Luk 19:40 | KingComments | STEP | The disciples who follow Him massively know nothing about what is going to happen to Him in Jerusalem. They think He is going to Jerusalem to reign. On the way to that glorious accession to the throne, they would like to submit themselves to Him. They start to praise God with joy and a loud voice. They have seen so many miracles, i.e. works of power, that this must be the Messiah of God. Unfortunately, these are only outward impressions of Who the Lord is. For His message of grace they are and remain deaf. Yet God uses them to glorify the Name of His Son. Touched by God’s Spirit, the crowd praises the Lord Jesus as the Blessed, the Highly Praised, as the King Who comes in the Name of the LORD, Yahweh . That He is indeed to the full. When they speak of peace in heaven, they say more than they realize. It is indeed so that the kingdom depends for its establishment on earth on a peace established in the highest heavens. This indicates the place which He will take in heaven, exalted as the Son of Man and as the Conqueror of satan. The kingdom of peace and justice that will be established on earth is only a consequence of the glory that grace has already established in heaven since His coming into the distant country to which He is here on His way. When He was born as Man, the angels spoke of “peace on earth” ( ) because the Man on Whom the good pleasure of God rested had appeared. They glorified the full scope of His work. By now it has become clear that death awaits Him and that His rejection results in a period that will be anything but peace. But the heavens will be the stage of peace. There He will go after accomplishing the work on the cross. There He will receive the honor of God to which He is entitled ( ). There is peace in heaven because He entered there as Conqueror and there is peace in the hearts of those who have received Him ( ; ). The Pharisees are not part of the praising crowd. As declared opponents of the Lord, they are very disturbed by what is happening. They have the nature of the older son who was also annoyed by the feast for his returned brother ( ). In doing so, they have closed themselves for every work of the Spirit. What they see, is unacceptable in their eyes and must be stopped. In their approach to the Lord, they call Him “Teacher”. To them He is nothing more than an itinerant rabbi who, in their eyes, has far too much of a following and receives far too much honor. This is at the expense of the honor they claim for themselves. In their religious zeal they see that what the crowd calls can only apply to the Messiah. Their conclusion is correct, only to them He is not the Messiah because their eyes are darkened too much by hatred to see even a glimpse of Divine glory in Him. They say to Him to rebuke His disciples. He gives a short answer which is therefore significant. God wants to give a testimony about His Son as the Blessed. He can work the hearts of people who have recognized something of God in the actions of His Son. He is even able to make dead stones bear a similar testimony. The fact that the Pharisees do not recognize anything of God in Him and therefore do not give Him any honor, but rather oppose Him, shows how dead and hardened they are.

‏ Luke 19:40

The Lord Jesus Is Praised

The disciples who follow Him massively know nothing about what is going to happen to Him in Jerusalem. They think He is going to Jerusalem to reign. On the way to that glorious accession to the throne, they would like to submit themselves to Him. They start to praise God with joy and a loud voice. They have seen so many miracles, i.e. works of power, that this must be the Messiah of God.

Unfortunately, these are only outward impressions of Who the Lord is. For His message of grace they are and remain deaf. Yet God uses them to glorify the Name of His Son. Touched by God’s Spirit, the crowd praises the Lord Jesus as the Blessed, the Highly Praised, as the King Who comes in the Name of the LORD, Yahweh. That He is indeed to the full.

When they speak of peace in heaven, they say more than they realize. It is indeed so that the kingdom depends for its establishment on earth on a peace established in the highest heavens. This indicates the place which He will take in heaven, exalted as the Son of Man and as the Conqueror of satan. The kingdom of peace and justice that will be established on earth is only a consequence of the glory that grace has already established in heaven since His coming into the distant country to which He is here on His way.

When He was born as Man, the angels spoke of “peace on earth” (Lk 2:14) because the Man on Whom the good pleasure of God rested had appeared. They glorified the full scope of His work. By now it has become clear that death awaits Him and that His rejection results in a period that will be anything but peace. But the heavens will be the stage of peace. There He will go after accomplishing the work on the cross. There He will receive the honor of God to which He is entitled (Jn 13:32). There is peace in heaven because He entered there as Conqueror and there is peace in the hearts of those who have received Him (Col 1:20-23; Eph 2:14 ; 17).

The Pharisees are not part of the praising crowd. As declared opponents of the Lord, they are very disturbed by what is happening. They have the nature of the older son who was also annoyed by the feast for his returned brother (Lk 15:25-30). In doing so, they have closed themselves for every work of the Spirit. What they see, is unacceptable in their eyes and must be stopped.

In their approach to the Lord, they call Him “Teacher”. To them He is nothing more than an itinerant rabbi who, in their eyes, has far too much of a following and receives far too much honor. This is at the expense of the honor they claim for themselves. In their religious zeal they see that what the crowd calls can only apply to the Messiah.

Their conclusion is correct, only to them He is not the Messiah because their eyes are darkened too much by hatred to see even a glimpse of Divine glory in Him. They say to Him to rebuke His disciples. He gives a short answer which is therefore significant. God wants to give a testimony about His Son as the Blessed. He can work the hearts of people who have recognized something of God in the actions of His Son. He is even able to make dead stones bear a similar testimony. The fact that the Pharisees do not recognize anything of God in Him and therefore do not give Him any honor, but rather oppose Him, shows how dead and hardened they are.