Matthew 21:46

But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitude, because they took Him for a prophet.

Their actual or assumed denseness finally had to give way to understanding, with the application made in such a blunt manner. But instead of turning from the wickedness of their ways, the bitterness of their hatred is only intensified. They would have taken Jesus away on the spot, had they not feared the people. An arrest at this time would have caused a riot, since the great multitudes gathered together in the courts of the Temple and throughout the city firmly held that He was a prophet, and would not have permitted harm to come upon Him.

Summary. Jesus makes a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, drives out the merchants and money-changers from the Temple, accepts the praise of the children, curses the fig-tree, upholds His authority, and tells the parables of the two sons and of the wicked husbandmen.