Matthew 21:1-6. As the Lord draws near to Jerusalem, He prepares for His last presentation to Israel as their Messiah. He sent two of His disciples, saying, “Go into the village (Bethphage) over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto Me. And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.” This was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Zech. 9:9), saying, “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” The Lord hath need of them, points to Jehovah’s claim on the hearts of men. So will it be in the day of His glory. (Psa. 110:3). Comparing Zechariah 9:9 with verse 5, we see that this is a testimony to His person but not yet the setting up of His kingdom in power. He is still the meek and lowly One.
Matthew 21:9-16. They brought the ass and colt, and spread their clothes on them, and set Him thereon. A very great multitude was there, moved by God to bear testimony to Him; and they spread their garments in the way, and cut down branches and strewed them in the way. “And the multitudes that went before. and that followed, cried, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.’” This is from Psalm 118:25, 26. Verse 24 speaks of the rest under the reign of Christ. “The day Jehovah hath made.” This testimony to His Messiahship, the power of God constrains them to give. Happy for them if it was from their hearts. When He was come into Jerusalem, the city or people were moved, saying, “Who is this?” The multitude with Him replies, “Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” The despised Nazarene is for the moment seen as the King of Israel. He will also show His authority in the temple, bearing witness against the evils there, yet still He is the lowly one. He cast out all who bought and sold in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of those who sold doves, and said unto them, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer (Isa. 56:7), but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Jer. 7:11).
His righteousness is seen here: “Thou lovest righteousness;” but what is He to the needy ones there before Him – the lame and the blind? He healed them; He is their Savior and Healer. (Psa. 103:2-3). He is perfect in grace also.
The chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things He did, and heard the children crying in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” It displeased them much, and they spoke to Him about it. He answered: “Yea, have ye never read, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou has perfected praise?” (Psa. 8). It is a testimony to Him as Son of Man, but He is rejected.
Matthew 21:17. He leaves them; He could not lodge there, so He went out to Bethany.
Matthew 21:18-22. In the morning, as He returned into the city, being hungry, He saw a fig tree, but on looking at it found no fruit, only leaves, and said unto it, “Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever.” And presently the fig tree withered away. This is a figure of Israel – man in the flesh; man did not and cannot bear fruit for God, the flesh profiteth nothing. God will act in grace under the new covenant, and Israel in that new condition will bear fruit, but not as the fig tree. It is useless to spend efforts on it to make it better. Culture will not help the flesh to produce fruit for God. It withered away. The disciples marveled at it, and the Lord says: “Verily, I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
That mountain has been cast into the sea; Israel, as a nation, has lost her place, scattered in the sea of the nations. The believing remnant of them are brought into the church of God, and are members of the body of Christ. But we see also great encouragement to exercise faith in going to God in prayer. Lord, help us to exercise our hearts in believing prayer.
Matthew 21:23-27. The chief priests come to Him demanding: “By what authority doest Thou these things? and who gave Thee this authority?” The Lord tests their capability to judge by asking a question, which, if they will answer, He, also, will answer their demand. “The baptism of John, Whence was it? from heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven. He will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe Him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet,” and they answered Jesus and said, “We cannot tell. And He said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.”
They had neither conscience for God and the truth, nor had they any competency to judge. They were judged by Him. God’s work does not need the authority of man. If a servant has the authority of Christ as his Master, he needs no other. If Christ has not given him authority, what he can get from man counts nothing with God. It is wicked assumption.
Matthew 21:28-32. The Lord goes farther. In this parable He convicts those very men, religious leaders as they were, of being worse before God than the publicans and harlots whom they despised. They pretended to do God’s will like the one who said, “I go, sir,” and went not. Whereas, the one who said, “I will not,” afterward repented and went. They admitted that the one who repented and went, was the one who did his father’s will. Jesus saith unto them, “Verily, I say unto you, that the publicans and harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” Like the elder brother in Luke 15, they refused to humble themselves or recognize the work of grace in others.
Matthew 21:33-46. This parable shows Israel’s failure in their responsibility to God; everything had been done for them, but they rendered nothing in return. His servants which were sent to them, received abuse, were rejected, persecuted, killed, and lastly, He sent His Son, and they said, “This is the heir; come let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.” And they caught him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. When the lord of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? they say unto Him, “He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” They speak their own sentence; it is just what they were doing. The Lord applies to these builders Psalm 118:22-23. They were in open rebellion against their God. Therefore, I say unto you, “The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof, and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken.” That is what they did (Rom. 9:32-33). “But on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” This speaks of what will happen to the rebellious nation when the Lord comes again to them.
Dull as the Pharisees were, they perceived that He spake of them. They would fain have laid hands on Him, but they feared the multitude, because they regarded Him as a prophet.
His warnings were unheeded or despised, and all His testimonies to their need of a Savior only brought out the enmity that filled their hearts. Such is man, such are we, till grace has wrought in our souls.