The importance of the Mount of Olives is that Jesus is being presented as the nation's King, and the people were very familiar with that mountain. God had given them Zech. 14:44And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. (Zechariah 14:4)— “His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives.” Here is the very One on the very mountain. They shall say in that day, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” We have also this prophecy in Zech. 9:99Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zechariah 9:9), “Rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion, shout O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy King cometh unto thee; he is just and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” So we have the blessed fulfillment of this. Let us dwell on it. The firstling of an ass was redeemed with a lamb, and this is connected with the firstborn of Israel in Ex. 13. Job says that man is born like a wild ass colt. “The Lord hath need of them.” How could we be redeemed if we were not lost? The Lord has need of us that He may have the glory of Redeemer. The firstling of every clean animal was the Lord's, but the ass was unclean—a picture of myself—and if it is to be saved from judgment it must be redeemed by the blood of a lamb, type of our blessed Savior, the Lamb of God. “For as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ also was once offered to bear the sins of many.” My position was death and judgment; Christ has died to deliver me from this, and that I might have His place in life and righteousness. It is a wonderful object lesson to us, thus humiliation is ours, but it brings the Lord before us. He is the righteous or just one, the Savior having salvation, the meek and lowly One. But His divine glory comes out in this scene here before us. He is the One who can control everything. “The Lord hath need of them,” and the owner obeys. And another thing it was an ass's colt that had never been broken in, but He had perfect control of it. I take it the evidence is, that the Lord rode on both the ass and the colt, perhaps part of the way on one, and part of the way on the other. I have no doubt there are moral lessons here for us. It says of Ishmael that “he should be a wild ass of a man” (Gen. 16:1212And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. (Genesis 16:12) J.N.D.). That is what we are, nor could any man tame him. If Ishmael failed to give Him praise, poor Gentiles dead in trespasses and sins should be fitted by God to do it.
Heb. 2 affords us light on Psa. 8 “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor.” The Revised Version (following the Geneva Bible of 156o) renders Psa. 8:55For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:5) “a little lower than God,” although “Elohim” (or “God") is many times used for “gods,” or “mighty ones,” and evidently here and in Psa. 97:77Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods. (Psalm 97:7), of angels, and is so rendered by the LXX., confirmed as this is by Heb. 2:77Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: (Hebrews 2:7). Angels have no Redeemer. They have fallen, not like the human race in a federal head, but some of them and without a tempter. And God counts the tempter worse than the tempted. “He taketh not hold of angels.” We learn from this that they are on a higher scale than man, but He passed them by twice. He passed them coming down when He was made a little lower than the angels; and He passed them again going up. He is made higher than the heavens angels, authorities and powers being made subject unto Him. He has gone up above them, and taken us up too, in spirit, already.
This was about the time of the feast of the passover. Multitudes are very fickle and not to be trusted. “How can ye believe who receive honor one from another"? It hinders faith to receive flattery.
There is a recognition of Him as Savior, in “Hosanna” (ver. 15), which means “Save now.” 'Tis wonderful how often Psa. 118 is quoted. This was a little anticipation. Repentance will be wrought in the hearts of the Jewish nation by and by, as was with Joseph's brethren. But although they were saying this there was apparently little intelligence; then, He was only the prophet of Nazareth. God was arranging this presentation, not with a view to His acceptance, for He had accepted His rejection, but God is justifying Himself. Judgment must begin at the house of God, and in Ezek. 9 He says, “Begin at my sanctuary.” “And if it first begin at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel?” Peter's subject is the government of God, and “if the righteous with difficulty be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear.” The Lord Jesus is a perfect Savior. He died to save us; He lives to save us right through the wilderness, and He is coming to save us right out of it.
In John it is at the beginning of His ministry that He purges the temple. Here it is at the end and He speaks of it quoting the prophet, as “My house.” In John it is “My Father's house.”
The day is coming when Jerusalem will be the metropolis of the world, and the temple will be rebuilt, and all the nations will come up to keep the feast, but not that of Pentecost. This last has “fully come.” So we read nothing of this Feast of Weeks in millennial days. Turn to Zech. 14:16, 1716And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. (Zechariah 14:16‑17). It will be righteousness and nothing will be passed over as now. Then in Malachi it says, “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering. For my name shall be great among the heathen, says the Lord of hosts” (chap. 1:11).
The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. They were hated of David's soul. You do not get Joab appearing while David is in rejection, but when David comes to the throne he steps forward and is very prominent (see 2 Sam. 5).
Well, then, we see in the cleansing of the temple Jesus acting in perfect righteousness; here we get perfect grace, He is bringing salvation. God was ordering all as due to His beloved Son. In the tabernacle the beautiful combination of colors, and metal, all told of His glory; and you get it in a grander scale in Solomon's temple with all its carved work, but the millennial temple will not derive its glory from anything of that sort, it will have a greater glory—even the presence of the Lord Himself.
Vers. 17-46: Bethany was quite a place of retreat and rest for the Lord. That miracle has an exceptional character. Things are arranged dispensationally in Matthew, and not according to time. Had figs been produced on the tree they would still have been there, for the time of gathering had not come. Terrible things have been said about the word, and about the Lord, alas! through not understanding this. This is a curse, and has dispensational teaching in it. The fig tree is the well-known emblem of Israel.,
Luke 13:6-96He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. (Luke 13:6‑9) is so plain in the Lord's own teaching, “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard,” etc., showing the heart of the Lord toward Israel, and His pleading there is quite in keeping with His prayer on Calvary, “Father, forgive them.” The parable in Luke has special reference to the Lord's ministry. There was perfect patience on the part of the One to Whom they were responsible. A fig tree with nothing but leaves illustrates profession and nothing else. The Lord took the place of the nation. God brought a vine out of Egypt, and the Lord says, “I am the true Vine.” “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Plenty of things that men call faith should be called fancy, because unsupported by the word of God. Gentile believers are not called “the Israel of God,” At any time, in any dispensation, believers of Israel have been “the Israel of God.” Now, a believing Jew forms part of the church, wherein is neither Jew nor Gentile. “He is not a Jew which is one outwardly,” etc.
“This mountain” (ver. 2r) refers to their political condition as a nation. The Jews have been removed and cast into the sea of nations. God never will have His Son slighted. In the government of God, it always stands good that “to whom much is given of him shall much be required.” Better to have been a Sodomite than to be living when the Lord was here and reject Him!
Ver. 22: All scriptures of this kind bespeak the prayer of communion. You could not have anything like that stated unconditionally. We cannot take isolated portions but the whole word of God. “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart.” Delighting in the Lord will form desires that are according to the mind of God. “He gave them their request but sent leanness into their souls,” so we need to be on our guard as to what we ask. Not every prayer of believers is prayer “in the Holy Ghost.” There can be no denial to us if it is. Even eloquence in prayer should be guarded against. A verse like this should make us think of Eph. 3:2020Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (Ephesians 3:20), “Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,” not “can” ask, because it is praying in the Holy Ghost and there is no limit to Him. In the morning “I will direct my prayer unto thee and will look up,” for the answer. You could think of a prayer like that of Epaphras for the saints at Colosse, and could ask it unconditionally. We can ask anything like that absolutely. But of many other things one can only say “If it be the Lord's will.” Then we trust His wisdom as well as power. Some seem to think power is the only thing. For instance, some say it is shameful for a Christian to suffer, seeing the Lord has the same power as when on earth! But we want to trust His love and wisdom. There is the pruning of the fruitful branches of the vine.
Ver. 23: This was inexcusable. He had given full demonstration as to who He was. One cannot bring oneself to believe they were ignorant of His being the Messiah, but they were looking for a great military leader. There was nothing in Christ to attract the natural man. The Lord, as has been rightly said, never answered a curious question curiously. He answered their heart and conscience; so here He answers their question by asking another. If men say the Bible is not true, this is a question for God, not for us to argue about.
Ver. 25: They were the slaves of the people, and yet led them in their superstition. There is no trace of faith, simply human policy and a thorough lack of uprightness. John did no miracle yet they all held him for a prophet. His ways spoke. There is a dignity about the Lord's words, “Neither tell I you.” He had given them plenty of proof and would give them no more. That should be sufficient guide for us. It was a sad condition that the Galatian saints got into when they had been ensnared. As far as we know, this Epistle to them was the only one Paul wrote with his own hand, for usually he employed others to write, and then he adds his signature (see 2 Thess. 3:1717The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. (2 Thessalonians 3:17)). I don't know about the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, as he refers to epistles written “as by him.” But to the Galatians he says, “See with what large characters I have written to you.” If his sight was very defective it would tax him much more to write. But then he says, “Henceforth let no man trouble me,” he would not go on any more. He had put the whole thing clearly, and in a permanent form, and he would not have his time any more taken up with these men. We ought earnestly to cry to the Lord to give us wisdom to fill up the day wisely for His glory, redeeming the time because the days are evil.
Vers. 28-32: “Two sons"; we get two sons in Luke 15 They are divided for us. The publicans farmed the taxes for the Romans and this opened the door for extortion. Even in our own, country where we may consider the taxes are better laid out than in any country in the world, the tax collector is not a greatly beloved man. So you can understand how they were disliked and thought impossible to be saved. It is wonderful how Israel was taught to be considerate and merciful even to dumb creatures, as witness the instruction about birds' nesting, and the return of a pledged garment. There are many things done in our day that are unnatural and which the Lord would not let his earthly people do.
Ver. 29: A clergyman meeting another remarked “The dissenters give me a lot of trouble.” His friend replied, “It is the assenters that trouble me.” I feel in preaching the gospel I am intensely desirous that souls should believe, but I do not want unduly to press them to say they believe. If a soul is quickened it is the work of the Holy Spirit, and often the Lord gives a successful servant to see how it is Himself and not the servant. A preacher was once trying to help a soul by pointing out passages in his Bible to her, which she diligently followed. At last, as he turned over the leaf she exclaimed, “That's it, I see it.” But he had inadvertently turned over two pages, and the passage the Lord used was not the one he had intended to point out to her.
“I go in” (ver. 30): Lip service. In this case it is the Lord's people to whom the oracles of God were committed; so the contrast could not be greater. God's grace goes out to the most undeserving and the most unlikely. Of course it is any, but “not many wise.” It is not necessary for a person to be outwardly vile, though we all have the same nature, to be met with by the Lord. What a contrast, in Acts 16, between Lydia and the jailer! From my own personal observation I think those who have had the bitterest experience of the evil of human nature have been those who have been very exemplary before conversion! It is the rejection of Christ that is its worst expression. There must be repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Both are absolutely necessary. It is a very common thing for people to say that repentance. is a change of mind, but it is more than that. It is taking God's side against myself. Godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of. The sorrow of the world worketh death.
Psa. 80 speaks of a vine being brought out of Egypt, but I should think this is a direct reference to Isa. 5 Everything possible was done to the vineyard; the fault was alone in those to whom it was committed. The interpretation there is as plain as possible. It speaks of their being dealt with in special favor by God. They had the oracles of God and Jehovah's protection; the tower was built and the wine fat. But while the people were singled out for this trial, it was really the trial of man. Israel was singled out as a sample or pattern. They were tried in a variety of ways—shut up alone with God in the wilderness forty years, then brought into the land, and the book of Judges shows us their utter failure there,.
In Isa. 5 it is the vineyard of His “well-beloved,” here (vers. 33-41) of the “Son.” Instead of fruit the messengers had malice and ingratitude meted to them. What is given to us here in parable is given to us very plainly in both Old and New Testaments. Turn to 2 Kings 17:13, 1413Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. 14Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. (2 Kings 17:13‑14), and compare this with what Stephen says in Acts 7:51, 5251Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: (Acts 7:51‑52). See also 2 Chron. 26:15, 1615And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong. 16But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. (2 Chronicles 26:15‑16), and 1 Thess. 2., and again in this same Gospel, chap. 23:34, 35. He came to give and to bless; but He was hated without a cause. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” Although there were all perfections in Christ, divine and human, yet there was nothing in Him to attract the natural eye. John was too severe, the Lord Jesus too gracious for them. The great point is “from that day forth they took counsel together to put him to death.” There we have historically what we have here in parable. But it is a blessed thing to be among those who favor His righteous cause.
This is similar to David, when Nathan came and told him “Thou art the man,” in that the Lord here makes people judge in their own case. God will be justified in His sayings, and will be clear when He judgeth. We know that whatever God does is in righteousness. If He saves, it is in righteousness; if He puts the sinner in hell, it is in righteousness. It is “their” worm shall not die, not the worm—it is the man's own conscience. God took care that man did not go out of Eden without a conscience. That was not in man as created, but there was the material to form it before Adam fell, and there must be the knowledge of good and evil to form conscience. Until he sinned Adam knew only good. The Lord Jesus is the One above all others to whom would apply “By the words of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Psa. 17:44Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. (Psalm 17:4)); and He is the only One Who ever made a perfect use of the Scriptures.
In ver. 42 the Lord is quoting Psa. 118 That stone had a wonderful place in scripture from Gen. 49 and throughout; everything man meted out to the Lord Jesus was reversed by God. If they slew Him, God raised Him from the dead; if they heaped ignominy upon Him, God highly exalted Him. Typically, after the knife had done its work, and the fire had done its work, the ashes had to be gathered and put in a clean place. You find the antitype of this in John 19:4141Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. (John 19:41). In the type, the fire exhausted the sacrifice; in the Anti-type the sacrifice exhausted the fire. So the ashes were laid up in a clean place. And where He is remembered must be a clean place. Disallowed indeed of men He is the Stone chosen of God and precious. He is spoken of as the “living stone” there (1 Peter 2:44To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, (1 Peter 2:4)). He is the head stone of the corner, He is the foundation; He is that which holds it altogether—the corner stone, and He is the glory of it too. This stone has a very prominent place in Isa. 28, which is prophetic of what is yet future. There we learn that the mass of the people will make a covenant with the head of the revived Roman empire—a covenant with death (ver. 15). Then in view of the consequent judgment coming, there is this provision, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a Stone, etc.” The “overflowing scourge” is the king of Assyria. “Shall not make haste” is paraphrased “shall not be confounded” (1 Peter 2:66Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (1 Peter 2:6)), and “shall not be ashamed” (Rom. 9:3333As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (Romans 9:33)).
Ver. 44: Further on we get examples of this. One we get in John 8. They were always seeking to crush the Lord. They thought they had Him on the horns of a dilemma what “Moses said,” but “what sayest thou?” He had not been sent to judge the world. It would have been all up with the world if He had been; so He would appear not as judge in the case before Him. But they little knew Whom they had to do with. He was the divine lawgiver, and He caused the light to shine on their conscience. They were “broken,” not He.
I remember an instance where a man was a thief and house-breaker. The case was taken to the Assizes and a skilful lawyer got the man off. On returning, another lawyer said to the one whose house had been entered, “I quite think you are in the right, this is the man, but what a triumph for our profession!” Not so with us, for our Advocate is “Jesus Christ the righteous.” If we as Christians take our affairs into our own hands He will stand aside and let us do them; but if we commit things to His hands, God will see to it for us. In Num. 12, when Aaron and Miriam spake against Moses, Moses' meekness came out, and the Lord took the matter up. Some of the sweetest examples of this we see in Mary of Bethany. She was the Savior's guest, but the Lord Jesus was Martha's guest. Martha condemned her sister (and even the Lord Himself! “Carest Thou not?"), yet Mary said nothing, but Jesus speaks for, and commends, Mary. Then again, when Mary took that costly ointment for His burial, and the disciples led by Judas condemned her, the Lord says, “Let her alone.”
The Lord's power is irresistible, He will grind them to powder. When the Stone of Dan. 2 falls it makes nothing of the image.