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| Chapter 21 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 saying unto them, "Go into the village opposite you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them unto Me. 3 And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, ‘The Lord hath need of them,’ and straightway he will send them." 4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 "Tell ye the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt, the foal of an ass.’" 6 And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 And they brought the ass and the colt and put on them their clothes, and they set Him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches from the trees and strewed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried out, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" 10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?" 11 And the multitude said, "This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." 12 ¶ And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves, 13 and said unto them, "It is written, ‘My house shall be called the house of prayer,’ but ye have made it a den of thieves." 14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were sore displeased, 16 and said unto Him, "Hearest thou what these say?" And Jesus said unto them, "Yea, have ye never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise’?" 17 And He left them and went out of the city into Bethany, and He lodged there. 18 ¶ Now in the morning as He returned into the city, He hungered. 19 And when He saw a fig tree by the wayside, He came to it and found nothing thereon, but leaves only. And He said unto it, "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever." And immediately the fig tree withered away. 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How soon has the fig tree withered away!" 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, ‘Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea,’ it shall be done. 22 And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." 23 ¶ And when He had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto Him as He was teaching and said, "By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?" 24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell Me, I in like manner will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John: whence was it? From Heaven, or of men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we shall say, ‘From Heaven,’ he will say unto us, ‘Why did ye not then believe him?’ 26 But if we shall say, ‘Of men,’ we fear the people, for all hold John to be a prophet." 27 And they answered Jesus and said, "We cannot tell." And He said unto them, "Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 28 ¶ "But what think ye? A certain man had two sons. And he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he repented and went. 30 And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ and went not. 31 Which of those two did the will of his father?" They said unto Him, "The first." Jesus said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and harlots believed him. And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. 33 ¶ "Hear another parable: There was a certain householder who planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen and went into a far country. 34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one and killed another and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, ‘They will reverence my son.’ 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.’ 39 And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. 40 When therefore the Lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?" 41 They said unto Him, "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons." 42 Jesus said unto them, "Did ye never read in the Scriptures? ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’ 43 Therefore say I unto you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." 45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that He spoke of them. 46 But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitude, because they took Him for a prophet. |
Matthew omits the events at Bethany John 12:1ff. v1-11 The King makes a public announcement. Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19::29-38; John 12:12-19. This is the first of a series of visits to Jerusalem during the final week ending in the crucifixion. Jesus had spent the night at Bethany, the exact location is unknown but it is thought to be east of the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives was the place where the Jews expected the Messiah to first appear. v2-6 We are now approaching a special event, the instructions to the disciples about the mother ass and her young male ass is very specific (exact details), showing that the coming event was very important. Jesus had normally walked everywhere, and the village was only about 2 miles away from Jerusalem, but this event was important, Jesus was about to fulfil Zech 9:9, though the disciples did not seem to understand this until much later, John 12:16. v7-8 Both animals were brought, the mother ass being needed at first as the colt would have not left her. The colt had never been ridden but submitted to the disciples coats being place upon it and then Jesus mounting it. Some of the multitude now place there clothes onto the road as a sign of honour. Others cut down palm branches, John 12:13. It was unusual for a Jewish king to ride an ass, a horse was more suitable as the ass was considered a lowly animal. v9 The shouts of the crowd clearly showed that they expected that Jesus was the Messiah. "Hosanna," a Hebrew word meaning Save now. "Son of David!" a title associated with the Messiah, up to now Jesus had avoided such public displays, even though he had allowed individual announcements, John 4:25,26; Matt 16:16-20 but with this event there was an unmistakable announcement to the nation. See also Psalms 118-26 which was one of the Psalms (113-118) used during the Passover. v10,11 This event occurs just before the Passover and Jerusalem will be full of Jews from outside the area and possibly from outside the country. Jesus had also deliberately avoided Jerusalem during His ministry. Because of this the Messianic announcement obviously caused many of the people to ask the question, "Who is this?" At the end of the day Jesus enters the temple, after looking round He returns to Bethany with His disciples, Mark 11:11. v12-17 The purifying (cleaning) of the Temple. Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-47. Jesus had made a similar cleanup of the temple at the beginning of His ministry, John 2:13-22. On the day following His public announcement Jesus enters the Temple and throws out all those who bought and sold. The outer Court of the Gentiles was the location of the stalls where the sacrificial animals could be bought and sold, also people could exchange their foreign money into money suitable to use in the temple, for taxes or offerings. Presumably these stall owners were making a profit on each exchange. "Those who sold pigeons," These were meant for the poor to use as their Temple offerings. (As offered at the birth of Jesus, Luke 2:24.) All the buying, selling and money exchange was controlled by Annas the High Priest’s and his family. v13 "It is written," Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11. "Den of thieves," the home of robbers, protected by the religious leaders in a sacred building. v14-16 Matthew is the only Gospel which records Jesus healing and the reappearance of the Hosanna’s from the people worshipping in the Temple. Responding to the objections of the priests Jesus quotes Psalm 8:2 which shows that God will get praise from what the world thinks is the most insignificant (smallest, unimportant) - a baby. v17 Again He returns to Bethany overnight. Compare Luke 21:37. v18-22 The Fig Tree cursed. Mark 11:12-14; Mark 11:20-24. This event occupies two separate incidents over 24 hours, Matthew joins it into one incident. The fig tree is a common tree in this area and is often used as a symbol for Israel. The tree is unusual in that the leaves and fruit appear at the same time, often with the fruit coming first. This tree had put out its leaves in April and should have grown fruit as well, though the fruit may not have been matured it should have been edible at this stage. There was no fruit, only the leaves. Jesus could have created fruit but he does not. Instead He gave a human reaction, "Let no fruit grow on you." A tree does not know of good or evil and is not responsible for its actions. v20 Matthew seems to indicate that the tree dies ‘quickly’ but it was not noticed until the next morning by the disciples. v21,22 Jesus tells the disciples that such power and even more was available to those who believe in prayer. However, with this faith will mean that any prayers will be done in the will of God. v23-27 Jesus authority is questioned. Mark 11:27-33; Luke 20:1-8. v23 during the third visit of Jesus to the temple He was approached by members of the Sanhedrin, the chief priests, elders and scribes (Mark 11:27). They want to know by whose authority He was acting, the cleansing of the Temple, the miracles and acceptance of the position and worship as Messiah. The Sanhedrin or a senior Rabbi, (teacher) would normally have given agreement and so authority. v24 Jesus responds to the challenge by asking them a question, The Baptism of John, by whose authority was that done, from ‘heaven’ or from ‘man’? v25,26 This question caused the Sanhedrin representatives some heart searching and exposes their dishonesty. The ministry of John the Baptist was very popular and had been recognized as prophetic, John had also publicly proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, John 1:29-37; John 3:26-30; Acts 19:4. If the religious leaders acknowledged and accepted John’s divine authority, they would have to accept Jesus as the Messiah and His teaching, on the other hand if they rejected John then there would be a public outcry as many people had accepted John. v27 They refused to answer, and so their cowardly action did not deserve any answer from Jesus. Instead He tells a parable. v28-32 The Two Sons. Matthew is the only one to record this parable. The two sons are representative of the Jews. The son who said "I will not" represents the religious outcast, publicans and harlots, who eventually accepted the message and teaching of John and often became followers of Jesus. Consider the parables of Luke 15:1-32. The second son represents the attitude of the religious leaders, they initially gave approval of John, but when they had seen what would be the effect on their life they turned away, John 5:30-39; Luke 7:29,30. v33-46 The wicked farm workers. The title "husbandman" normally referred to a farmer who rented the land to farm from another land owner, he was a ‘tenant’ farmer. This parable gives the original answer to the "by whose authority" question by showing Him as a special divine Son sent by the Father. We must always be careful not to read too much into the details of parables. It is obvious that the householder represents God the Father who has planted a vineyard, a symbol of Israel, with the kingdom of God. Yet Jesus showed human thinking in that the householder did not anticipated (expected) the behaviour of the farmers. The story showed that the householder had made special preparation for the running of the vineyard, all the necessary equipment supplied. Then it showed the shameful behaviour of the Jews with the various messengers from God down through the Jewish history. It is amazing how much patience the owner had with the farmers, but finally he sent his son and so reveals the evil heart of the farmers, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.’ See John 11:47-53, the exact thoughts of the religious leaders. v39ff From this point the story turns from history and becomes a prophecy. The son is killed off, a prediction of the coming crucifixion. In the story the vineyard is taken from the farmers by the owner and given to others, the church. At this point the Jewish leaders had not realized the meaning of the story but this was soon to change, v45. "They feared the people" and the popularity of Jesus. The same fear also prevented them turning against John, v26. v40 Jesus asks the scribes and Pharisees what should happen to these husbandmen, they did not hesitate in their reply, "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons." Jesus then points out that they had pronounced sentence on their own heads and actions, v42-45. The difference in the story was that after the rejection and death of the son the owner punished the men, there was no mention of the resurrection as happened with Jesus, He was to become the stone which will break those who rejected Him. The leaders realized that Jesus was talking about them. Let us look at the parable in more detail. The vineyard: This has been fully setup and planted by the owner and then given to the tenant farmers for care. God in Isaiah talks about Israel being the vineyard of the Lord. Israel was supposed to tell the world about God, they often boasted about the law, but forgot to produce fruit for the owner of the vineyard, God. Ceremonies and ritual were more important than the "fruit." Unfortunately, this also now hold for the church of Jesus Christ today. We have many rituals and ceremonies in the church today, many of these are for Man glorification, not God, the true faith has been lost, forgotten. The treatment of the servants: Repeatedly the Israelites claimed that their father was Abraham yet generation of the tribes of Israel ignored and harmed the messengers and prophets sent to them. Finally they were to reject and destroy the Son of God sent to them. The Jews were the most favoured people, they had been put in charge of the Words of God, while the world was in darkness the Jews had the revelations of God. Instead of telling the world in thanks they closed their ranks and said they were better than the world. Today the Believer also has the revelation from God, how are you using it? The greatest sin in the world is to disobey God the Father. Also consider 1 Peter 2:6-9; Romans 11:25,26. |
Easy English Translation
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