Luke 19:38 Meaning and Explanation
“Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →A crowd's words can be more accurate than the crowd realizes. What the disciples sing here comes straight from a pilgrim psalm sung at the temple, and Luke's version adds one word that changes everything about the scene. It is worth asking why the Pharisees objected in the very next verse, and why Jesus refused to quiet them.
The crowd of disciples greets Jesus with words from Psalm 118, adding the title King. Their shout joins earth's welcome to heaven's own praise as he rides down the Mount of Olives toward Jerusalem.
The Context of Luke 19:38
Jesus has come from Jericho through Bethphage and Bethany to the Mount of Olives, where he sent two disciples for a colt that had never been ridden. In verses 35 and 36 the disciples set him on the colt and spread their garments on the road. Verse 37 reports that at the descent of the mount the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for the mighty works they had seen. Verse 38 gives their words. Verses 39 and 40 record the objection and the answer about stones crying out.
What Does Luke 19:38 Mean?
'Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord' draws on the pilgrim greeting of Psalm 118:26, with 'the King' inserted where the psalm has 'he that cometh'. That single addition makes the acclamation a coronation cry. To come 'in the name of the Lord' means to arrive with his authority and on his errand. The second half lifts the scene upward: 'peace in heaven, and glory in the highest'. The praise is directed to God above while the King rides below, and Luke's wording places the peace in heaven, which readers of this Gospel will hear against the angels' song at his birth.
The moment answers a question the chapter has been raising. In verse 11 the crowd thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear, and Jesus told a parable about a nobleman who goes away to receive a kingdom and returns. Now he approaches the city as a king riding a young colt, which recalls the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 of a king coming lowly and riding upon an ass. Kings of Israel were anointed and acclaimed by the people, and this scene carries that shape. Luke sets the acclamation immediately before Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and enters the temple, which keeps the joy tethered to what follows.
Luke alone shapes the cry to echo the night of the nativity, where a multitude of the heavenly host praised God with glory in the highest and peace on earth. Now a multitude on earth answers with glory in the highest and peace in heaven. The two scenes frame his life, and between them lies everything he did and taught. Jesus accepts this praise, and when the Pharisees ask him to silence it he replies that the stones would cry out. That acceptance is its own claim. The King who rides into Jerusalem allows himself to be welcomed as the one Israel had been waiting for.
Luke 19:38 in the Original Language
basileus (βασιλεύς), 'King' -- the ordinary Greek word for a reigning monarch, used of Caesar and of Herod elsewhere in the Gospels. Luke places it in the crowd's greeting where Psalm 118 has no such title, and the effect is a public claim about who is entering the city.
Bible Verses Related to Luke 19:38
“Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.”
- Psalm 118:26
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
- Zechariah 9:9
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
- Luke 2:14
“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
- Luke 13:35
Where Luke 19:38 Echoes in Scripture
Psalm 118:26 stands behind the shout, a blessing pronounced on the one who comes in the name of the Lord, sung by pilgrims approaching the temple and answered from within it. Jesus himself returns to the same psalm in Luke 13:35, telling Jerusalem that they will not see him again until they say those words. The crowd on the Mount of Olives is speaking the very line he named, which gives this entry the weight of a promise being kept.
How to Apply Luke 19:38 Today
Praise here is loud, public, and specific. Verse 37 says the disciples rejoiced for all the mighty works that they had seen, so their song had content. We can do the same by keeping some record of what God has actually done, and by letting that record become words we say aloud. Naming one particular mercy at a meal, writing three lines in a notebook, telling a friend about an answered prayer: these keep gratitude from evaporating into a general good mood. The crowd also praised while Jesus was still on the road to suffering, which frees us to worship before the story resolves.
Reflection & Prayer
What mighty work of God in my own history have I stopped mentioning out loud. Prayer: Blessed King, you came in your Father's name and rode toward a cross without turning aside. Give me the courage of that crowd, willing to say plainly what you have done, and let my praise rise with theirs to the highest. Amen.