Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

21:1–28:20 Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem initiates Matthew’s account of how the Messiah’s suffering and resurrection establish salvation.

21:1 Bethphage (a Hebrew name meaning house of figs) was probably located on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives between Bethany and Jerusalem proper.

Verse 3

21:3 Jesus was revealing himself as the Lord who, as king of Israel, ascends to Mount Zion on a donkey (21:5; see Zech 9:9).

Verse 4

21:4-5 The Old Testament fulfillment here emphasizes the Messiah’s non-violent, humble, and saving work (see 11:28-30; Isa 62:11; Zech 9:9-10).

Verse 11

21:11 The crowds with Jesus understood him to be a prophet, empowered by God to teach and to perform miracles. • The description from Nazareth in Galilee highlights Jesus’ humble origins (see 2:23).

Verse 12

21:12-13 The close association of the Temple cleansing (see John 2:13-16) with the cursing of the fig tree (Matt 21:18-19) reveals Jesus as the Messiah who confronted Israel and warned that God judges those who reject the Messiah and his message.

21:12 Buying and selling took place within the Temple complex, in the Court of the Gentiles. • Money changers profited from the exchange of money from other currencies into official Jewish currency. Jesus criticized the commercialism that profaned the holiness of the Temple (see Mark 11:11-18).

Verse 13

21:13 Jesus’ actions were justified, because God’s glory was being desecrated through financial exploitation.

Verse 15

21:15 The Jewish leaders’ stubborn refusal to believe is contrasted with the exuberant faith and praise of little children (see 18:1-14; 19:13-15).

Verse 16

21:16 Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? Jesus put this penetrating question to opponents who did not perceive the fulfillment of messianic promises in his ministry. See also 12:3, 5; 19:4; 21:42; 22:31.

Verse 19

21:19 there were only leaves: Mark observes that “it was too early in the season for fruit” (see Mark 11:13). It was spring (just before Passover); figs form in the spring but ripen in the fall. • immediately the fig tree withered: Matthew has apparently compressed the story (cp. Matt 21:18-22; Mark 11:13-14, 20-23). The cursing of the fig tree is a symbolic gesture depicting God’s judgment on Israel for rejecting the Messiah (see Matt 3:9; 8:11-12). Like a fig tree that shows promise but no fruit, the Israelites (especially the hypocritical leaders) did not bear the fruit of receiving the Messiah (see 21:33-46).

Verse 22

21:22 Jesus was exhorting the disciples to trust in God and to pray accordingly. He was not offering God’s unconditional endorsement of all that they might desire (1 Jn 5:14-15).

Verse 23

21:23–22:46 This section focuses on the Jewish leaders’ attack on Jesus’ authority. In each case, Jesus’ wisdom revealed the leaders’ spiritual blindness. These debates also revealed Jesus’ status as Messiah and the consequences of rejecting him. Tragically, the leaders grew more resistant with each encounter and plotted to eliminate Jesus (21:23, 46; 22:15-17, 23, 34, 41).

21:23 Elders (literally elders of the people) were family heads from each tribe who were members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem (cp. Ezra 5:5; 6:14; 10:8).

Verse 24

21:24 Jesus propounded a riddle, the solution to which answered the leaders’ question and forced them into a dilemma that revealed their hearts (21:25-26). Answering by counter-question was typical for such debates.

Verse 25

21:25 John’s ministry, like Jesus’ (see 3:1, 5-6), was controversial, especially after John’s public denouncement of the sins of Herod Antipas (see 14:4). The leaders did not want to acknowledge that John’s ministry was from God, since they had refused to believe John by repenting of their sins (3:2) and accepting Jesus as the Messiah (John 1:29-34).

Verse 27

21:27 The leaders lacked integrity and courage to confess what they believed about John. So Jesus’ refusal to answer their original question was fair.

Verse 28

21:28–22:14 Three parables expose the guilt of those who had rejected the Messiah and forfeited their privilege as God’s chosen people. The new people of God are only those who embrace the Messiah.

21:28-32 This parable continues the point about John’s significance.

Verse 29

21:29 I won’t go: This response must have offended Jews who were taught to show outward respect for the authority of a father (see 8:21-22).

Verse 32

21:32 The right way to live is in conformity to God’s will (3:15; 5:20; see also Prov 8:20; 12:28).

Verse 33

21:33-46 In this story Jesus draws on Isa 5:1-7. The people of Israel who rejected God’s Messiah forfeited the privilege of being God’s people. The Christian community, comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, has now been called to be the people of God (cp. Rom 9:4-8; 11:1-12).

Verse 34

21:34-35 sent his servants: The prophets had spoken God’s word to Israel. The tenant farmers represented the leaders of Israel, whom Jesus held responsible for the deaths of God’s prophets (23:29-37).

Verse 37

21:37 Finally: God’s revelation climaxed in Jesus (see 13:16-17; Heb 1:1-2).

Verse 40

21:40 When the owner of the vineyard returns refers to the Lord’s coming in judgment (see 16:27; 24:1-36).

Verse 41

21:41 The Jewish religious leaders pronounced their own condemnation.

Verse 42

21:42 The cornerstone was either the first stone of the foundation or the capstone (as of an arch), the last to be laid. The very stone that the builders rejected as unworthy of use was, in fact, the most important. Jesus was referring to his own role in the Kingdom of God (21:43) and to the religious leaders’ rejection of him.

Verse 43

21:43 taken away from you: Either the privilege of being God’s chosen nation no longer belonged to the Jews, or the religious leaders had lost the privilege of being leaders of God’s people (see Rom 9–11). • The Christian community is a nation that will produce the proper fruit—that is, a life of trust and obedience that demonstrates the inauguration of the Kingdom (see Matt 3:8; 7:15-20; 12:33; 13:8, 26).

Verse 44

21:44 Though in a short while the Messiah’s opponents would gain a brief victory, they would ultimately be broken and the stone would crush them because the cross became the gateway to Jesus’ vindication and triumph (see also Dan 2:34-35, 44-45).

Verse 45

21:45 This explanation fits with Matthew’s theme of God’s judgment on the Jewish leaders who misled the people of Israel (see 23:13-15).