What does Luke 19:36 mean?
Jesus is entering Jerusalem like a peaceful king. He rides a donkey, like Zechariah 9:9 prophesied:Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!Donkeys are excellent for work, but terrible for war. Warlords would be expected to sit on a horse to show their power, as a modern victor might pose atop a tank or armored transport. Jesus' entry is like a man sitting in the back of a small pickup truck: reflecting humility and peace, rather than conquest.
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The disciples have placed their cloaks on the donkey (Luke 19:35), and the people put their robes on the ground the donkey walks on, much like the men who affirmed Jehu's reign in 2 Kings 9:13: "Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, 'Jehu is king.'"
In addition, they take palm fronds to cover the path (John 12:13) and paraphrase Psalm 118:26, shouting, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Luke 19:38).
Luke identifies the people as "they," inferring the disciples which are the main group in the passage. Matthew has "most of the crowd" and Mark has "many" (Matthew 21:8; Mark 11:8). The crowd of disciples is much more than just the Twelve. Luke 10:1 mentions seventy-two. Likely, many more followed Jesus from Galilee (Luke 18:36) and even more locals followed Him after He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:45).
We don't know why Luke doesn't mention the palm leaves, as the other Gospel writers do. It's possible Theophilus (Luke 1:1–4) would be unfamiliar with the custom, and so Luke left it out.
