With one voice Lukan scholars herald the importance of Jerusalem in the theology of Luke-Acts. (1) It is understandable, therefore, that after the theme of Jesus' journey to the city is reiterated in the central section (Luke 9:51; 13:22; 17:11; 18:31; 19:11), his coming to the city must be viewed as climactic. While some maintain that Jesus' coming to Jerusalem at Luke 19:28-44 is aptly described as "triumphal," (2) others recognize that it is not. (3) But what is not typically explained is the explicit linkage of Jesus' pronouncement of judgment on the city and the events of the entry as depicted by Luke. Jesus laments "if you recognized on this day [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.], even you, the things that make for peace" (19:42); later he adds, "and they will not leave in you a stone standing on a stone, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation" (v. 44). It is Luke alone among the evangelists who makes explicit the connection between the entry and God's judgment on the city (cf. Mark 11). Indeed, this connection might strike the modern reader as perplexing and a little out of character, for after Jesus is greeted outside Jerusalem the tenor of the episode turns quickly from joy to lament. What could account for Jesus' unanticipated response to the situation and the tone of finality that characterized it? Even if the Pharisees in Luke 19:39-40 are seen as opposing Jesus, their comments are almost trivial compared to opposition he has faced elsewhere: (4) Jesus' remarks in 19:41-44 seem all out of proportion to the offense.
