January
31st Matthew 21 Christ enters Jerusalem
1: And when they drew nigh unto
Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent
Jesus two disciples, 2: Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you,
and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and
bring them unto me. 3: And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The
Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4: All this was
done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5:
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. 6: And the disciples went,
and did as Jesus commanded them, 7: And brought the ass, and the colt, and put
on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8: And a very great multitude
spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and
strawed them in the way. 9: And the multitudes that went before, and that
followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh
in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10: And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city
was moved, saying, Who is this? 11: And the multitude said, This is Jesus the
prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Christ
cleanses the temple
12: And Jesus went into the temple
of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew
the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13: And
said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer;
but ye have made it a den of thieves. 14: And the blind and the lame came to
him in the temple; and he healed them. 15: And when the chief priests and
scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the
temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16:
And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea;
have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected
praise? 17: And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Christ
and the fig tree
18: Now in the morning as he
returned into the city, he hungered. 19: And when he saw a fig tree in the way,
he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it,
Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree
withered away. 20: And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How
soon is the fig tree withered away! 21: Jesus answered and said unto them,
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. 22:
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Christ’s
authority
23: And when he was come into the
temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was
teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave
thee this authority? 24: And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask
you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority
I do these things. 25: 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? 26: But if we shall say,
Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. 27: 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.
The
two sons
28: But what think ye? A certain man
had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my
vineyard. 29: He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and
went. 30: And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and
said, I go, sir: and went not. 31: Whether of them twain did the will of his
father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto
you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God
before you. 32: 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.
The
vineyard
33: Hear another parable: There was
a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and
digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and
went into a far country: 34: And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent
his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35: And
the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned
another. 36: Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did
unto them likewise. 37: But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They
will reverence my son. 38: But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among
themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his
inheritance. 39: And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and
slew him. 40: When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do
unto those husbandmen? 41: They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those
wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall
render him the fruits in their seasons. 42: Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never
read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is
become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous
in our eyes? 43: Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God
shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof. 44: And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on
whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 45: And when the chief
priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of
them. 46: But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude,
because they took him for a prophet.
We come to the eventful day of
Christ glorious entrance into Jerusalem.
The disciples are sent to fetch an ass and a colt upon which Christ sat to ride
into Jerusalem.
As Christ descended the Mount of Olives and
entered the Great city the people came together to welcome him. Who gathered
the people? And why did they hail him as the Messiah. No doubt they were led
and inspired by the Holy Spirit. Christ entered into the Temple to inspect it. Finding the Temple effectively turned
into a market with all the associated debris, filth and corruption. Christ
heals the sick and answers the complaint of the religious leaders that peopling
are calling him the Christ. At the end of the Day Christ spent the night at Bethany. On his return he
sees a fig tree but finds no figs. Christ curses the tree and it withers. The
tree is symbolic of Israel
Christ came looking for fruit but finding none. When Christ is teaching in the Temple the Jewish leaders
demand to know by what authority he teaches the people. Christ simply asks what
authority John the Baptist had. This throws them into consternation. How can
they answer? They give no answer and so Christ also gives no answer. Christ
gives the Parable of the two sons. One was full of talk but no follow through,
but the other initially refused but went after he had thought about it. The
question was, ‘Who did the Will of the Father’? In other words who did what was
right? Who was righteous? Answer - The one who obeyed. How unlike the NT
believers are they righteous because they do what is right? No, they are
righteous because they put their faith in the one who did right. Again Christ
gives another parable regarding Israel
in which he uses the image of the vineyard. How pathetic are the words, Last of
all he sent his Son, saying, ‘They will reverence my Son’. Christ asks, ‘What
will the owner of the vineyard do? They respond by stating the judgment of God
that will fall on them. (Which came in AD 70) the passage is full of the most
terrible warnings to Israel.
The religious leaders want to take Christ but they are afraid of the People.
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