Following Jesus: Luke 19:41-48 and 20:1-8

Jesus’s Love for Jerusalem
19:41 As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it, 42 saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”

Cleansing the Temple
45 He went into the temple and began to throw out those who were selling,[Other mss add and buying in it] 46 and he said, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!”[ Is 56:7; Jr 7:11]

47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to kill him, 48 but they could not find a way to do it, because all the people were captivated by what they heard.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged
20:1 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders, came 2 and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”

3 He answered them, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or of human origin?”

5 They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know its origin.

8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

CSB

Following Jesus: Luke 19:28-40

The Triumphal Entry
19:28 When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples 30 and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 So those who were sent left and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 “The Lord needs it,” they said. 35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the colt, they helped Jesus get on it. 36 As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road. 37 Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

38 Blessed is the King who comes
in the name of the Lord.[Ps 118:26]
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest heaven!

39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”

CSB