May 24 2025

Saturday May 24

Luke 19:36-40 – Fulfilling Prophecy Celebration

36 And as He went, many spread their clothes on the road. 37 Then, as He was now drawing near 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 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 called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." 40 But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

Welcome to Pastor's Chat. I prerecorded the chat for today in my office in North Carolina, but today I’m actually in Kingsland, Georgia, celebrating my granddaughter Kaitlyn’s high school graduation. Both this chat and Sunday’s was done there, but I still wanted to share this wonderful passage from Luke chapter 19.

In Luke 19, Jesus sent the disciples to find a colt to ride into Jerusalem. We call this Palm Sunday, marking the last week of Jesus’ ministry before His crucifixion on Friday and resurrection the following Sunday. We will be going through this week in the final chapters of Luke. Jesus is preparing to enter Jerusalem and needs a colt. This is the only place in the New Testament where Jesus allows a celebration of Himself as the Messiah. There are several reasons for this.

First, He’s fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy in Zechariah 9, riding in on a donkey. To us, a donkey might not seem exciting, but in those days, it was a beast used for royalty, for a king to ride into town triumphantly as the crowd celebrated. As Jesus enters Jerusalem, the crowds celebrate Him as the Messiah, shouting, “Hosanna in the highest!” In verse 35, it says, “And as he went, many spread their clothes on the road.” Then, in verse 37, as He was drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen.

Imagine, for three and a half years, Jesus has been healing the sick, raising the dead, giving sight to the blind, feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, preaching the kingdom, and casting out demons. The word has spread, and people are looking for a deliverer, a king to free them from Roman rule. They’re hoping for someone like Moses to lift the Roman oppression. So they praise God, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

It’s interesting—the Gospel of Luke begins with the angel proclaiming, “Peace on earth and goodwill toward men.” Now the people are saying, “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest,” celebrating not only peace on earth but also peace in heaven with the King of glory. Because the King was rejected, there could be no peace on earth. Instead, there would be constant bitter conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of evil (Luke 12:49-53). There would be no peace on earth but, thanks to Christ's work on the cross, there is "peace with God" in heaven (Rom. 5:1; Col. 1:20). The appeal today is, "Be ye reconciled to God!" (2 Cor. 5:17-21)

Some Pharisees in the crowd told Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” But He replied, “I tell you, if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” As He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it—a moment we’ll explore tomorrow. For now, Jesus allows this great celebration as the people proclaim the King has come.

The second reason for this celebration is that Jesus knew it would provoke the Jewish leaders to a point where they could no longer tolerate Him. In verse 47, it says that as He was teaching daily in the temple, the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people sought to destroy Him. They had already tried to stone Him or throw Him off a cliff, but it wasn’t time yet. Now, during Passover week, Jesus, the Passover Lamb, fulfills the Old Testament prophecies. This is why He allows this demonstration, letting the crowd proclaim Him as the Messiah, the King who has come.

God’s timing is always perfect and every prophecy concerning Jesus was fulfilled! Today with faith and great confidence we can believe that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and by believing we have life through His name!

God bless!