Luke 19:28-40 The triumphant entry - Psalm 118

Luke 19:28-40 The triumphal entry into Jerusalem. All four gospels record this event, in very similar terms. Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, John 12:12-19.

          Here we find the disciples borrowing a colt for Jesus to ride on. Not exactly a war horse that a king would be expected to ride on, but Jesus is a humble king. Rev 19:11-16 records His second coming, on a much mightier steed.

          Matt 21:8 records them also cutting branches from the trees, which is an expression of celebration going back to Leviticus 23:40, on the first day of the feast of booths. It was fitting on this date because they were celebrating God tabernacling among men, as Jesus was God in the flesh. The waving of palm branches on Palm Sunday continues this celebration to our day.

          Luke records that the disciples began to praise God by quoting Psalm 118:26, which is the same verse that the angels sang, quoted in Luke 2:14. We often sing the word hosanna, which is an English transliteration of the Greek word hosanna, which is itself a transliteration of two Hebrew words which mean "O save". So this was a cry for deliverance and also a recognition that Jesus had come to save His people from their sins. (Matt 1:21).  In this larger context, we find a fulfillment of a significant part of Psalm 118.

•   Psalm 118:19-21 is fulfilled in Luke 19:35-37, in a reference to the gate through which Jesus entered Jerusalem, the eastern gate, which was sealed up a short time after this and never re-opened, even to this day. (Ezekiel 44:1-3).

•   Psalm 118:22 is fulfilled in Luke 20:17, in which Jesus refers to Himself as the cornerstone, rejected by the builders (the Pharisees) but become the chief cornerstone of God's church.

•   Psalm 118:25 fulfillment is recorded in Matthew 21:9, where they cried Hosanna.

•   Psalm 118:26 is fulfilled in Luke 19:38 where they said blessed is the one who comes in the name of The Lord. Or, blessed is the One who comes in the name of The Lord.

•   Psalm 118:27 in Luke 23:33, in which Jesus, the sacrifice lamb, is nailed to the cross.

          Matthew 21:5 quotes Zechariah 9:9, not that the disciples were quoting it, but as a commentary that this fulfilled the prophecy that Zion's king would come with salvation, riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey, and that Zion was to rejoice over this. So when Jesus told the Pharisees that if His disciples were quiet the rocks would cry out, it was because this was the day, on a date fixed in prophecy (Daniel 9:25), prepared from eternity, in which He would come to Jerusalem, Zion, the city of God, and be recognized. Jesus knew that Daniel 9:26 foretold His death, as He had already tried to explain to His uncomprehending disciples. But on this day, He came as foretold.