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BIBLE STUDY MATTHEW 21:1-46 REVIEW: The first part of chapter 20 was “The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard”, in which the laborers who worked for only part of the day (some only for one hour!) receive the same wage as those who had worked all day. When those who had worked all day grumble that they should have received more, they are reminded by the landowner that they had received the full pay that they had agreed to – but that he as the owner also had the right to be generous toward others who did not “deserve” it. So it is with God towards us! Jesus then made his third prediction about his suffering and death (and then his resurrection) that would happen in Jerusalem – thus making it clear that he was very much in control of his destiny. The next section was about James and John seeking places of honor in Jesus’ kingdom. As I pointed out, an interesting “side light” was that their mother – who initially made the request on her sons’ behalf – was possibly Salome, the sister of Jesus’ mother Mary! In other words, they were trying to use their “family connections” with Jesus for getting special favors from him. Also, they seemed to believe that Jesus’ “cup” would be one of joy and success – although Jesus is rather referring to the “cup” of suffering. In any case, Jesus disclaims any responsibility or authority for determining places of honor in his kingdom – leaving that to his heavenly Father. He also reminds them and the other disciples that true greatness in his kingdom comes from serving each other, even as he has come to serve them and give his life as a ransom for many. The final section was about Jesus’ healing of two blind men. Through this account and others throughout his gospel, Matthew connects the messianic title “Son of David” to Jesus’ ministry of healing. CHAPTER 21:1-11 “Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem” “When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘the Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that 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 heaven!” When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” It was near the time of Passover, and Jerusalem would have been crowded with pilgrims from all over the world for this great national festival commemorating Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Accordingly, Jesus planned his entrance into Jerusalem with great care. Apparently, he had made arrangements with an unnamed (possibly secret) disciple in the village of Bethphage (Bethany according to Mark’s gospel) to provide a donkey for him to ride upon as he entered the city. He very deliberately was reenacting the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 – “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Although the phrase “riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” is Hebrew poetry, Matthew seems to take this almost too literally and has Jesus riding on two animals. Perhaps this is also because of Matthew’s penchant for “doubling” persons and things. Matthew also leaves out the phrase “triumphant and victorious is he” from the prophecy in order to emphasize that Jesus is entering Jerusalem in humility and peace. Perhaps Matthew also wants to make it clear to his readers that Jesus had no part in the fanatical nationalism which eventually led to the Jewish revolt and the destruction of Jerusalem in 66-70 AD. The disciples put their cloaks on the animals for Jesus to sit upon and many in the crowds spread theirs on the road as a way of showing honor to Jesus as their messiah and king. In 2 Kings 9:13, the followers of Jehu did this when they proclaimed him as king of the northern kingdom of Israel. The spreading of branches in the road (only John’s gospel identifies them as palm branches – Jn. 12:13) was also another way of showing Jesus honor and praise. The word “Hosanna” literally means “save, please”, but here serves as a greeting of homage rather than a plea for help. The rest of the greeting comes from Psalm 118:26. Matthew writes that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, “the whole city was in turmoil”. The Greek verb is “eseisthe” – a strong word used to describe the effects of an earthquake. Jesus’ entrance made a tremendous impact upon everyone who witnessed it. Many did not know who he was, except by reputation as being a prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. Daniel Harrington in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew suggests that to Matthew’s readers, this may have also been an allusion that Jesus was the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19 – “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet… anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable.” Harrington’s speculation would certainly be in accordance with other parts in Matthew’s gospel that portray Jesus as the “new Moses”. CHAPTER 21:12-17 “Jesus Cleanses the Temple” “Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.” The temple actually consisted of a number of areas (courts) with the Holy of Holies in the middle. The outer area (“the Court of the Gentiles”) was often occupied by money changers who would change Roman and other currency into the required temple currency - and also by persons selling animals for the temple sacrifices. These persons actually performed a necessary function for visitors meeting the obligations of temple taxes and sacrifices, but as one can imagine, the system easily lent itself to abuse as merchants exploited people by charging for their services. Jesus’ action in driving out the merchants and buyers and overturning the tables of the money changers was not necessarily because he was angry. He most likely did this very intentionally – with much forethought and planning – as a symbolic action to make a point. This was commonly done by prophets (such as Jeremiah buying, wearing, and then burying a loincloth – Jer. 13:1-11; Ezekiel preparing foods and baggage to symbolize Israel’s exile – Ezek. 4:1-15, 12:1-7; Agabus binding his hands and feet with Paul’s belt to symbolize Paul’s future imprisonment – Acts21:11-12; etc.). Jesus’ symbolism was to demonstrate prophecies such as Malachi 3:1-4 – that he, as the messenger of the LORD, was coming to purify the temple of abuses and restore it again to its purpose of being a holy “house of prayer”. “The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became angry and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself?” He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.” Jesus heals the blind and the lame in the temple, thus fulfilling the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 35:5-6. Note that Matthew once again links Jesus’ healing ministry to the title of “Son of David”. Jesus quotes Psalm 8:2 to explain why the children were singing his praises. All of these actions and sayings show that Jesus truly is the Messiah! The village of Bethany was about two miles east of Jerusalem and became Jesus’ base of operation during Passover time. Most likely he stayed at the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus (Jn. 12:1) or at the home of Simon the leper (Mt. 26:6). CHAPTER 21:18-22 “The Fig Tree” “In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.” This is a difficult passage to understand and consists of two parts:
The account of Jesus’ “cursing” the tree for its failure to have fruit is in Matthew and also in Mark (Mk. 11:12-14, 20-24). Luke’s gospel, however, does not have this account but rather has a parable about a fig tree failing to bear fruit (Lk. 13:6-10) – which is given chance after chance to bear fruit but eventually will be cut down if it does not begin to produce. Some Bible commentators believe that these two accounts are originally were one and the same – but that Mark and Matthew understood the parable as being a literal event. Be that as it may, the point seems to be the same – that despite constant care and love from God, Israel (and especially its religious leadership) has failed to repent and produce the “fruit” of holiness and righteousness that God wants from it. Therefore, there will be a judgment!
Also, at the point where Matthew and Mark have this account of Jesus’ cursing the fig tree, Luke rather has an account (unique to his gospel) of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” (Lk. 19:41-44) This seems to have the same basic message of judgment as does the cursing of the fig tree in Matthew and Mark’s gospels.
CHAPTER 21:23-27 “Controversy Over Jesus’ Authority” “When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.” Jesus was never officially ordained as a Rabbi. He did not have “authority” conferred on him by the religious establishment. The members of the Sanhedrin did not believe that Jesus had any right to demonstrate the prophecy of Zechariah by his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, nor to demonstrate the prophecy of Malachi by his cleansing of the temple in throwing out the merchants and money changers. Therefore they challenge Jesus to declare the source of his authority for all that he has done. If he was to directly answer that his authority was from God, they could then condemn him as a heretic – since there were many other self-styled “prophets” who claimed that authority. Jesus’ response is to ask them a question in turn. This was not an attempt to evade their question, but was rather a common way of rabbinical teaching. Like him, John the Baptist had never been “ordained” by the religious establishment. So Jesus naturally asks them what they thought about his ministry – if it was inspired by God (“from heaven”) or not (“of human origin”). This places the religious leaders in a dilemma, because the overwhelming majority of the common people held John to be a prophet. For them to publicly state otherwise would have likely caused a major negative reaction – such as people contributing less offerings to the temple treasury. Therefore, in order to avoid that possibility, they have to say that they did not know what John’s authority was – even though it supposedly was their DUTY as the religious leaders to know! This was precisely Jesus’ point. They should have known that John’s ministry was from God because it was self evident – in the same way that it was self evident that HIS ministry was also from God without his having to “spell it out” for them! CHAPTER 21:28-32 “The Parable of the Two Sons” “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.” This parable is actually a continuation of the previous exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders. The point is that God wants real repentance and actual obedience, and not merely lip service from people, no matter who they are. In explaining the parable, Jesus points out that in response to John the Baptist’s ministry (and by implication, also his own ministry) many of the tax collectors and prostitutes actually did repent and began living as God wanted them to. This was preferable by far to the response of many of the religious leaders who “talked a good talk” but failed to “walk the walk” of obeying God by the conduct of their lives. The final result is what really counts! As a side point, this parable also serves as a justification for Jesus’ own ministry to the “tax collectors and sinners” that was emphasized in chapter nine of Matthew’s gospel – that he had come “to call not the righteous but sinners.” (Mt. 9:13) His ministry to those on the margins of society had led to their having changed lives with God (like the second son in the parable) and had brought them into his kingdom. CHAPTER 21:33-46 “The Parable of the Wicked Tenants” “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” Much of the imagery in this parable is taken from Isaiah 5:1-7, but with one very important difference. In the Isaiah parable, the vineyard represents the nation of Israel which has rejected God – and therefore God will punish the vineyard by doing the following: “I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” (Isaiah 5:5-6) In Jesus’ parable, however, it is not the vineyard but the tenants (the religious leaders) who are the problem. They are the ones who keep rejecting and mistreating God’s prophets. By mentioning the son, Jesus is obviously referring to himself. (Side point: Matthew subtly changes Mark’s account of this parable that the tenants killed the son and then threw him out of the vineyard (Mk. 12:8) to say that “they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him” – to better correspond with the fact that Jesus was crucified outside of Jerusalem’s city wall.) The tenants’ thinking that they would get the son’s inheritance from his father by killing him was obviously self-delusional in the extreme – and yet that was what they thought. The same type of thinking is still manifested by those who use hatred and violence as a way of supposedly doing God’s will. This parable probably was very significant to Matthew’s original Jewish-Christian community in that they saw themselves as being the “other tenants” whom the landowner would lease the vineyard to after having dealt with the wicked tenants who had killed his son. The scripture verse about the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone is from Psalm 118:22-23. Its use here is not necessarily about Jesus himself, but rather about his church. As Jesus states in vs. 43: “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you (the Jewish religious leaders) and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom (that is, such as Matthew’s Jewish-Christian community)”. Also, an alternative translation of “cornerstone” is “keystone” or “capstone”. A keystone is the most important stone in an arch – it holds it up – if it is taken away the whole arch will fall. The same is true with a capstone for a dome. What Jesus seems to be saying is that he and his teaching (and as explained above, his church) is what holds the entire “building” of Israel together. He is truly the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets. If you take away him and his teaching, the mission and ministry of “Israel” will mean nothing. This is the irony – that what was rejected by the religious leadership of Jesus’ day (and also by those of Matthew’s day) – is actually essential for the kingdom. Verse 44 – “The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” is not included in many early manuscripts of Matthew, and most biblical scholars believe that it is probably a later addition borrowed from Luke 20:18. The point is that those who reject Jesus (and his church) do so to their own eventual destruction. “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.” According to Matthew, it was because of Jesus’ parables against them that caused the chief priests and the Pharisees to seek his arrest (and death). They are temporarily forestalled, however, by his popularity with the crowds – who regarded Jesus as a prophet (just like John the Baptist (vs. 26)). -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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