Jesus addresses his lament to the city itself: If this day you only knew what makes for peace. However, the thought breaks off without being completed, implying that Jerusalem will soon fail to recognize him, despite the acclamations of the present moment. Jesus has come to lead them in “the path of peace” (1:79; see Acts 10:36), but the city will ultimately reject him and his terms for peace (see Luke 14:32). On the one hand, this will involve the human responsibility of those in Jerusalem—that is, the religious leaders—who were “unwilling” (13:34; see Rom 10:21) to welcome Jesus. On the other hand, it is part of God’s plan:31 It is hidden from your eyes (see Rom 11:8, 25).32 Earlier in Luke, when Jesus referred to “the mysteries of the kingdom,” he explained that such knowledge has been granted to some, but others “may look but not see, and hear but not understand” (Luke 8:10; see Isa 6:9; Acts 28:27).
[19:43–44]
Jesus then gives a more detailed prediction of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem that will take place in the days that are coming (Luke 21:6; 23:29). The vocabulary of Jesus’ prophecy echoes passages from the prophets, such as those about the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in the sixth century BC. History would in a sense repeat itself, as Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled when the city fell to the Romans in AD 70.
Your enemies will raise a palisade against you—that is, a barricade fortifying an entrenchment used in a siege on a walled city, as when the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem (Ezek 4:2; 21:2733). This statement and another one—They will encircle you—also echo a description in Isaiah: “I will circle you with outposts / and set up siege works against you” (Isa 29:3). According to Josephus, the Roman general Titus indeed built ramparts and encircled Jerusalem with a wall as he laid siege to the city.34
The city will then be destroyed: They will smash you to the ground and your children within you. Similar atrocities were mentioned by the prophets (Hosea 10:14; 14:1; Nah 3:10). The “you” spoken of here continues to be the city of Jerusalem itself, so “your children” are its citizens (Luke 13:34).35 Likewise, Jesus will later tell the “Daughters of Jerusalem” to weep for their children (23:28). They will not leave one stone upon another within you: Jesus will make a similar statement in reference to the temple (21:6). All this will take place because you did not recognize the time of your visitation, as Jeremiah had similarly prophesied: “They shall perish in a time of visitation” (Jer 6:15 NETS). God is visiting Jerusalem through Jesus’ arrival in the city. The visitation is intended to bring redemption (Luke 1:68, 78; 7:16) but will instead bring judgment to those who do not welcome it.
1. Jean-Noël Aletti, L’art de raconter Jésus Christ: L’écriture narrative de l’évangile de Luc (Paris: Seuil, 1989), 120–21, 202–3. For details on the ring structure (A-B-C-B′-AIsrael (Rome: Gregorian & Biblical Press, 2015), 632–35.
2. Matthew and Mark instead continue with the request of James and John, a passage Luke omits.
3. Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel according to Luke, 2 vols., AB (New York: Doubleday, 1981–85), 2:1214.
4. As in Acts 2:22; 3:6; 4:10; 6:14; 22:8; 26:9.
5. The same command is used in Acts by Ananias to heal the blind Saul (Acts 22:13) after “Jesus the Nazorean” (Acts 22:8) appeared to him on the road to Damascus.
6. For this Jewish name, see also 2 Macc 10:19; “Zaccai” in Ezra 2:9; Neh 7:14. Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 55, suggests that this passage is based on the recollections of Zacchaeus himself (see Luke 1:2).
7. Luke 3:12–13; 5:27–32; 7:29, 34; 15:1.
8. Luke 1:53; 6:24; 8:14; 12:16–21; 16:13–14, 19–31.
9. The tree in question is the sycamore fig, whose low branches make climbing easy. Moreover, the situation here recalls that of the man who was paralyzed (5:19): “the crowd” is in the way, so the men carrying him go up on the roof as Zacchaeus goes up a tree (same Greek verb).
10. On the allusions to Abraham and Rahab, see Alan C. Mitchell, “Zacchaeus Revisited: Luke 19:8 as a Defense,” Biblica 71 (1990): 164–71.
11. Same Greek verb as in, e.g., Exod 15:24 LXX; Num 14:2 LXX.
12. Lev 6:5 RSV. On fourfold restitution of sheep, see Exod 21:37; 2 Sam 12:6.
13. E.g., Fitzmyer, Luke, 2:1220–21.
14. Dennis Hamm, “Luke 19:8 Once Again: Does Zacchaeus Defend or Resolve?,” JBL 107 (1988): 431–37. See also Hamm, “Zacchaeus Revisited Once More: A Story of Vindication or Conversion?,” Biblica 72 (1991): 249–52.
15. Augustine, Sermon 174.3, in Sermons, trans. Edmund Hill, 11 vols., WSA III/5 (Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 1990–97), 5:259.
16. The Roman Pontifical, Ordination of Priests (Vatican City: Vox Clara Committee, 2012), 69.
17. Klyne R. Snodgrass, Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 539.
18. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 17.202, 208–9, 228. The setting also suggests Archelaus, since he was first proclaimed king in Jericho (Luke 19:1), following Herod’s death there (Jewish Antiquities 17.173, 194–95). Archelaus restored Herod’s palace in Jericho and built a nearby village named Archelais (Jewish Antiquities 17.340). Snodgrass, Stories with Intent, 537, comments that “it is difficult . . . to think hearers would not have thought of Archelaus.”
19. E.g., Fitzmyer, Luke, 2:1233.
20. A talent (of silver) was worth about six thousand days’ wages, so sixty minas.
21. Jewish Antiquities 17.218, 300–314.
22. Josephus, Jewish War 2.93–96; Jewish Antiquities 17.317–21.
23. Josephus, Jewish War 2.111; Jewish Antiquities 17.342–44.
24. E.g., David E. Garland, Luke, ZECNT (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 762–63.
25. Snodgrass, Stories with Intent, 537.
26. Perhaps motivated by this prophecy, an Egyptian messianic pretender led a multitude of people to the Mount of Olives (Josephus, Jewish War 2.262; Jewish Antiquities 20.169; see Acts 21:38). His revolt was put down by Felix, the Roman procurator (AD 52–58).
27. C. Kavin Rowe, Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2006; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), 160.
28. m. Sanhedrin 2:5 indicates that no one may ride the king’s horse or sit on his throne. Later, Jesus will similarly be laid in a “tomb in which no one had yet been buried” (Luke 23:53).
29. See also Jacob’s oracle regarding a king from the tribe of Judah with a tethered colt: “He tethers his donkey to the vine, / his donkey’s foal to the choicest stem” (Gen 49:11).
30. Brent Kinman, “Jesus’ Royal Entry into Jerusalem,” in Key Events in the Life of the Historical Jesus, ed. Darrell L. Bock and Robert L. Webb (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 407.
31. I.e., so that the gospel message can reach all the nations during “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24; 24:47; see Acts 1:8; 28:28; Rom 11:25–26).
32. Jesus’ prediction of his death was likewise “hidden” from the Twelve (Luke 18:34).
33. Ezek 21:22 RSV.
34. Jewish War 5.466–68, 499–510. Josephus, however, uses vocabulary different from that of Luke and is much more detailed, so no conclusions can be drawn on the basis of 19:43–44 about Luke’s use of such historical reports and the dating of Luke’s Gospel. See the introduction.
35. François Bovon, Luke, trans. Christine M. Thomas, Donald S. Deer, and James Crouch, 3 vols., Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002–13), 3:18n38.
Ministry in the Temple
Luke 19:45–21:38
Jesus reaches the destination of his journey as he enters the courts of the Jerusalem temple (19:45). This new section about his Jerusalem ministry unfolds almost exclusively in the temple: Jesus cleanses the temple (19:45–46), daily teaches the people there (19:47–48; 20:1; 21:37–38), and speaks about its destruction (21:5–36).
Significant changes of characters mark the end of the travel narrative and the beginning of the Jerusalem ministry.
1 Throughout the journey, Pharisees were frequently Jesus’ interlocutors and opponents.2 However, once Jesus reaches Jerusalem, the Pharisees appear for the last time (19:39). They are never explicitly mentioned in connection with Jesus’ temple ministry and subsequent passion.3 Instead, as soon as Jesus arrives in the temple, the chief priests together with other †Sanhedrin members—not mentioned since Jesus’ first passion prediction (9:22)—emerge as his adversaries.4 Their aim is to have Jesus arrested and put to death (19:47; 20:19–20), so they try to build a case against him by questioning him on various subjects (20:1–8, 20–40). In response, Jesus warns his disciples and the people about the authorities (20:9–19, 45–47) and indirectly reveals his identity as Son and Messiah (20:13, 41). The tense climate will quickly lead to the events of Jesus’ passion.
Prophetic Action: The Cleansing of the Temple (19:45–48)
45Then Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, 46saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.’” 47And every day he was teaching in the temple area. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death, 48but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose because all the people were hanging on his words.
OT: Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11; Zech 14:21; Mal 3:1
NT: Luke 20:19; 21:37; 22:2, 53. // Matt 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–18; John 2:13–16
Catechism: cleansing the temple, 584
[19:45–46]
As Jesus entered the temple area, he also entered the city of Jerusalem, bringing the journey to an end (9:51–19:44). By “temple area” (hieron) is meant the whole complex consisting of a number of courts on the temple mount that surrounded the actual sanctuary or temple building (naos, 1:9, 21–22; 23:45). Pilgrims could purchase the animals needed for temple sacrifices once they reached the city. Animals had typically been sold at a market on the Mount of Olives. However, around this time, according to some scholars, the high priest Caiaphas permitted vendors to sell animals (see John 2:14) in the outer court of the temple itself, the Court of the Gentiles.5 Coming on the scene, Jesus proceeds to drive out those who were selling things. His action recalls a verse from the prophet Zechariah: “No longer will there be merchants in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day” (Zech 14:21). Jesus himself explains his action by referring to two other verses from Scripture. First, quoting Isaiah, he says: My house shall be called a house of prayer (Isa 56:7). In Jesus’ view, selling interferes with the purpose of the temple, and so should be done elsewhere. Second, Jesus quotes Jeremiah, revealing the deeper significance of his action: you have made it a den of thieves (see Jer 7:11). This verse is from the prophet’s temple sermon, where he foretold the destruction of the first temple (Jer 7:12–14). The corruption of which Jeremiah speaks was also a problem in Jesus’ day.6 Not surprisingly, Jesus will thus predict the second temple’s destruction (Luke 21:5–6).
Figure 17. Diagram of the temple. [© Baker Publishing Group]
[19:47–48]
After driving out the merchants, Jesus’ activity every day is teaching in the temple area (20:1; 21:37),7 which recalls his ministry in Galilee of teaching in the synagogues (4:15–16, 31–33; 6:6). His audience is not the undifferentiated “crowd” (Greek ochlos) that accompanied him during the journey. Here, it is rather all the people (laos),8 a term emphasizing the Jewish people who respond positively to Jesus: they are hanging on his words. Opposing Jesus now are not the Pharisees (mentioned explicitly for the last time in 19:39) but the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people. Though he has just arrived in the city, their minds are already made up: they are seeking to put him to death (see 22:2). Undoubtedly, they have heard about his being acclaimed as “king” (19:38), and they will use that as a charge against him when they bring him before Pilate (23:2). At present, there is no way for them to achieve their purpose, because of the people (20:6; 22:2), but they will not stop until they succeed.
BIBLICAL BACKGROUND
The Temple
In the first century, the Jerusalem temple was at the heart of Judaism.a It was the place of God’s dwelling among his people. The Jewish people would therefore go up to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to appear before the Lord, especially for the great feasts such as Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. The temple was also the place where animal sacrifices were offered in accord with the law of Moses, providing the people with the means to receive forgiveness of sins and ritual cleansing. The sacrificial system contributed to the temple’s economic importance—for example, with the purchase of animals. In addition, the temple had political and judicial significance, on account of the roles of the high priest and the †Sanhedrin.
In 19 BC, Herod the Great began his temple renovation project in order to consolidate his position as king of the Jews. Long after his death the work continued (see John 2:20), being completed only a few years before the Jewish revolt against Rome (AD 66). The project’s most ambitious aspect was the expansion of the temple mount, whose retaining walls—still largely visible today—surrounded the enormous platform.b It also involved the rebuilding of the temple sanctuary, which included the Holy Place (Luke 1:9) and Holy of Holies, separated by a curtain or veil (23:45). In front of the sanctuary was the outdoor altar of sacrifice in the Court of Priests, with the nearby Court of Israel for Jewish men. There was also the larger Court of Women—open to both Jewish women and men (see 2:27)—where the treasury was located (see 21:1). Admittance to these courts was only for Jews, as indicated on the signs on a low surrounding wall (see comment on 17:17–18). Gentiles were permitted only outside this barrier, in the outer Court of the Gentiles, which was likely the place of Jesus’ cleansing of the temple (19:45). Jesus’ Jerusalem teaching ministry also took place in the temple courts (19:47; 21:37).
a. See, e.g., N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996), 406–11.
b. The platform is almost rectangular, with the western wall measuring about 485 meters, the eastern wall 470 meters, the northern wall 315 meters, and the southern wall 280 meters. See Ehud Netzer, The Architecture of Herod, the Great Builder (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 160.
The Question about Authority and Parable of the Tenants (20:1–19)
1One day as he was teaching the people in the temple area and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and scribes, together with the elders, approached him 2and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Or who is the one who gave you this authority?” 3He said to them in reply, “I shall ask you a question. Tell me, 4was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?” 5They discussed this among themselves, and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ then all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7So they answered that they did not know from where it came. 8Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
9Then he proceeded to tell the people this parable. “[A] man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and then went on a journey for a long time. 10At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenant farmers to receive some of the produce of the vineyard. But they beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. 11So he proceeded to send another servant, but him also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. 12Then he proceeded to send a third, but this one too they wounded and threw out. 13The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I shall send my beloved son; maybe they will respect him.’ 14But when the tenant farmers saw him they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him that the inheritance may become ours.’ 15So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and put those tenant farmers to death and turn over the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they exclaimed, “Let it not be so!
” 17But he looked at them and asked, “What then does this scripture passage mean:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
18Everyone who falls on that stone will be dashed to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 19The scribes and chief priests sought to lay their hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people, for they knew that he had addressed this parable to them.
OT: 2 Chron 36:15–16; Ps 118:22; Isa 5:1–7; 8:14–15; 28:16; Dan 2:34–35, 44–45
NT: Luke 2:34; 3:22; 4:29; 7:29–30; 9:22; 11:49; 13:34; Acts 4:7, 11; Rom 9:32–33; 1 Pet 2:6–8. // Matt 21:23–27, 33–46; Mark 11:27–12:12
Catechism: Church as vineyard, 755; Jesus the Son, 443; stumbling stone and cornerstone, 587, 756
[20:1–2]
Here begins a series of controversies and other passages in which Luke closely parallels Mark’s Gospel (Luke 20:1–21:4; Mark 11:27–12:44).9 It recalls the earlier series of controversies in the Galilean ministry (Luke 5:17–6:11; Mark 2:1–3:6). In this first controversy, Jesus is teaching,10 and the issue is his authority, just as in the previous first controversy (Luke 5:17, 24).11 There the Pharisees opposed him, and here his opponents are the chief priests and scribes (20:19), together with the elders (see the sidebar, “Jewish Groups and Leaders,” p. 82). This trio of groups—making up the †Sanhedrin (22:66; Mark 15:1)—was mentioned in the first passion prediction (Luke 9:22), so their appearance here suggests that the prediction is about to come true. They are displeased with the things he is doing: his teaching, driving out the merchants, and kingly entry into Jerusalem. They are the authorities in the temple, so they want to know what authority he has and who gave it to him.
The Gospel of Luke Page 45