THE BOOK OF MATTHEW – Chapter 21
Jesus’ Triumphal Entry, Jesus Cleanses the Temple, The Barren Fig Tree, Authority Challenged, Parable of the Landowner
It may be time to reiterate that the purpose of this study and of this commentary. This is not meant to be an exhaustive commentary on the Greek language and words used; and, this is not meant to be an exhaustive commentary on each and every metaphor, simile, or ritual practice of that day; nor is it about the socio-political or geopolitical conditions of that day.
The purpose of this study and of this commentary is for us as His disciples and followers to learn to walk in the steps of Jesus. This is about gaining understanding coupled with wisdom for application.
We have been commissioned and sent into all the world, to make disciples. We are to tell people about Him. We are to teach them to obey His words, and to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Matthew presents us with the model and methods of Jesus, which are to be our models and methods in order to accomplish our mission.
Secondly, the purpose of this study is to concurrently seek and find the prophetic words of Jesus, in order to pursue and apply them to our lives. This task and exercise will lead us to call on and to walk in the Holy Spirit with His guidance and power.
Finally, Jesus has told us we are to do the Works He has done and greater works than these, as He has gone to the Father.
If you are wondering about ‘these works’, you are not alone. The crowds that followed Jesus also asked, “What are we to do, so that we may habitually be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered, “This is the Work of God: that you believe, [adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in the One whom He has sent.” (See John 6:28 & 29).
It is by this method – walking by faith, in the prophetic – that we are prepared and empowered to allow God to do His Works and even greater works – though our mortal bodies and through our lives.
(Please note: The entire book of Matthew is the Breathed Word of God, and all of it is important. That said,
Chapters 1 – 3 establish the lineage of Jesus the Christ, the birth of Jesus, the announcement of Jesus, and the baptism of Jesus. (This may seem tedious at times, but is the vital groundwork, not to just know about Him, but to actually know Him).
Chapters 4 through 28 give us the model, the mission, the purpose and the plan of God, through His Son, Jesus, as the Anointed One, to bring the Good News of Hope and the Way of Salvation to the world. (This is the exciting teachings and demonstration of the power of God).
Chapters 4 though 28 also give us our mission, purpose and plan. We, the Body of Christ, must be obedient and available for Him to do His Works though us, until the end of the age. This is where we intentionally intersect with the Person and the Power of Jesus.(This is where you and I get personally involved, following Jesus).
Please read the chapters and the commentaries carefully, study them diligently and pray and meditate on them deeply. This is The Way!
The Triumphant Entry
Matthew21:1, When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, verse 2, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me. Verse 3. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them on immediately.” Verse 4. Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled:
Verse 5. “SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION,
‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU,
HUMBLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY,
EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A DONKEY.’” (see Zechariah 9:9).
Verse 6. The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, verse 7, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their cloaks on them; and He sat on the cloaks. Verse 8. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. Verse 9. Now the crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David;
BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;
Hosanna in the highest!” Verse 10. When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” Verse 11. And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
(Commentary Break): Read this carefully and at its face value and try to gain its full meaning and significance. “When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” All the city, or at the very least, most all the city, had no idea about Jesus. Some of the people considered Him to be a ‘prophet’. Others had no idea, and none of them, apparently knew Him as their long awaited Messiah! Ah, But the ’miracles’ of crowd hysteria! They were excited. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road before Him and others were cutting branches and putting them on the road before Him. And yet they were shouting ‘Hosanna’, which translates, “save now, we pray”. It was an intense cry both of happiness and a cry for help. One would expect the symbolism and the cries of the crowd would remind the Jews of the prophecies of the coming Messiah! But, alas, they have eyes and cannot see, and ears but cannot hear. How about you? Do you remember? Do you know? Do you believe all that He has said? (End Commentary Break).
Cleansing the Temple
Verse 12. And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. Verse 13. And He said to them, “It is written: ‘MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a DEN OF ROBBERS.”
(Commentary Break): There are two things I would point out. First, it takes planning and forethought to braid cords into whips (the devices Jesus used), so this was not spontaneous. Jesus thought this through. This is a calculated and a well thought out response. And, secondly, the only times you see Jesus acting or behaving as if He is angry, is when anyone or anything obstructs the path and access to God, and this is one of those times. This is a perversion of the purpose, intention and symbolism of the Temple. And sadly, even tragically, we still see this in our churches today, but on a grander scale. What does this say? Think about it! What is your response to this type of defiance of God? (End Commentary Break).
Verse 14. And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and He healed them. Verse 15. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant, verse 16, and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘FROM THE MOUTHS OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?” (see Psalm 8:2) Verse 17. And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.
(Commentary Break): The children may not have understood the full significance of their words and actions. They may have been repeating what they had seen in others or reacting to what they had been told, that Jesus was and is the One True Living God. Hosanna! This is significant on so many levels.
Jesus has told us that if we will train our children up in the way they should go so when they are old they will not depart from it; and that unless we believe as a child, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
We, Christians in the twenty first century church, whether we are willing to admit it or not, are generally ‘politely proud’, ‘surreptitiously arrogant’ and the result is that we are left weak and impotent in the ways of God. It would seem that it is more important to us that our preachers have a masters of divinity degree or a doctorate from a seminary than if he walks humbly in the ways of our Lord; showing the way by preaching the Gospel as Jesus preached, laying hands on the sick, healing the lame and blind, caring for the widow and the orphan, visiting those in our prisons. Instead, they take their place at the head table and send others to do the works. (End Commentary Break).
The Barren Fig Tree
Verse 18. Now in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Verse 19. And seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.
Verse 20. Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” Verse 21. 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 was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. Verse 22. And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”
(Commentary Break): This is an actual event. Jesus uses it as a ‘teaching moment’ and turns it into a metaphor, or sorts. The fig tree is every man and woman. And when you have ceased to be useful to your Lord, you wither and die. It is reminiscent of Matthew chapter 5, verse 13, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people.”
Then Jesus makes this astounding statement, WHICH IS NOT A METAPHOR: “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”
Faith, without doubting, releases Jesus to do His Works through you! And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all! Yes, faith as a child! (End Commentary Break).
Authority Challenged
Verse 23. When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” Verse 24. But Jesus responded and said to them, “I will also ask you one question, which, if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Verse 25. The baptism of John was from what source: from heaven or from men?” And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ Verse 26. But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” Verse 27. And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.
(Commentary Break): I ask you, the reader, by what authority did Jesus do these things, and who gave Him this authority?
This is a question which must be answered by anyone who would be a disciple of Jesus. Jesus tells His disciples that they will continue His Works, and will do even greater works than He (John 14:12), so it is imperative that we, His disciples, know the answer.
Another time, in the Temple, the Jews were persecuting Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath, and this time Jesus gives a response:
“But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”
“For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” – Matthew 5:17-19, 30
ACTION POINT:
We must attain to the Mind and Attitude of Christ
We must practice His ways. We must bear in mind that it is not we who do these works, but it is He.
We must know that we can only do what we see the Father doing. We say only what we hear the Father saying, because we can do nothing of ourselves.
We must listen and watch for the Father, literally.
We must be still and know that He is God, get alone with Him
We must allow the Holy Spirit to quicken and train our spirit to be alert and sensitive to the voice of God.
John 14:12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13 “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
Please remember, we must study and be diligent to present ourselves approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (End Commentary Break).
Parable of Two Sons
Verse 28. “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ Verse 29. But he replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went. Verse 30. And the man came to his second son and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I will, sir’; and yet he did not go. Verse 31. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. Verse 32. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even have second thoughts afterward so as to believe him.
Parable of the Landowner
Verse 33. “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A FENCE AROUND IT, AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and he leased it to vine-growers and went on a journey. Verse 34. And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. Verse 35. And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Verse 36. Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them. Verse 37. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ Verse 38. But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’ Verse 39. And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Verse 40. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” Verse 41. They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”
Verse 42. Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,
THIS HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE;
THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD,
AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? (see Psalm 118:22).
Verse 43. Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. Verse 44. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
Verse 45. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. Verse 46. And although they sought to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, since they considered Him to be a prophet.
(Commentary Break): I will let you decided the significance of these last verses. But I will point out that although Jesus was speaking directly to and about the Pharisees and their current religious establishment when He says, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit”, He is also speaking to you and to me, today. Anytime we deny or excuse the Words of Jesus as ‘out dated’ or that they ‘no longer apply to our sophisticated era’, we too have ceased producing its fruit. (End Commentary Break).
These chapters, verses and teachings are meant to show us the way into the kingdom of God and how to live and operate in the might of His strength. They are meant to prepare us for an eternity with Him under His loving care and under His authority. Please, dear friend, let’s not be reluctant or shy to follow Him in all His ways and words. Let’s do as He has instructed and leave the results to Him, for they are His works.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young.
NEXT: THE BOOK OF MATTHEW – Chapter 22, The Marriage Feast, The Poll-tax, Jesus and the Sadducees.
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