Introduction: Luke 19:28 starts out “After Jesus had said this.” What
had Jesus had just said? The story we studied two weeks ago about the
servants, the minas and executions! Recall that Jesus rewarded those
who were diligent, and even gave the fellow with the most wealth the
mina of the lazy servant! Then the king’s enemies were killed. It
was not a typical Jesus’ story, but it is the lead into our study of
Jesus’ last week on earth. Is there a connection? Let’s dig into our
study of the Bible and find out!
- Jesus Entering as King
- Read Luke 19:29-31. How would you feel if you were
stealing a horse and your excuse was “The Lord needs it?”
(I would take confidence in the fact that Jesus knew all
about this horse (colt) and therefore He would know about
anyone who would challenge me.) - Read Luke 19:32-36. This unusual request works out
perfectly! But then some other bizarre thing starts
happening: people are spreading their clothes on the
ground for Jesus to ride over. Why do that? - Read 2 Kings 9:12-13. What is the crowd thinking? (Not
only do the colt owners recognize that Jesus is Lord, but
we see that the people, by spreading their clothes on the
ground, are recognizing that Jesus is King!) - Read Zechariah 9:9-10. How is this related to the minas’
story? (Part of that story was the opposition to the
future king, and his triumph by killing those who opposed
him. This is a prophecy about the future King.) - Read Luke 19:37-39. Why should Jesus rebuke His disciples?
(Read Matthew 21:9. The parallel record affirms that
Jesus’ disciples are proclaiming Jesus is Messiah and
their promised Lord and King! This was not just blasphemy,
it would be seen as insurrection against the Romans!) - Read Luke 19:40. How does Jesus handle this problem? (He
endorses what the crowd is doing. He says that nature
would continue the praises if the disciples were stopped.) - How do you think the disciples viewed this? (Imagine
how excited they are! What they had hoped would
happen (Jesus becoming King) is finally taking
place!) - Read Luke 19:41-44. Read this back into Luke 19:27. What
is the attitude of the King over the destruction of His
enemies? (Jesus cries! This corrects our assumptions about
the end of the minas’ story!) - How does Jesus say things could have been different?
(If they had recognized Jesus as their Messiah, they
could have known peace and not destruction.) - Is this a message for us today?
- Money Changers.
- Read Luke 19:45 and Matthew 21:12. Luke tells us that
Jesus was “driving out” those who were selling, and
Matthew tells us that He was turning tables and benches
upside down. This seems violent, do you agree? - Read Luke 19:46. What does this suggest the “sellers” were
doing? (Robbing people. Without going into the details,
there was a special temple coin that was needed by
visitors and sacrifices could be purchased. These
“sellers” were providing a service, but they were
dishonest in their dealings with those who had come to
worship God.) - How do you feel when you have been cheated? Can you
see how the temple visitors would be focused on
having been cheated as opposed to focused on prayer? - Read Luke 19:47-48. Why don’t the religious leaders
appreciate Jesus’ reforms? (The fact that they wanted to
kill Jesus shows how involved they were in the dishonest
practices. If the people resented being robbed, and that
dishonesty tainted their religious experience,
responsibility for this rested at the highest levels.) - Read Luke 20:1-2. Who do you think the chief priests
thought were the proper authorities? (They were!) - Why are they reduced to asking questions? Why not
assert their authority? (This gets back to Luke 19:48
– Jesus was extremely popular with the people.) - What are the “things” for which Jesus needs
authority? (Violently overturning the tables and
benches of the sellers.) - Put yourself in the place of a religious
leader. Do you want to defend theft? What do
you think the ordinary people think about the
dishonest practices of the sellers? (Suddenly,
we have a better view of the reason why the
religious leaders are reduced to asking
questions. Jesus has them in a tough spot.
Murder is their best answer.) - Read Luke 20:3-8. What would be wrong with saying that
John the Baptist was a prophet? (Read John 1:29. John said
that Jesus was the Messiah! The issue of the religious
leaders not believing John had to do with what John said
about the authority of Jesus.)
- Why didn’t Jesus want to directly say the source of
His authority? (That would raise the blasphemy issue
again.) - Think about the last few verses about overturning the
tables and the discussion of authority. Why was Jesus
spending His precious last hours on this kind of activity?
(Think first about the big symbolic picture. Jesus is
about to become, as John predicted in John 1:29, the
sacrificial lamb that takes away the sin of the world.
This reflects the Day of Atonement, when the temple was
cleansed of sin. Thus, Jesus is removing sin from the
temple just before His death – a picture that the people
will be sure to remember. In the smaller picture, the
people can focus on Jesus’ teaching rather than the
commerce and cheating that previously distracted the
people.) - The Vineyard
- Read Luke 20:9-15. How does this compare with the
servants and mina story in Luke 19:12-27? (The Jesus
figure in the mina story triumphs. The Jesus figure in the
vineyard story dies.) - Why does Jesus tell this second story about the
vineyard? (He will die before He triumphs.) - Read Luke 20:16. Notice that Jesus answers His own
question: The owner of the vineyard will kill those who
killed His Son. When the people respond, “May this never
be,” what are they talking about? (I think the murder of
the son.) - Read Luke 20:17-19. We know for some time now the Jewish
leaders were looking for a way to kill Jesus. What warning
is He giving them? (He has now told two stories (the mina
and the vineyard stories)in which those who resisted the
king died. Now in Luke 20:18 Jesus says His enemies will
be crushed.) - Why do you think the Jewish leaders continued to seek
to kill Jesus? - Notice something here. The Jewish rulers were afraid
of the people. What should they have remembered? (In
Luke 12:4-5 Jesus told them to fear God rather than
people. People can just kill you. God “has power to
throw you into hell.”) - Last Supper
- Read Luke 22:14-21. When the disciples heard about the
Kingdom of God coming, what do think they thought Jesus
meant? (Read Luke 22:24. They want Jesus to become King
and they will be His rulers. However, Jesus has said some
troubling things about the future.) - What do you think the disciples concluded about a
betrayer being present at the table? (This is more
troubling stuff.) - What do you think the betrayer thought? (Likely that
he was doing Jesus a favor. He would force Jesus to
become King – and then he would take credit for
forcing the matter.) - Read Luke 22:31-33. What does this show about the thinking
of the disciples? (They (or at least Simon Peter) got the
message that Jesus was in for a very difficult time –
notwithstanding His entry into town as King and Messiah.) - Friend, are you open to God’s warnings? There is always
the message that we want to hear, and the message that we
would rather not think about. Ask Jesus today to make His
will clear to you and to keep your heart open to listen so
that you will be in line with God’s Kingdom. - Next week: Crucified and Risen.
