Live your life chapter by chapter as you discover God's guide for life chapter by chapter.
When: Sundays at 5:00 PM Where: Follow the Map >>>>>>>>>
Or join our Bible Study via video conference with this link: https://join.skype.com/KTORY1RedNI7
Matthew 21:1-22 – Jesus Enters Jerusalem As Messiah
​
This passage is as follows:
​
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front 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, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
​
“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
​
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
​
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
​
And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
​
“‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
​
And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
​
In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And 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 marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
​
(End of Passage)
​
Now at the end of chapter 20, Jesus is just coming out of Jericho. We can see on the map below the route from Jericho to Jerusalem. Jesus would go to Bethany first. That is where he raised Lazarus from the dead. Matthew omits that story here, probably because the Pharisees wanted to kill Lazarus. It is very likely that the Gospel according to Matthew was the first gospel, but originally written in Hebrew. Then when the Pharisees started persecuting the Christians, they probably sought to find all the copies of Matthew’s gospel and burn them. This would give the disciples a good reason to translate it into Greek, since the Pharisees refused to learn Greek. In all the early codices that contain all four gospels, they are always listed in this order: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This ordering is also a testament to their order of origination.
So, now in Matthew 21, Jesus has left Bethany and come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives. We can see in this new map below how close Bethany, Bethphage, and Jerusalem are. Bethphage sits on the Northern slope of the Mount of Olives. You can see that the Garden of Gethsemane is in between the Kidron Valley and the Mount of Olives.
​
So, now in Matthew 21, Jesus has left Bethany and come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives. We can see in this new map below how close Bethany, Bethphage, and Jerusalem are. Bethphage sits on the Northern slope of the Mount of Olives. You can see that the Garden of Gethsemane is in between the Kidron Valley and the Mount of Olives.
Here is an Aerial view of how it looks today:
And here is a video of the area:
As you can see, it is a very short distance between all these places. You can also see that the first thing that Jesus is going to find when he enters Jerusalem from this route is the Temple.
​
Let’s see what happens as Jesus approaches Jerusalem.
​
Verses 1-11,
​
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front 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, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
​
“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
​
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
​
How does this passage fit in with the gospel of Matthew?
-
It proves that Jesus is the Messiah because he fulfilled the prophesy in Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
-
It proves Jesus is the Messiah because the crowds recognized him as such when they shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”The Messiah had to be a descendent of David.
-
The crowds said, “He is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”This fulfills the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen.”
Why are such big crowds following Jesus?
-
He’s been healing people, even the lame and the blind.
-
He just raised Lazarus from the dead.
-
He can feed 25,000 people from five loaves and two fish.
-
When he was baptized a voice came out of heaven and said, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.”
-
He’s obviously the Messiah.
So as soon as Jesus entered Jerusalem, the people of the city said, “Who is this?” The crowd answers, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.” What do you think the next thing is going to be that Jesus does?
Verses 12-17,
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
Most Bibles title this section, “Jesus Cleanses the Temple.” Can you think of an even better title for it?
-
Jesus Lays it on the Chief Priests
-
Jesus Slaps the Pharisees Silly
What slapping silly looks like:
-
Jesus Drops The Mic on the Chief Priests
BOOM!!!
Now it was typical for the priests to sell animals to make them available for people who traveled there who wanted to make sacrifices to fulfill their obligations of the law. It was also important for them to Not allow any coins with images of kings or pagan gods in the temple. This is why they had money changers. But now the money changers were right in the temple courts, and the images of pagan gods were right in the temple. The typical fee for money changing was 12 percent. It has been estimated that these changers would reap an equivalent profit of from forty to forty-five thousand dollars a day. Ancient historian Josephus calls Annas the high priest “a great hoarder up of money.” The sons of Annas had bazaars set up in the Court of the Gentiles for the purpose of money changing and the purchase of sacrificial animals. Now Annas had actually been deposed from the High Priesthood, but his son in law, Caiaphas was now the High Priest. Yet, Annas was still running things. It was the combination of their greed, the fact that they brought in foreign coins, and that they carried out these activities in a sacred area that aroused the zeal of Jesus.
What evidences are in this passage that Jesus is the Messiah?
-
The fact of Jesus’ zeal for the Temple fulfills prophecy.Isaiah 56:7 says, “My house shall be called a house of prayer.”Jesus quotes this and says that instead, they made it a den of robbers.
-
The blind and the lame came to the Temple and Jesus healed them.This is a fulfillment of Isaiah 35:5-6, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”
-
Children crying out in the Temple, ““Hosanna to the Son of David!”This is a fulfillment of Psalm 8:2, “Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.”
So how do the Chief Priests respond to all this proof?
They are angry at Jesus. They ask Jesus if he hears what they children are saying.
How does Jesus handle this?
Yeah – he hears it. Then he asks them, “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise?’” In other words, “Have you Chief Priests never read your Bible? This is supposed to happen.” Mic Drop. KA-BOOM!!!!!!! Here is Jesus performing miracles in front of their very eyes and children are calling him the Son of David, but all they can do is get angry? Why are they angry? They are angry because Jesus interrupted their Mafia Priesthood operation. They are angry because they are jealous of Jesus.
What it the Proof here that Jesus is who he says he is?
The Miracles.
What is the Theme here?
That Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ.
What is the Lesson here?
That you should believe in Jesus.
So, Jesus leaves the city, stays in Bethany, then in the morning he returns to the city. Let’s see what happens next.
Verses 18-22,
In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And 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 marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Now some people have criticized that this was in the Spring and the fig tree should not have had any fruit. However, fix trees have two crops a year, one in the spring and one in the fall.
What is the proof here?
That the fig tree withered at once.
What is the theme here?
That Jesus is the Messiah. Even nature obeys him and immediately as well.
What is the Lesson here?
That if you have faith, you can do anything.
Has there ever been a time when someone prayed and their prayer moved a mountain?
Yes, when Simon the tanner moved Mount Mokattam in the 10th century A.D.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokattam