Bible Commentaries
Luke 19

Verses 1-13

1 Compare Jos_6:26 ; 1Ki_16:34 .

2 The case of Zaccheus meant much more to a patriotic Jew than we can possibly imagine. The most hated and unpopular class in the whole nation were the tax farmers, who paid the taxes for a district and then collected it from the people, adding their own charges to it. Not only were the taxes oppressive, but the collectors usually imposed enough to enrich themselves. Now Zaccheus was evidently a leader in this nefarious business and was cordially disliked by his countrymen. The Lord is proclaiming a kingdom. How strange it must have seemed for Him not only to have one of these hated collectors among His apostles but to invite Himself to the house of a chief of these unpatriotic traitors! Few acts in His career showed more clearly that He came to call sinners, not the righteous. It was a difficult lesson for them to learn, so He chooses the most striking means of impressing it on their minds.

3 Compare Joh_12:21 .

3 There is a delightful parallel between Zaccheus' physical state and his spiritual condition. His small stature suggests the small esteem in which he was held by his countrymen. As we would say, they looked down on him. But he managed to elevate himself by means of a figmulberry, or wild fig tree, an excellent representation of the Roman rule, which gave him his position and wealth. Israel politically, is figured by the tame fig tree. It was not the Lord's will that he should remain there, hence His word "Hurry! Descend!" The effect of the Lord's favor is immediately apparent. Without any prompting, he announces his intention to give half of his possessions to the poor, and to more than right any wrong doing which may have occurred in his dealings. What a contrast with the rich self-righteous chief ( Luk_18:18 ) who, though urged to do so, and promised a great reward, would not part with his possessions, and this chief of sinners, whose riches are given freely, without even a suggestion from the Lord! It is the compulsion of love which springs only from the depths of sin.

8 Compare Luk_3:8 ; Luk_3:12-13 ; Jam_2:21-24 ; Exo_22:1 .

9 Compare Rom_4:1 ; Rom_4:11-12 ; Gal_3:7 .

11-27 Compare Mat_25:14-30 ; Act_1:6 .

12 Compare Dan_7:13-14 ; Act_1:1 l.

12 The picture presented in this parable was well kown to His hearers. Native noblemen were obliged to go to Rome to "obtain a kingdom". The first Herod and Archelaus both repaired to Rome to be elevated to the throne. The latter had built a palace in Jericho near which this parable was spoken, and doubtless his hearers remembered that, when he returned as Ethnarch of Judea and Samaria, he had rewarded his adherents and had slain his enemies. His disciples seemed absolutely deaf to His repeated warnings that He was about to suffer, rather than to reign. Even the multitude seemed to sense the great fact that the time for the kingdom had come, but did not realize the growing opposition. So He, with marvelous discernment, seizes on a parallel which they did understand, in order to explain to them what seemed so difficult. He did not deny their expectation of a kingdom; rather He confirmed it. Like the Herods, He, too, was gomg away to receive a kingdom. The reason for this is hinted in the hatred of the citizens. Even so the Jews had sent an embassy to the emperor Augustus and besought him to unite their country with Syria rather than that they should have an Idumean for their king. But their protestations were in vain and Archelaus was made tetrarch. They only brought down his vengeance on their heads when he returned. That the Lord will follow a similar course, and slay His enemies when He sets up the kingdom, shows that this is not the present period of grace, but the literal sovereignty of our Lord which will be preceded by the terrors of the apocalyptic judgments. The main thought seems to be centered on the service of His slaves during His absence. Here, too, this parable is vastly different from present truth. There may be some similarity between us and the first two slaves but it is contrary to the spirit we have received to think and act like the wicked slave. What genuine believer in Christ Jesus, who has tasted of His love and grace, would think of calling Him harsh and grasping? We, one and all, no matter how slight our knowledge of Him, think Him loving and generous. However little we may do for Him, or however faulty that little is, the lack is hardly due to such ungrateful motives as this slave's excuse.

Verses 14-43

14 Compare Joh_1:11 ; Joh_19:15 .

27 Compare Rev_19:11-21 .

28-36 Compare Mat_21:1-8 ; Mar_1:1-8 .

28 This entry into Jerusalem marks one of the most important days in the history of the holy people. The seventy heptads of Daniel's prophecy are divided into seven, sixty-two, and one. The sixty-ninth heptad, after which Messiah was to be cut off ( Dan_9:26 ), must be fulfilled before the crucifixion. Nothing in His life heretofore corresponds to His presentation to the people as a Prince. His birth, His baptism, the beginning of His ministry, none of these so fully satisfy the words "unto Prince Messiah", as His entry as recorded on this day. Hitherto He had trudged along as any wayfarer, but now He comes as a king should come, riding on a colt, over a path strewn with the garments of His loyal subjects.

31 This is perhaps the only act in which He exercises His regal authority. A king could commandeer anything in his kingdom, so He, as the King of Israel and the Lord of all in the realm (yet too poor to have a mount of His own!) has no hesitancy in sending for the colt. He has no royal trappings but the garments of His lowly escort.

37-38 Compare Mat_21:9-11 ; Mar_11:9-10 ; Joh_12:12-19 .

37 How solemn and inspiring was the scene as the cavalcade, nearing the descent of Olivet, stood revealed to the gaze of the holy city! Long had Jerusalem waited for that day! Prophets had perceived it and saints had sighed for it, yet where was the response from the city as the procession came into view? A few of His own rend the air with their acclamations, but the great city with its priests and chiefs is represented by the sullen Pharisees who resented His royal assumptions. Much has the sacred city suffered for its neglect of Him since that day. Blessed, indeed, will be that future day when, once again, He stands on Olivet and claims the royal honors which they then refused ( Zec_14:4 ).

38 Compare Luk_2:14 , Psa_118:26 .

40 Compare Hab_2:11 .

40 There is a marked change manifest in the attitude of our Lord. Since His rejection by the nation was evident, He has been restraining His disciples from making Him known. He closed the proclamation of the kingdom and would not allow it to be heralded. Now, however, He receives the acclamation of the disciples, and rebukes the remonstrance of the Pharisees instead of rebuildng His disciples. They were fulfilling the Scripture ( Zec_9:9 ):

Exult exceedingly, daughter of Zion,

Shout, daughter of Jerusalem.

Lo! your King is coming to you,

He is just and being saved:

He is humble and rides on an ass,

And on a colt, the foal of an ass.

41 Compare Hos_11:8 .

42 Compare Deu_5:29 ; Isa_48:18 .

42 This was the day so long foretold by Daniel the prophet ( Dan_9:25 ) when Messiah the Prince should come. Since the coming forth of the king's word to restore and to build Jerusalem, sixty-nine heptads had run their course. Exactly four hundred and eighty-three years of three hundred and sixty days each had passed since the edict of Artaxerxes (Neh.2). All the previous ministry of Messiah was with a view to His public proclamation on this day. Hence His lament over the apostate city. The day of her visitation had come and she was utterly oblivious of it. The scribes could actually have demonstrated mathematically that He was the Messiah by counting the days of Daniel's prophecy, yet they are so blind that they reject Him. It was Jerusalem's last opportunity. Seven times had He visited the city and had given ample proof of His messiahship. This was final. Had they received Him her portion would have been peace. Now that they reject Him there can be no permanent peace until she reverses her decision at His return in power.

43 Compare Luk_21:20 ; Dan_9:26 .

43 All of this was literally fulfilled at the siege of Jerusalem by Titus and the later destruction under the emperor Hadrian. Jerusalem has seen little of peace except in its desolation. The recent capture of the city is but the prelude to the terrible times that are still to come.

Verses 44-48

44 Compare Mic_3:12 ; Mat_24:2 .

45-48 Compare Mat_21:12-17 ; Mar_11:11 ; Mar_11:15-19 .

45 His kingdom will be a combination of church and state and He will be the Head of both. Hence He not only presents Himself as King, but enters the temple and cleanses it of its unlawful traffic.

46 Compare Isa_56:7 ; Jer_7:11 .

48 Compare Joh_12:17-19 .

1.8 Compare Mat_21:23-27 ; Mar_11:27-33 .

2 The Rabbis had a great conceit of their powers of debate, so they deemed it best to lay a snare for Him. The question itself seems innocent enough, and had they honestly asked for information, He doubtless would have answered them. But He seldom listened to men's words. He read their hearts. Those who sought to catch Him were always taken in their own toils. In an indirect way His question contained the answer that they desired. If the baptist was commissioned by God to prepare His path, surely then His authority must far exceed that of John for he repeatedly renounced himself in favor of the One Whose sandal thong he was not worthy to loose. What a humiliating confession they were forced to make to cover their hypocrisy! Of what use is truth to such men ? So He wisely refuses to tell them what any blind man could see if he did not wish to hold to his error at any cost.

9-12 Compare Mat_21:33-36 ; Mar_12:1-5 ; Isa_5:1-7 .

9 The parable grows out of the attitude of the Pharisees, as just made manifest. Most skillfully He uses incidents well known to them and figures with which they are familiar to trace the attitude of Israel toward those who had been sent with divine authority in the past. All the prophets-even Moses-suffered at their unbelieving hands. They always persecuted the messengers of God, and, for that reason, they were about to kill Him. The sad history of Israel, their continual defection and rejection of God, does not seem to affect their hearts. They are ready to do as did their forefathers, even though they condemn them. They boast in the very prophets that their fathers persecuted. Does not all this show the total failure of law and ritual as a link between God and man? Religion so radically vitiates the standard of human morals that it is reserved for religious men to commit the crime of crimes.

11 Compare Act_7:52 .

13-15 Compare Mat_21:37-39 ; Mar_12:6-8 ; 1Th_2:15 .

13 It was only reasonable to suppose that even if the nation had maltreated the messengers of God, they would not be nearly so likely to mistreat the Son. Previous messengers often came unannounced, with few credentials, and often with a most unpalatable message. But the Son came according to many prophecies which foretold minute details of His career. He was the only Prophet to be introduced by a forerunner. None approached Him in the number and wonders of His works.

15-18 Compare Mat_21:40-44 ; Mar_12:9-11 ; See Act_4:11 ; 1Pe_2:4-7 .

16 The destruction of Jerusalem and the nation was directly due to the murder of Messiah. Their misfortunes from that day to this and the evils still in store for them in the greatest of all afflictions, at the time of the end, all would have been avoided, humanly speaking, had they hailed Him as their King.

17 Compare Eph_1:10 ; Eph_2:14 ; Psa_118:22 .

17 The head corner stone of a building is the most ornamental and honorable in the whole structure. Lying on the ground, they stumbled over it and refused it. So have the builders of Israel hurt themselves on Him.

18 Compare Dan_2:34-35 .

19 Compare Mat_21:45-46 ; Mar_12:12 .

19 The object of the scribes and chief priests now seems to be to put Him in a quandary, Either He will be discredited in the eyes of the people or come to a clash with the civil rulers. So long as He had a following they were afraid. Nor were they willing to risk an open debate. So they keep out of it entirely and send others with what, at first sight, seems to be a simple question of conscience. They hope to get Him to say that they should not pay taxes to Rome so they can accuse Him to the government. So they use fine flatteries to destruction. But His first response tears off the veil of hypocrisy and reveals the true intent of their inquiry. They wish to try Him, not to quiet their conscience.

20-26 Compare Mat_22:15-22 ; Mar_12:13-17 .

22 Compare Deu_28:47-48 .