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Friday, March 18, 2005
After you've gone through and made your observations, and then taken some time to do some interpretations, the next step is to touch base with all the Scriptures that correlate to the text you're studying.
One easy tool to help out with this is to look at the reference verses that are listed beside the verses you're studying that tell you where the story (or words, or quotes, or other related topics) is told in other places. This works VERY well in the Gospels, and in this instance (since we're looking at Luke 19: 28--40), you can also find the story of Palm Sunday in three other places:
Matthew 21: 1--9.
Mark 11: 1--10.
and John 12: 12--15.
Take the time right now to read Luke 19: 28--40, and then write down some comparisons with the other stories. What is the same? What gives more insight? See, the different writers of the Gospels all had unique views of the same event, and, as you correlate the accounts you can get a more vivid picture of what is going on overall.
Correlation can also can help with interpretation as well. The reference verses in my particular study Bible next to verse 35 (which mentions the Messiah entering on a colt) lists Zechariah 9: 9, which reads, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
So, if we are paying attention to the references, we learn that the coming Messiah will enter Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey.
In Luke 19: 38, we see a quoted verse from the Old Testament. My Bible lists the quote as coming from Psalm 118: 26. In Jesus day, this particular Psalm was understood as a "Messianic" one, one in which the Messiah was discussed in detail.
Now, because you've correlated some things, you can now enrich your interpretations. So, for example, if the Messiah is supposed to come into Jerusalem on a donkey, and there's a man riding a donkey into the city...maybe that is meaningful.
Then, add to that the reality that a crowd around this guy is singing a Messianic song...well, now we've got quite a stir in this small city that is gearing up for the Passover festival (those two interpretations could've been gotten yesterday as you were looking up Jerusalem, or "after these things"). You've got a parade to announce the coming Messiah!
And this might explain the Pharisees (experts in the Law, again something you could've interpreted yesterday) and their reaction. See, they likely understood PRECISELY what was going on: They knew the Messiah was supposed to enter Jerusalem on a donkey, and they knew the song about the Messiah. And now, Jesus, who has been causing all sorts of trouble over a three-year period in and around Jerusalem, is making quite the statement.
They also know that if this statement is allowed to continue, they would have to execute Jesus. You can't go around proclaiming to be God without either being right or being executed. The Pharisees, I can assure you, obviously don't believe Jesus is right.
Hence the statement: "Jesus, rebuke your disciples." Make them stop. For your own good, sir. We get what they're saying. We get what you're doing. And if it doesn't come to an end PRONTO, you're going to die a wretchedly horrible and humiliating death. Just letting you know, sir. So, we're giving you a chance to fix this mess right now. You'd best do it if you know what's good for everybody and we can enjoy a reasonably fun Passover festival together.
And now we have Jesus answering in a very cryptic manner in verse 40 of Luke 19: "And He answered and said, 'I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out.'"
For your own study today, follow the reference chain in your study Bible from Luke 19: 40. You'll wind up in Habbakkuk and then follow your chain of verses from there. At some point, you'll wind up in Daniel 9, which will give us a lot of insight into why Jesus answered the question the way He did...
...and we'll pick up there tomorrow!
Brent 5:30 AM
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