JESUS PREPARES FOR HIS TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM (21:1-7). An essential part of any coronation among the Jews was an ass on which the King would ride to the crowning ceremony. This tradition commenced when Solomon rode to the River Gihon on the king's mule to be crowned in opposition to Adonija... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS ENTERS JERUSALEM AS ITS KING, IS CHALLENGED, CHALLENGES HIS OPPONENTS BACK IN RETURN, REVEALS HIS SONSHIP, AND FINALLY DECLARES HIMSELF TO BE NOT ONLY DAVID'S SON BUT DAVID'S LORD (21:1-22:46). Having laid the basis for His Kingship in what has gone before Jesus now publicly makes clear His c... [ Continue Reading ]
“And if any one says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them', and immediately he will send them.” It may well be that Jesus had already made an arrangement that He would collect the asses when He needed them and that whoever collected it was to give a kind of password, ‘the Lord... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now this is come about, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,' But Matthew then again points out that a further fulfilment of the Old Testament prophetic message was taking place. The Scriptures were coming to a head in Jesus (Matthew 5:17). The citation is in fac... [ Continue Reading ]
“Tell you the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King comes to you, Meek, and riding on an ass, And on a colt the foal of an ass.” That Jesus' careful arrangement for the obtaining of the colt, followed by His equally deliberate riding of it into Jerusalem in Passover week, is intended to have signif... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the disciples went, and did even as Jesus appointed them, and they brought the ass, and the colt, and spread their robes on them on them, and he sat on them.' The disciples then went and did precisely what Jesus had appointed them. They brought the ass, with its colt, and festal robes were spr... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the greater part of the crowd spread their robes in the way, and others cut branches from the trees, and spread them in the way.' At His approach on the ass, surrounded by the crowds, the excited people began to spread their robes in the way, and others to cut small branches from trees, possibl... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RIDE INTO JERUSALEM (21:8-17). Passover time was always a time of high excitement and fervour. At that time pilgrims would be flooding into Jerusalem from Galilee and Peraea, as well as from Judaea itself, and others would be flooding in from many parts of the world. And their minds would be fi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the crowds who went before him, and those who followed, cried, saying, “Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” ' And as they went on into the city the crowds yelled from all sides, and they cried ‘Hosanna to the Son of David', and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when he arrived in Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” The massed crowds, and the noise, and the excitement inevitably caused a reaction in the inhabitants of Jerusalem and in many Jewish visitors from around the world (the crowds following Jesus were probably mainly Ga... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the crowds said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” The triumphant reply then came back, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” This brought out what the understanding of the crowds as a whole was, although some may have had greater expectations. They were... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and cast out all those who sold and bought in the temple, and he overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of those who sold the doves,' The road led to the Temple, the centre of Jewish worship and a focal point at Passover time, where dail... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he says to them, “It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers.” In defence of His actions, and in order to explain their significance, Jesus then cites Isaiah 56:7 conjoined with Jeremiah 7:11. ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all p... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.' In the chiasmus this verse is in deliberate contrast with those speaking of the casting out of the corrupt dealers. For a short while the Temple was restored to its rightful purpose, and became a place where people were mad... [ Continue Reading ]
‘But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David”, they were stirred with indignation,' The picture here is vivid. Jesus had been stirred with indignation at the villainies pract... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus says to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise?' ” ' So they sharply drew His attention to the situation. ‘Do you not hear what these are saying? They are calling you th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he left them, and went forth out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there.' Then as suddenly as it had begun it was all over. Jesus left them and the city to think things over, and returned to His lodgings in Bethany, just outside the city boundaries.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Now in the morning as he returned to the city, he felt hungry,' The fact that even while cutting down the story drastically Matthew still mentions Jesus' hunger demonstrates that he intends it to indicate some kind of lesson. In his Gospel hunger refers to a longing to see the establishment of rig... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ACTED OUT PARABLE OF THE END OF THE OLD UNBELIEVING ISRAEL (21:18-22). Having made clear by His actions that the old unbelieving Israel in the person of its leaders will not receive Him, Jesus now makes clear what the result will be by bringing about the withering of a fig tree, and by describin... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And seeing a fig tree by the way side, he came to it, and found nothing on it, but leaves only. And he says to it, “Let there be no fruit from you from now on for ever.” ' In an abbreviated account Matthew now describes how on seeing a fig tree by the side of the road He came up to it and found th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, “How did the fig tree immediately wither away?” The fact that its speedy withering was an unusual occurrence is brought out by the disciples' question. They marvelled that the fig tree had already withered away. The rate at which it had wither... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, If you have faith, and do not doubt, you will not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if you shall say to this mountain, ‘Be you taken up and cast into the sea,' it will be done.” Jesus replies enigmatically. He primarily uses wha... [ Continue Reading ]
“And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.” Jesus then caps off His words by underlining the importance of taking God at His word. His point is that when they are praying for something, praying through to a position of faith will result in their receiving it. N... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS IS QUESTIONED ABOUT HIS AUTHORITY (21:23-27). The idea that the leadership of Israel were in fact only a sham is now emphasised in this incident. In it the leaders of the people, the religious authorities of the Temple (the chief priests) and the lay authorities of Jerusalem (the elders of th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?” ' Matthew here omits mention of the Scribes. As we saw at the beginning of this section that wa... [ Continue Reading ]
a ‘And Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I will similarly tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where was its origin? From heaven or from men?” Jesus replies by diverting the question away from Himself. He does... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And they answered Jesus, and said, “We do not know.”. He also said to them, “Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.” ' In the end they opted for the answer that they felt would embarrass them least. They replied that they did not know. This basically disqualified them from being j... [ Continue Reading ]
“But what do you think? A man had two sons.” We note here that once again we are faced with the challenge of the two ways (compare Matthew 7:13 ff). For this father has two sons who must choose which way they will take. But in this example a new element will be introduced, and that is the element o... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard'. And he answered and said, ‘I will not', but afterward he changed his mind, and went.” The first son is called to work in his father's vineyard, but rudely refuses. However, afterwards he changes his mind and goes. He is a pi... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS EXPOSES THE HYPOCRISY OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS BY THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS (21:28-32). Jesus now follows up His challenge concerning the source of John's authority, in order to face the religious leaders more emphatically with their failure to respond to God's message through John. He poin... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he came to the second, and said the same. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir', and went not.” The second son is full of expressions of willingness. His answer is immediate. ‘I go, sir.' But the problem was that he did not go. He is like all those who are outwardly religious from the beginnin... [ Continue Reading ]
“Which of the two did the will of his father?” They say, “The first.” Jesus them asked which of the two sons did the will of his father, the one who had refused, but had then gone, or the one who had expressed all willingness, but had not gone. Even the religious leaders knew the answer to that one... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus says to them, “Truly I say to you, that the public servants and the prostitutes go into the Kingly Rule of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the public servants and the prostitutes believed him, and you, when you saw it, did not... [ Continue Reading ]
“Hear another parable. There was a man who was an estate owner, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to vineyard workers, and went into another place.” The description here is partially based on Isaiah 5:2, although the backgr... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PARABLE OF THE FAITHLESS TENANTS (21:33-41). . The final build up of Jesus, and of what He has come to do, continues. He has entered Jerusalem as its King (Matthew 21:1). He has taken over the Temple, casting out all that is commercial and to do with Mammon, and making it a place of the healing... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the vineyard workers, to receive his fruits. And the vineyard workers took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.” When the time came that fruits could be expected the owner sent servants to collect th... [ Continue Reading ]
“Again, he sent other servants more than at first, and they treated them in the same way.” But the vineyard owner continued to be persistent, and sent even more servants, but they treated them in the same way. ‘More than at first' might signify sending a larger contingent, or it may indicate a long... [ Continue Reading ]
“But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will reverence my son'.” Finally the owner of the vineyard decided that He would give them one last chance. He would send to them his own son. This was with the twofold hope, firstly that they would acknowledge the potential owner as having the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE QUESTION OF JESUS' AUTHORITY (21:37-22:46). While, as we have seen above, the section from Matthew 19:3 to Matthew 22:46 forms a complete section in itself, enclosed within a dissertation on true leadership (Matthew 21:18) and a dissertation on false leadership (Matthew 21:23), this sub-section... [ Continue Reading ]
“But the vineyard workers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance.' ” The reaction of the husbandmen is then given. ‘Said among themselves' was a hint of what Jesus' listeners were already secretly doing. They were whispering... [ Continue Reading ]
“And they took him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him.” The result was that the servants rejected the son, expelling him from the vineyard and killing him. This illustration was a clear warning to the Jewish leaders that both God and Jesus were fully aware of their murderous in... [ Continue Reading ]
“When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those vineyard workers? They say to him, ‘He will evilly (kakos) destroy those evil (kakos) men, and will let out the vineyard to other vineyard workers, who will render him the fruits in their seasons'.” What the Lord of the vi... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus says to them, “Did you never read in the scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner.' This was from the Lord, And it is marvellous in our eyes?” As He constantly did Jesus then challenged them from the Scriptures. Jesus had a high view of... [ Continue Reading ]
THE APPLICATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PARABLE (21:42-46). Jesus then makes clear the basic facts which the parable is bringing home, that the very Stone which is the keystone of the whole of God's building, is to be rejected by the builders, but will then be made the head of the corner by God. An... [ Continue Reading ]
“Therefore I say to you, The Kingly Rule of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation (people) bringing forth its fruits.” That is why He can categorically declare to them that the Kingly Rule of God is to be taken away from them (they will no longer have it on offer and be seen... [ Continue Reading ]
“And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whoever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.” The idea of the Stone then leads on to other aspects of the Stone in Scripture, and following on the parable with its emphasis on both judgment and restoration we have a similar cont... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them.' The chief priests and Pharisees, including the Scribes, recognised that His words were spoken against them, and that He was diminishing them in the eyes of the people, for all this was done open... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when they sought to lay hold on him, they feared the crowds, because they took him for a prophet.' But their plans to arrest Him were shelved because they recognised that the people saw Jesus as a prophet, and that if they moved against Him they could cause a riot.... [ Continue Reading ]