Matthew 21

Matthew 21:1

XII. PRESENTATION AND REJECTION OF THE KING (Chaps. 21-23) A. The Triumphal Entry (21:1-11) 21:1-3 On the way up from Jericho, Jesus came to the east side of the Mount of Olives where Bethany and Bethphage were located. From there the road skirted the south end of Olivet, dipped into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, crossed the Brook Kidron and climbed up to Jerusalem. He sent two disciples to Bethany with the foreknowledge that they would find a tethered donkey, and a colt with her. They were to untie the animals and bring them to Jesus. If challenged, they were to explain that the Lord needed the beasts. Then the owner would consent. Perhaps the owner knew Jesus and had previously offered to help Him. Or this incident may demonstrate the omniscience and supreme authority of the Lord. Everything happened just as Jesus had predicted. 21:4, 5 The requisitioning of the animals fulfilled predictions by Isaiah and Zechariah: Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.21:6 After the disciples had spread their garments on the animals, Jesus mounted the colt (Mar_11:7) and rode onward to Jerusalem. It was a historic moment. Sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s prophecy had now run out, according to Sir Robert Anderson (see his computations in the book The Coming Prince). Next the Messiah would be cut off (Dan_9:26). In riding into Jerusalem in this manner, the Lord Jesus made a deliberate, unveiled claim to being the Messiah. Lange notes: He fulfills intentionally a prophecy which at His time was unanimously interpreted of the Messiah. If He has previously considered the declaration of His dignity as dangerous, He now counts silence inconceivable. … It was hereafter never possible to say that He had never declared Himself in a wholly unequivocal manner. When Jerusalem was afterwards accused of the murder of the Messiah, it should not be able to say that the Messiah had omitted to give a sign intelligible for all alike. 21:7, 8 The Lord rode to the city on a carpet of clothes and palm branches, with the acclamation of the people ringing in His ears. For a moment, at least, He was acknowledged as King. 21:9 The multitudes shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. This quotation from Psa_118:25-26 obviously applies to the Messiah’s advent. Hosanna originally meant save now; perhaps the people meant, Save us from our Roman oppressors. Later the term became an exclamation of praise. The phrases, Son of David and, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, both clearly indicate that Jesus was being recognized as the Messiah. He is the Blessed One who comes by Jehovah’s authority to do His will. Mark’s account records as part of the crowd’s shouts the phrase, Blessed is the kingdom of our Father David that comes in the name of the Lord (Mar_11:10). This indicates that the people thought the kingdom was about to be set up with Christ sitting on the throne of David. In shouting, Hosanna in the highest, the crowd was calling on the heavens to join the earth in praising the Messiah, and perhaps calling on Him to save from the highest heavens. Mar_11:11 records that, once in Jerusalem, Jesus went to the templenot inside the temple but into the courtyard. Presumably it was the house of God, but He was not at home in this temple because the priests and people refused to give Him His rightful place. After looking around briefly, the Savior withdrew to Bethany with the twelve. It was Sunday evening. 21:10, 11 Meanwhile, inside the city there was bewilderment as to His identity. Those who asked were told only that He was Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. From this it seems that few really understood He was the Messiah. In less than a week, the fickle crowd would be crying, Crucify Him! Crucify Him!

Matthew 21:12

B. Cleansing the Temple (21:12, 13) 21:12 At the outset of His public ministry, Jesus had driven commercialism out of the temple environs (Joh_2:13-16). But profiteering for an excessive fee had again sprung up in the outer court of the temple. Sacrificial animals and birds were being bought and sold at exorbitant rates. Moneychangers converted other currencies into the half-shekel which Jewish men had to pay as temple tribute (tax)for an excessive fee. Now, as His ministry drew to a close, Jesus again drove out those who were profiteering from sacred activities. 21:13 Combining quotations from Isaiah and Jeremiah, He condemned desecration, commercialism, and exclusivism. Quoting from Isa_56:7, He reminded them that God intended the temple to be a house of prayer. They had made it a hangout of thieves (Jer_7:11). This cleansing of the temple was His first official act after entering Jerusalem. By it He unmistakably asserted His lordship over the temple. This incident has a twofold message for today. In our church life, we need His cleansing power to drive out bazaars, suppers, and a host of other money-making gimmicks. In our personal lives, there is constant need for the purging ministry of the Lord in our bodies, the temples of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 21:14

C. Indignation of the Priests and Scribes (21:14-17) 21:14 The next scene finds our Lord healing the blind and the lame in the temple yard. He attracted the needy wherever He went, and never sent them away without meeting their need. 21:15, 16 But hostile eyes were watching. And when these chief priests and scribes heard children hailing Jesus as the Son of David, they were enraged. They said, Do You hear what these are saying?as if they expected Him to forbid the children from addressing Him as the Messiah! If Jesus had not been the Messiah, this would have been an appropriate time to say so once for all. But His answer indicated that the children were right. He quoted Psa_8:2 from the Septuagint: Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise. If the supposedly knowledgeable priests and scribes would not praise Him as the Anointed, then the Lord would be worshiped by little children. Children often have spiritual insight beyond their years, and their words of faith and love bring unusual glory to the name of the Lord. 21:17 Leaving the religious leaders to ponder this truth, Jesus returned to Bethany and spent the night there.

Matthew 21:18

D. The Barren Fig Tree (21:18-22) 21:18, 19 Returning to Jerusalem in the morning, the Lord came to a fig tree, hoping to find fruit on it to satisfy His hunger. Finding nothing on it but leaves, He said, Let no fruit grow on you ever again. Immediately the fig tree withered away. In Mark’s account (11:12-14) the comment is made that it was not the season for figs. Therefore, His condemning the tree because it had no fruit would seem to picture the Savior as unreasonable and petulant. Knowing this cannot be true, how is this difficulty explained? Fig trees in Bible lands produced an early, edible fruit before the leaves appeared. This was a harbinger of the regular crop. If no early figs appeared, as in the case of this fig tree, it indicated that there would be no regular figs later on. This is the only miracle in which Christ cursed rather than blesseddestroyed rather than restored life. This has been raised as a difficulty. Such criticism betrays an ignorance of the Person of Christ. He is God, the Sovereign of the universe. Some of His dealings are mysterious to us, but we must begin with the premise that they are always right. In this case, the Lord knew that the fig tree would never bear figs and He acted as a farmer would in removing a barren tree from his orchard. Even those who criticize our Lord for cursing the fig tree admit it was a symbolic action. This incident is the Savior’s interpretation of the tumultuous welcome He had just received in Jerusalem. Like the vine and the olive tree, the fig tree represents the nation of Israel. When Jesus came to the nation there were leaves, which speak of profession, but no fruit for God. Jesus was hungry for fruit from the nation. Because there was no early fruit, He knew there would be no later fruit from that unbelieving people, and so He cursed the fig tree. This prepictured the judgment which would fall on the nation in a.d. 70. We must remember that while unbelieving Israel will be fruitless forever, a remnant of the nation will return to the Messiah after the Rapture. They will bring forth fruit for Him during the Tribulation and during His Millennial Reign. Although the primary interpretation of this passage relates to the nation of Israel, it has application to people of all ages who combine high talk and low walk. 21:20-22 When the disciples expressed amazement at the sudden withering of the tree, the Lord told them that they could do greater miracles than this if they had faith. For instance, they could say to a mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, and it would happen. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.Again we must explain that these seemingly unqualified promises concerning prayer must be understood in light of all that the Bible teaches on the subject. Verse 22 does not mean that any Christian can ask anything he wants and expect to get it. He must pray in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Bible.

Matthew 21:23

E. Jesus’ Authority Questioned (21:23-27) 21:23 When Jesus came into the court outside the temple proper, the chief priests and the elders interrupted His teaching to ask who gave Him the authority to teach, to perform miracles, and to cleanse the temple. They hoped to trap Him, no matter how He answered. If He claimed to have authority in Himself as the Son of God, they would accuse Him of blasphemy. If He claimed authority from men, they would discredit Him. If He claimed authority from God, they would challenge Him. They considered themselves the guardians of the faith, professionals who by formal training and human appointment were authorized to direct the religious life of the people.

Jesus had no formal schooling and certainly no credentials from Israel’s rulers. Their challenge reflected the age-old resentment felt by professional religionists against men with the power of divine anointing. 21:24, 25 The Lord offered to explain His authority if they would answer a question, Was John’s baptism from heaven or from men? John’s baptism should be understood as meaning John’s ministry. Therefore the question was, Who authorized John to carry on his ministry? Was his ordination human or divine? What credentials did he hold from Israel’s leaders? The answer was obvious: John was a man sent from God. His power came from divine enduement, not from human endorsement. The priests and elders were in a dilemma. If they admitted that John was sent by God, they were trapped. John had pointed men to Jesus as the Messiah. If John’s authority was divine, why hadn’t they repented and believed on Christ? 21:26 On the other hand, if they said that John was not commissioned by God, they adopted a position that would be ridiculed by the people, most of whom agreed that John was a prophet from God. If they had correctly answered that John was divinely sent, they would have had the answer to their own question: Jesus was the Messiah of whom John had been the forerunner. 21:27 But they refused to face the facts, so they pleaded ignorance. They could not tell the source of John’s power. Then Jesus said, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. Why should He tell them what they already knew but were unwilling to admit?

Matthew 21:28

F. Parable of the Two Sons (21:28-32) 21:28-30 This parable is a stinging rebuke to the chief priests and elders for their failure to obey John’s call to repentance and faith. It concerns a man whose two sons were asked to work in the vineyard. One refused, then changed his mind and went. The other agreed to go, but never did. 21:31, 32 When asked which son did the will of his father, the religious leaders unwittingly condemned themselves by saying, The first.The Lord interpreted the parable. Tax collectors and harlots were like the first son. They made no immediate pretense of obeying John the Baptist, but eventually many of them did repent and believe in Jesus. The religious leaders were like the second son. They professed to approve the preaching of John, but never confessed their sins or trusted the Savior. Therefore the out-and-out sinners entered the kingdom of God while the self-satisfied religious leaders remained outside. It is the same today. Avowed sinners receive the gospel more readily than those with a veneer of false piety. The expression John came to you in the way of righteousness means that he came preaching the necessity of righteousness through repentance and faith.

Matthew 21:33

G. Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers (21:33-46) 21:33-39 Further answering the question about authority, Jesus told the parable of a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, installed a wine press in it, … built a tower, rented it to vinedressers, and went away to a distant country. At vintage-time … he sent his servants to the vinedressers to get his share of the crop, but the vinedressers beat one, killed one, and stoned another. When he sent other servants, they received the same treatment. The third time he sent his son, thinking they would respect him. Knowing full well that he was the heir, they killed him with the idea of seizing his inheritance. 21:40, 41 At this point the Lord asked the priests and elders what the owner would do to those vinedressers. They answered, He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.The parable is not difficult to interpret. God is the landowner, Israel the vineyard (Psa_80:8; Isa_5:1-7; Jer_2:21). The hedge is the Law of Moses which separated Israel from the Gentiles and preserved them as a distinct people for the Lord. The wine-press, by metonymy, signifies the fruit which Israel should have produced for God. The tower suggests Jehovah’s watchful care for His people. The vinedressers are the chief priests and scribes. Repeatedly God sent His servants, the prophets, to the people of Israel seeking from the vineyard the fruits of fellowship, holiness, and love. But the people persecuted the prophets and killed some of them. Finally, God sent His Son, saying, They will respect My Son (v. 37). The chief priests and scribes said, This is the heira fatal admission. They privately agreed that Jesus was the Son of God (though publicly denying it) and thus answered their own question concerning His authority. His authority came from the fact that He was God the Son. In the parable they are quoted as saying, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance (v. 38). In real life they said, If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation (Joh_11:48). And so they rejected Him, threw Him out, and crucified Him. 21:42 When the Savior asked what the owner of the vineyard would do, their answer condemned them, as He shows in verses 42 and 43. He quoted the words of Psa_118:22 : The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. When Christ, the Stone, presented Himself to the buildersthe leaders of Israel, they had no place for Him in their building plans. They threw Him aside as useless. But following His death He was raised from the dead and given the place of preeminence by God. He has been made the topmost stone in God’s building: God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name … (Phi_2:9). 21:43 Jesus then bluntly announced that the kingdom of God would be taken from Israel and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And so it happened. Israel has been set aside as God’s chosen people and has been judicially blinded. A hardening has come upon the race that rejected its Messiah. The prophecy that the kingdom of God would be given to a nation bearing the fruits of it has been understood as referring to: (1) the church, composed of believing Jews and Gentilesa holy nation, God’s own people (1Pe_2:9); or (2) the believing portion of Israel that will be living at the Second Advent. Redeemed Israel will bring forth fruit for God. 21:44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. In the first part of the verse, the stone is on the ground; in the second part, it is descending from above. This suggests the two Advents of Christ. When He came the first time, the Jewish leaders stumbled over Him and were broken to pieces. When He comes again, He will descend in judgment, scattering His enemies like dust. 21:45, 46 The chief priests and Pharisees realized these parables were aimed directly at them, in answer to their question concerning Christ’s authority. They would like to have seized Him then and there, but they feared the multitudes, who still took Jesus for a prophet.