Luke 19:29-48
The Lord’s pathway is approaching its end: the city of Jerusalem, towards which from Luke 9:51 He had steadfastly set His face, knowing what awaited Him there. Yet for a brief moment the disciples could have thought that His reign would begin immediately (cf. Luke 19:11). The Lord Jesus shows His sovereignty in requisitioning the colt (is there not in our lives so much over which might be said "The Lord hath need" of it? (v. 34)). The King is about to enter the city in majesty, acclaimed by the crowd and His disciples – a direct fulfilment of Zechariah 9:9. Alas! by contrast with this joy, the Pharisees show their hostile indifference (v. 39). Indeed stones would yield more to the action of divine power than the wretchedly hard hearts of the Jewish people. Seeing the city, the Lord Jesus weeps over it. He knows what the tragic consequences of its blindness will be. He can already see the legions of Titus, forty years later, laying siege to the guilty city (cf. Isaiah 29:3; Isaiah 29:6). Indescribable scenes of massacre and destruction pass before His eyes!
Entering the city and the temple, He gazes with no less pain at the trading with which the latter is filled and, with holy zeal, He busies Himself with putting a stop to it (cf. Ezekiel 8:6).