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Luke 19 General Notes
Structure and formatting
After Jesus helped a man named Zacchaeus repent of his sins (Luke 19:1-10), he taught his followers that when he would begin to rule as king they would need to tell him what they had done with the things he had given them to take care of (Luke 19:11-27). He did this by telling them a parable. After that, he rode into Jerusalem on a colt (Luke 19:28-48). (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/kingdomofgod and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-parables)
Special concepts in this chapter
"Sinner"
The Pharisees referred to a group of people as "sinners." The Jewish leaders thought these people were sinful, but in reality the leaders were also sinful. This can be taken as irony. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-irony)
Servants
God expects his people to remember that everything in the world belongs to God. God gives his people things so they can serve him. He wants them to please him by doing what he wants them to do with everything he has given them. One day Jesus will ask his servants what they have done with everything he gave them to use. He will give a reward to those who have done what he wanted them to do, and he will punish those who have not.
The donkey and the colt
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an animal. In this way he was like a king who came into a city after he had won an important battle. Also, the kings of Israel in the Old Testament rode on a donkeys. Other kings rode on horses. So Jesus was showing that he was the king of Israel and that he was not like other kings.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all wrote about this event. Matthew and Mark wrote that the disciples brought Jesus a donkey. John wrote that Jesus found a donkey. Luke wrote that they brought him a colt. Only Matthew wrote that there were both a donkey had a colt. No one knows for sure whether Jesus rode the donkey or the colt. It is best to translate each of these accounts as it appears in the ULB without trying to make them all say exactly the same thing. (See: Matthew 21:1-7 and Mark 11:1-7 and Luke 19:29-36 and John 12:14-15)
Spreading garments and branches
When a king would enter one of the cities he ruled, people would cut branches from trees and would take off the clothes that they wore to stay warm in cold weather and spread them all on the road so the king would ride over them. They did this to honor the king and show that they loved him. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/honor and rc://en/ta/man/jit/translate-symaction)
The merchants in the temple
Jesus forced the people who were selling animals in the temple to leave. He did this to show everyone that he had authority over the temple and that only those who were righteous, who did what God said was good, could be in it. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/righteous)