powerful one, but will end in his rejection. The plan of God will nonetheless be carried out in a way different from human expectations: in suffering, Death, and Resurrection, in the Paschal Mystery.
- Luke 19:28 By accepting the acclamations of his many disciples, Jesus proclaims himself to be the Messiah, the king, the son of David, whom Israel has awaited. The scene seems to be a repetition of the ceremony of Solomon’s proclamation and consecration (see 1 Ki 1:33-40). The surprising thing is the modest circumstances: the colt is the mount of the poor, the mount of the ancient period of nomadism. The Old Testament imagined various scenarios for the coming of the Messiah; they were all glorious, except for one, that of Zechariah (9:9).
- Luke 19:41 Luke alone records the incident of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem—here and in Lk 13:34, although Mt 23:21 does show Jesus grieving over it. The method mentioned by which Israel’s enemies will conquer and level Jerusalem is precisely the one used by the Romans in A.D. 70.
- Luke 19:45 Jesus demands respect for the temple and installs himself in it to proclaim the message of God. It is thus that he conceives and exercises the royal authority of the Messiah. Like the Prophets, he refuses to allow religion to deteriorate into a business affair.
