Matthew 21:18

And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? For the exposition, see Luke 19:1 after 5:44; and the notes at Mark 11:12. Now commences, as Alford remarks, that series of parables and discourses of our Lord with His enemies, in which He develops, more completely than ever before, His hostility to their hypocrisy end iniquity: and so they are stirred up to compass His death....

18._And returning in the morning. _Between that solemn entrance of Christ, of which we have spoken, and the day of the Passover, he had passed the night in Bethany; and during the day he appeared in the temple for the purpose of teaching. Matthew and Mark relate what happened during that interval, that Christ, when _coming into the city, was hungry, _approached _a fig-tree, _and, _having found nothing on it but leaves, cursed it; _and that the tree, which had been _cursed _by his voice, _immediately withered. _I take for granted that Christ did not pretend hunger, but _was _actually _hungry; _for we know that he voluntarily became subject to the infirmities of the flesh, though by nature he was free and exempt from them. But here lies the difficulty. How was he mistaken in seeking fruit on a tree that had none; more especially, when the season of fruit had not yet arrived? And again, Why...

18-22 This cursing of the barren fig-tree represents the state of hypocrites in general, and so teaches us that Christ looks for the power of religion in those who profess it, and the savour of it from those that have the show of it. His just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many, seeking fruit, and finds leaves only. A false profession commonly withers in this world, and it is the effect of Christ's curse. The fig-tree that had no fruit, soon lost its leaves. This represents the state of the nation and people of the Jews in particular. Our Lord Jesus found among them nothing but leaves. And after they rejected Christ, blindness and hardness grew upon them, till they were undone, and their place and nation rooted up. The Lord was righteous in it. Let us greatly fear the doom denounced on the barren fig-tree....

Verse Matthew 21:18. _NOW IN THE MORNING, AS HE RETURNED INTO THE CITY_] Which was his custom from the time he wholly left Jerusalem, spending only the day time teaching in the temple; see Matthew 21:17. This was probably on Thursday, the 12th day of the month _Nisan_. _He hungered _- Probably neither he, nor his disciples, had any thing but what they got from _public charity_; and the hand of that seems to have been _cold_ at this time....

This paragraph contains the account of the barren fig-tree, and of the cleansing of the temple. See also Mark 11:12; Luke 19:45. Matthew 21:12 AND JESUS WENT INTO THE TEMPLE OF GOD ... - From Mark 11:11, it is probable that this cleansing of the temple did not take place on the day that he entered Jerusalem in triumph, but on the day following. He came and looked round upon all things, Mark says, and went out to Bethany with the twelve. On the day following, returning from Bethany, he saw the fig-tree. Entering into the temple, he

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 21:1 _Triumphal entry into Jerusalem_. (Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29; John 12:12.) MATTHEW 21:1 We have come to the last week of our Lord's earthly life, when he made his appearance in Jerusalem as Messiah, and suffered the penalty of death. If, as is believed, his crucifixion took place on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, the triumphal entry must be assigned to the ninth, which day was reckoned to commence at one sunset and to continue till the follow-lug evening. Th

NOW IN THE MORNING,.... Greek "in the first", or morning light, in the dawn, or break of day, the first spring of light; so the Latins s use "prima luce" for early in the morning, as soon as ever day breaks: so early did Christ rise, and return from Bethany to Jerusalem; AND AS HE RETURNED TO THE CITY. The Persic version renders it, "they returned"; which, though not a good version, gives a true sense; for, as Christ went with the twelve to Bethany, as Mark affirms, so these returned with him, as is clear from what follows. Thus Christ, day after day, went to and from Jerusalem: in the evening he went to Bethany, or to some part of the Mount of Olives, and there abode all night, and returned in the daytime to Jerusalem, and taught in the temple; for it does not appear that he was one night in Jerusalem, before the night of the passover. HE HUNGERED, rising so early before his friends w...

9. THE KING ENTERS INTO JERUSALEM. The Parables of the Two Sons and the Householder and His Vineyard. CHAPTER 21 1. The King Enters Jerusalem. (Matthew 21:1 .) 2. The Second Cleansing of the Temple. (Matthew 21:12 .) 3. The Fig tree Cursed. (Matthew 21:18 .) 4. His Authority Impeached and His Question. (Matthew 21:23 .) 5. The Parable of the Two Sons. (Matthew 21:28 .) 6. The Parable of the Householder. (Matthew 21:33 .)

THE CURSING OF THE FIG TREE AND THE POWER OF FAITH (Mark 11:12 ff., Mark 11:20 *). What Mk. has severed, Mt. joins together. The miracle is enhanced by happening at once. The special mention of Peter is strangely omitted. In both Gospels the tree is condemned for falsity, not fruitlessness, and symbolises Jerusalem rather than the nation. Besides Luke 13:6 * _cf._ Hosea 9:10. The lesson Jesus points is the efficacy of believing prayer. This mountain would be Olivet; apart from the familiar metaphor Jesus may have had Zechariah 14:4 in mind. The saying is found

THE BEGINNING OF THE LAST ACT (Matthew 21:1-11)...