AR 11{Verses 1-10. The Lord now prepares to fulfill 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); and also Psa. 118; that is, the part of these scriptures that apply to His presentation and rejection as King of Israel and Son of David. He sends two of His disciples, "Go your way into the village over against you; and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? Say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither. And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him." The owners ask "What do ye, loosing the colt?" They answered as Jesus had commanded: And they let them go.
Truly it was the King, Emmanuel, acting here. His all-seeing eye directs them to the place where the colt is. His power and authority over the hearts of men make the owners own His claim as their Lord- Lord of all. It is comfort to the believer to know and own:
"He everywhere hath sway,
And all things serve His might;
His every act pure blessing is,
His path unsullied light.”
And "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." This is but an evidence of that.
And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and He sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way: And others cut down branches off the trees, and strewed them in the way. It is honoring the King. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, "Hosanna; blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. (Psa. 118.) Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest." It is not yet the time to say, "He is just," for that would announce Him as the Judge. Nor do they say, "And having salvation," for that is His coming to deliver the believing remnant of Israel in the future, but they gave Him the place and glory of the true King, recognizing Him as the royal Messiah. This was the power of God working on the minds of men, making them for the time being bear testimony to the King's presence with them. (See also Luke 19:3737And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; (Luke 19:37).) It was the will of God that this testimony should be borne to Him as King. His actions in Jerusalem are according to this position.
Verse 11. Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: viewed the conditions there, and as it was eventide, He went out into Bethany with the twelve. He does not lodge in Jerusalem any more.
Verses 12-14. And on the morrow, when He was come from Bethany, He was hungry. He sees in the distance a fig tree having leaves. He came, if haply He might find anything thereon: (there ought to have been fruit) and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves-nothing to satisfy the hunger of His spirit-for the time of figs was not yet. No, and it never will be the time of figs for that tree, for it was barren. It had on it only what our first parents used to hide their sinful nakedness in their own eyes.
This tree is the picture of Israel and man after the flesh; he can produce nothing for God. Adam and his wife were not hidden from the eyes of God. The flesh can produce no fruit for God. All man's best efforts are in vain; religious pretension to piety, and forms, and ceremonies are only "filthy rags"; (Isa. 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)) "dead works," (Heb. 9:1414How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14)); "Nothing but leaves." Jesus said unto it, "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever.' And His disciples heard it.
All means have been tried. When left to himself, man filled the earth with corruption and violence. (Gen. 6.) When put under law, he brought a curse upon himself. (Gal. 3:1010For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10).) And lastly, God sent His Son to reconcile the world to God. This brought out the enmity of man's heart, and they crucified Him. God pronounces on it: Cut it down. But God can work in man; he must be born again. The death and resurrection of Christ lays the ground for new blessings of grace. Israel can be restored by grace.
Verses 15-19. They come to Jerusalem, and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; and would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And He taught, saying unto them, "Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations, the house of prayer? But ye have made it a den of thieves." (Isa. 56:77Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. (Isaiah 56:7).)
The Lord felt the condition of things; the "House of prayer," now a "den of thieves." He shows His indignation by turning them all out, and none could resist His power. The scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy Him: for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His doctrine. His holy indignation against their sin stirred the black depth of their murderous hearts against Him. Such is man at his best. Night draws on and He leaves the deep-dyed, sin-polluted, religious city.
Verses 20, 21. In the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. Peter said, "Master, behold, the fig tree which Thou cursest is withered away.”
This miracle is different from all the rest of Christ's miracles. All were miracles of mercy and love. This one alone bears the character of judgment, and this because it pictures the end of the flesh before God out of which no fruit can come.
Verses 22-24. And Jesus answering, saith unto them, "Have faith in God. Verily, I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore, I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
What an encouragement this is for prayer: What an assurance that the answer will be given! "This Mountain," was Judaism, and stood in the way of the disciples, but faith in God removes it and every other mountain that stands, for the believer, in the way of Christ's glory. God would assure all our hearts that His power is unlimited. His wisdom, power, and love, are equal and infinite; they know neither measure nor end.
But we must conform to the conditions that go along with true believing prayer. "Have faith in God." Obstacles are nothing to Him. Where the heart is truly exercised, and Christ's glory is the object, the will of the flesh is set aside, and there is faith from God given. Faith is not our manufacture, faith is the gift of God. (Eph. 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8).) Our wills are put away. Christ's glory is sought, God's will is bowed to. Thus real prayer searches our heart's motives, and if there is any evil condition allowed there, the judgment of the evil comes in.
Verses 25, 26. In prayer, everything unjudged comes up, asking for a settlement. The Holy Spirit does not forget, He helps us in prayer. (Rom. 8:2626Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26).) He also helps us to confess our sins, and to forgive any who may have offended us. And if we refuse to forgive, our Father has a contrition with us until we do. His chastening hand may be laid upon us, even if we get our prayers answered.
Verses 27-33. They come again to Jerusalem: And as He was walking in the temple, there come to Him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and say unto Him, "By what authority doest Thou these things? and who gave Thee this authority to do these things?" They question His right to act for God as He had done, and without regard to their authority. Blind officialism trying to keep up its empty claim. His works of power in goodness were no proofs to such as they were. He will test their competency to judge. He replied, "I will also ask of you one question, and answer Me and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? Answer Me." They reasoned with themselves, saying, "If we shall say, from heaven; He will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, "We cannot tell.”
They are made to confess their incapacity to judge what is of God. Their heartlessness to the truth is seen, it was of no value to them. If they had believed John, they would receive Jesus; and they feared the people, for all generally acknowledged John as a prophet. So they utter a lie, for their consciences told them John was a man sent from God, but they say, "We cannot tell." The Lord replies, "Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things." It was no use to try to satisfy them, they had no real claim that He should answer. The word of wisdom from the Lord had exposed them, and compelled them to confess their incompetency to judge Him.