Good afternoon,
Read Luke 19
As we engage this final week until Christmas we will also be reading about Jesus’ final week on earth. I, for one, am excited to see what this juxtaposition as we layer Jesus’ death and resurrection overtop his birth. We will get the full lifecycle in one week. I will be curious how this impacts our reading, our celebrations, and our questions and reflections as we engage both the Christmas and Easter stories.
Luke 19 starts with the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus, followed by the parable of the pounds, his triumphal entry, and the cleansing of the temple.
A couple things I notice real quick: The crowds sound an awful lot like the angels in Luke 2 as they proclaim Jesus as king, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” (Lk 19.38). Praise and glory (your extra credit assignment yesterday) show up in Luke 19.37-38 as Jesus comes into town. And yet this king comes on a colt, not a warhorse, like how God came to earth in the form of a helpless little baby.
What insights do you gain from the similarities and differences in the disciples’ proclamation here and the angels’ message in Luke 2? What kind of overlap, or merging of themes do you see in Jesus’ birth story and the start of his passion week?
The other thing I want to point out is Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem here as he says, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” (Lk 19.42).
Do you recognize the things that make for peace in your life? What blinds you from seeing the things that make for peace? How can we stay open to seeing the way of peace before they are hidden from our eyes?
Grace and Peace,
Matt
P.S. Here is the next video in the Bible Project’s Luke series that looks at the second half of Luke 19 through Luke 23: