Matthew 21

CHAPTER 21THEME: Jesus enters Jerusalem officially, cleanses the temple, curses the fig tree, and when He is challenged by the chief priests and elders, He condemns them by parables of the two sons and the householder whose servants slew his sonThe movement in Matthew comes back into sharp focus in this chapter. Jesus comes to Jerusalem in a new role. Heretofore He had entered the city unobtrusively. Now He presses His claims as King upon the city of the King. Nothing could be more forward or daring. He cleanses the temple for the second time. This is presumption of the first order if He is not the One whom He claims to be. He curses the fig tree, which is a symbolic action. He meets the challenge of the religious rulers and by parable accuses them of plotting His death. You will note the decisive and deliberate tone in the method of Jesus. He is forcing the issue now. He will force them to act when and how He chooses. He is in full control of the entire situation. He is never more kingly than when He approaches the Cross.

Matthew 21:1

THE SO-CALLED TRIUMPHAL ENTRYI see no point in reading a miracle into this incident, although many people do. I believe this is a normal, natural situation. Probably when our Lord was in Jerusalem the last time He made arrangements with some friends to use these animals the next time He came to the city. He may have disclosed to them what He intended to do, and they agreed to have them ready for Him at the Passover Feast. I think that He told them that He would send a couple of His disciples to get them and that He would tell them what to say"The Lord hath need of them." I feel that this incident is much more wonderful if we look at it in this way.

Matthew 21:4

This is a quotation from Zec_9:9"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." There are certain important omissions in the quotation in Matthew which a careful comparison will reveal. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion” is omitted. Why? Because our Lord is not coming into Jerusalem for that time of rejoicing. That will take place at His second coming. Also omitted is “he is just, and having salvation"the word salvation has the thought of victory, which will be fulfilled at His second coming. The conclusion to be drawn from these portions is that at His second coming there will be a true triumphal entry. It is assumed that our Lord was displaying His meekness by riding upon this little donkey. That is not true. This little animal was ridden by kings. In our day it would be like riding into town in a Rolls Royce. The donkey was the animal of peace while the horse was the animal of war. When Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on this little animal of peace, He was offering Himself as King. In spite of the fact that He was doing that, the prophet says that He was humble. That is very important to see.

Matthew 21:6

It is possible that He had never come into Jerusalem by this route beforewe’ll see that in the Gospel of John. I think that generally He came in by the sheep gate in a very unobtrusive manner, the gate through which the animals for sacrifice were brought. But not this time! Here He rides in as a King, and those who are with Him recognize Him as a King. It is their opportunity to accept Him or reject Him.

Matthew 21:10

Our Lord forces Jerusalem to consider His claims for one final moment.

Matthew 21:12

THE SECOND CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLEThat is very strong language, is it not? Now let me call your attention to certain facts regarding the so-called triumphal entry. First of all, I do not think that “triumphal” entry is the proper name for it because, as we have seen, only certain portions of Zechariah’s prophecy were fulfilled. Our Lord came into the city of Jerusalem in order that He might be the Savior. He was making the final public presentation of Himself to the people. When you consider the four Gospel records together, they present a composite picture. The obvious conclusion is that He did not enter the city on only one day but on three separate days. The first time was on Saturday, the Sabbath Day. There were no money changers on that day, and He looked around and left, “And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve” (Mar_11:11). He entered as Priest. The second day He entered Jerusalem was on Sunday, the first day of the week. The money changers were there, and He cleansed the temple (vv. Mat_21:12-13). On this day He entered as King. The third day He entered Jerusalem was on Monday, the second day of the week. At that time He wept over Jerusalem, then entered the temple and taught and healed (see Luk_19:41-44, Luk_19:47-48). He entered as a Prophet that day. As we compare these three records in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it becomes apparent that they record three different entries, and I believe that our Lord entered Jerusalem on three consecutive days and in three consecutive rolesas Priest, as King, as Prophet. And He retired each day to Bethany. Apparently, He did not spend the night in the city until He was arrested. Remember that the so-called triumphal entry ended at the cross. But He will come the second time in triumph. The writer to the Hebrews puts this together in a wonderful way: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb_9:28). We are told in Zec_14:4 that when He comes the next time to this earth, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olivesthat’s where He will touch down. Then when He enters the city of Jerusalem, that will be the triumphal entry! I cannot call these three entries into Jerusalem triumphal entries because He is on His way to the Cross to die for your sin and my sin. After the Lord cleansed the temple, many came to Him for help:

Matthew 21:14

Notice how Matthew emphasizes the fact that multitudes of folk were healed.

Matthew 21:15

They resented it.

Matthew 21:16

“And he left them” indicates His rejection of the religious leaders. “And went out of the city into Bethany.” As we have indicated, our Lord did not spend the night in Jerusalem until the night of His arrest. But we find Him coming back into the city the next day. This, I think, is the entry that Luke emphasizes for us, His third and last entry on Monday morning

Matthew 21:18

THE SCORCHED FIG TREEThere has been a great deal of difficulty in attempting to interpret the fig tree incident. I have heard all sorts of ideas about what the fig tree represents. The fig tree, I believe, is symbolic of Israel as in Matthew 24, as we shall see. At least we can say with confidence that when our Lord came into the world, there was no fruit evidenced by the nation of Israel. There were only the outward leaves of a ritualistic, lifeless religion. This the Lord condemned.

The nation of Israel went through a religious form, but they had no power. They had turned what God had given them into a dead, lifeless ritual without vitality and virility which no longer was accomplishing God’s purpose. And I am of the opinion that God will deal the same way with the organized church which has turned its back upon the person of Jesus Christ. Again let me say that I feel His cursing of the fig tree is symbolic. Certainly He condemned the nation of Israel, and the nation suffered devastating judgment in A.D. 70.

Matthew 21:20

To them this was an amazing thing.

Matthew 21:21

Our Lord is giving them a lesson in prayer, that there should be faith in prayer. They marvel that the fig tree was cursed, and He tells them that their problem is that they do not have faith to believe that God can move in such a miraculous way. Frankly, I do not believe that our business is cursing fig trees or removing literal mountains. For many years I have lived in Southern California right along the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. To me they are lovely. I have never grown tired of them. I always enjoy looking at them, and there are never two days when they are alike. In Psalms 121 the psalmist says, “I will (lit., “Shall I …?”) lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help?” I don’t think that he was implying that his help came from the hills, because he added, “My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth” (Psa_121:1-2).

Certainly, I do not look to those mountains for help, only for enjoyment, and I have never wanted to move them. I feel that there is something bigger and more important to do than mountain moving and fig tree cursing. To preach the gospel of Christ, to give out the Word of God so that the Spirit of God can use itthat, my friend, is a miracle! When these lips of clay can say something that the Spirit of God can use to transform a life, that involves the kind of faith that I want. What we need is faith to believe that God can and will use His Word.

Matthew 21:23

THE SEARCHING QUESTIONAgain Jesus is challenged by the religious authorities The religious rulers are becoming ugly and very hateful in their manner. They do not question what the Lord Jesus is doing. Do you notice that? They have no basis on which they can deny the miraculous things He does; they can only question His authority.

Matthew 21:24

Here is His question to them

Matthew 21:25

You see, these religious rulers were attempting to trap Him by putting Him on the horns of a dilemma, but He immediately put them on the horns of a dilemma. He said, “I’ll tell you by what authority I work if you will tell Me by what authority John the Baptist did his work. Was it from heaven or was it of men?” Of course, if they had said it was of heaven, our Lord would have said, “I move by the same authority.” So they would not answer Him. They would not accept John’s authority as being from heaven; so, of course, they would not accept Jesus’ authority either.

Matthew 21:27

You can sense the tension developing in this situation. The Lord is about to deliver a scathing denunciation of the religious rulers. He will give a parable that places publicans and harlots above them, and the charge of Jesus cannot be ignored. The Lord is moving against these two men.

Matthew 21:28

PARABLE OF THE TWO SONSThis parable was a terrible insult to the religious rulers. Jesus likens them to the second son who said he would work for his father but did not. The Lord places publicans and harlots on a higher plane than these religious leaders. This parable applies today. Many people have joined the church and are religious and think they are Christians, but they are not. They can perform their church rituals and give mental assent to the doctrines, but they are not genuine believers unless there has been a transformation in their lives. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Co_5:17). The publicans and harlots recognized their sinfulness and came to Christ for salvation. They came lateat first they had said no to God, but they repented and came to Him, and He received them.

Matthew 21:32

The religious rulers had a religion of exterior decorations with nothing real inside. When a person accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, the interior is not only redecorated, it is made new. Now our Lord gives them another parable before they can get out of earshot

Matthew 21:33

PABABLE OF THE HOUSEHOLDER AND HIS VINEYARDIn this parable the householder represents God the Father, and the son is the Lord Jesus Christ. The husbandmen are a picture of Israel. This is the most pointed parable that our Lord has given so far. It is His final warning to the religious rulers. When in the parable He said, “But last of all he sent unto them his son,” the Son was standing before them, giving them the parable. What are they going to do with God’s Son? He is telling them right now what is in their hearts.

Matthew 21:39

This was startling to these men!

Matthew 21:40

Now He sends them back to the Old Testament for the analogy of the “stone” to Himself.

Matthew 21:42

It is interesting to note that the Lord changed the expression “kingdom of heaven” to “kingdom of God.” I feel that He is using the larger term because He is getting ready to include the Gentiles and everybody that will come to Him. “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof"that is, taken from the Jews and given to the church. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1Pe_2:9). The church is that “holy nation.”

Matthew 21:44

“Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken” relates to Christ’s first coming. He is the Rock on which the church is built. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1Co_3:11). To fall on that Stone is to come to Christ for salvation in this day of grace. To reject Christ is to have the Stone fall later in the judgment about which Daniel prophesied (see Dan_2:34, Dan_2:44-45), which relates to Christ’s second coming.

Matthew 21:45

They knew what He was talking about. In our day, unfortunately, a great many folk don’t see that there is also an application for themselves, especially for those in the church.

Matthew 21:46

Although the religious rulers had determined that Jesus should die, when they attempted to seize Him, they became fearful of the multitudes who considered Him a prophet of God.