The triumphal entry

Jesus instructs His disciples regarding preparation for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem

1) As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2) saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3) If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."
4) This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
    5) "Say to the Daughter of Zion,
       'See, your king comes to you,
   gentle and riding on a donkey,
       on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' "
6) The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.

We see a considerable contrast to Jesus' previous pattern of suppressing publicity; here, Jesus is deliberately working to fulfill prophecy, especially the prophecy of Daniel's Seventy Weeks, which many feel Jesus fulfilled to the day on His triumphal entry (Daniel 9:24-27).

Jesus comes in humility, yet with appropriate dignity; instead of coming on a horse as a conquering general would, He comes on a colt, as royalty would - the Prince of Peace.

A prearranged password is implied.

Jesus receives and encourages adoration as the Messiah

7) They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8) A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9) The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
   "Hosanna to the Son of David!"
   "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
   "Hosanna in the highest!"
10) When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"
11) the crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

The crowd calls out Hosanna, which means "save now!” the crowd openly gives Jesus the titles appropriate for the Messiah.

Jesus receives, indeed encourages this worship; again, this is because this is the day that the Lord has made (Psalm 118:24), the day when the Messiah comes as Savior to Jerusalem, in fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy.

There were several times that Jesus became popular and the crowd wanted Him to be King. Each time Jesus slips away and notes that

“Mine hour has not yet come.” Here Jesus stages the event! He does this deliberately to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy.

This was four days before Passover. Every able-bodied male was required by the Law to go to Jerusalem for Passover. So Jerusalem at this time was a tourist center.

Riding this unbroken colt was a miracle in itself!

Account in Luke notes that they are singing Psalms 118, heralding Jesus as the Meshiach Nagid, the Messiah the King. The Pharisees are upset because they felt that they were blaspheming.

Did Jesus ever sit on the throne of David? No, it didn’t exist then. He will later.

In addition, Jesus is showing His fearlessness to the chief priests and Pharisees; He knows they are plotting to kill Him, yet He comes openly to them as Messiah.

Jesus cleanses the temple

Jesus forcibly stops this commercial desecration of the temple

12) Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13) "It is written," he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.' "

What was the problem? Profiteers, in cooperation with the priests, were robbing the pilgrims by forcing them to purchase "approved" sacrificial animals and currencies at inflated prices.

As well, they did this in the outer courts of the temple, the only area where Gentiles could come and pray; therefore, this place of prayer was made into a swap meet, and a dishonest one at that!

The bazaars and Temple markets were the franchise of the Sons of Annas. In order to comply with the requirements of the Temple, you had to have the Temple currency. This created the need for moneychangers. The whole practice was corrupt and also in the wrong place. Also a foreshadow corresponding to Revelation where judgment starts in the House of God. (Malachi 3:1-3; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4). “Temple of God”: neither Solomon’s nor Herod’s.

This ruins our conception of the "Sunday School Jesus" whose only quality is a bland love; in truth, Jesus was not only a man of compassion, but of bold action also.

In contrast to His work of tearing away evil, Jesus carries on God's compassionate work in the temple

14) The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.

The indignation of the Jewish leaders

15) But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.
16) "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him.
"Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read,
   ”‘From the lips of children and infants
       you have ordained praise'?"
17) and he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

The hypocrisy of the religious leaders is evident; greed and theft in the temple didn't bother them, but praise to Jesus did.

Jesus answers them pointedly; Yes, He has heard what these are saying - and it is perfected praise in the ears of God.

Bethany was a Sabbath days walk from Jerusalem. There were some very special times in Bethany, where Lazarus is raised.

The lesson of the fig tree

Jesus rebukes a fig tree

18) Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19) Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.

The tree instantly withers at the rebuke of Jesus; why does He perform a "destructive" miracle?

Essentially, the tree was a picture of "false advertising," having leaves, but no figs - which should not be the case with these fig trees.

Jesus is symbolically warning of God's coming judgment upon an unfruitful Israel; God doesn't want a people who are all leaves and no fruit.

In most varieties of fig trees in this part of the country, the figs show up before the leaves. So by the time there are leaves, there should be fruit on it.

“Bethphage”: House of unripe figs. Cf. Luke 13:6-9; Matthew 21:17-20; 24:32, 33. (Three fig tree parables which profile Israel, in terms of expecting fruit and getting fruit or enduring till the end.)

The concept of the fig tree: Some say it represents Israel, others say, more specifically, Judah.

Isaiah 24, Hosea 9, Joel 1. The lesson here for the disciples is if they don’t bear fruit they are in jeopardy. One cannot judge the human heart—that is God’s job—however, one can inspect the fruits!

Notice that Jesus' two "destructive" miracles (this and the events that ended in the destruction of the herd of pigs) were not directed towards men.

How did Jesus do this?

20) When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.
21) Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. 22) If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

Jesus explains that this miracle was really the result of a prayer made in faith, and He encourages His marveling disciples to have this kind of faith, trusting that God will hear them also.

This promise is made to disciples, not to the multitude.

Jesus answers the Jewish leaders

Jesus is questioned by the religious leaders as He comes back into the temple

23) Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?"
24) Jesus replied, "I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25) John's baptism--where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men?"
26) They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' But if we say, 'From men'--we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet."
27) So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."
Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

Note Jesus' fearlessness in going back into the temple; He is unafraid, and completely in control (John 10:18).

The religious leaders raised the question of Jesus' authority; He raised the question of their competence to judge such an issue. Jesus showed little tolerance towards questioners lacking integrity; He does not feel obligated to satisfy their desire to entrap Him.

The parable of the two sons

28) "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
29) " 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30) "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go.
31) "Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered.
32) Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

The point of this parable is clear: what matters is living for God, not lip service; the religious leaders were good at talking a good walk, but their stubbornly unrepentant hearts show that repentant sinners will enter the kingdom before them.

These proud religionists should have repented all the more when they saw the notorious sinners repenting; but they did not.

The parable of the wicked servants

33) "Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34) When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35) "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36) Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37) Last of all, he sent his son to them. 'They will respect my son,' he said.
38) "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' 39) So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40) "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
41) "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."

The message of this parable is clear enough; even the proud religionists seem to understand what the wicked servants deserve.

Again, what the owner of the vineyard was looking for was the fruits in their season; God was looking for fruit from Israel's leadership, but finding little (as shown in the fig tree incident).

Jesus warns them of the result of their rejecting Him

42) Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:
   " 'The stone the builders rejected
       has become the capstone;
   the Lord has done this,
       and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
43) "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44) He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
45) When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46) They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Jesus reminds them that it was the stone which the builders rejected which became the chief cornerstone; their rejection of Him says more about their guilt and coming judgment than it does about Jesus Himself.

In actuality, like a painting from a great master, Jesus is not on trial - we are. We, like Jesus, must warn those rejecting Christ of the consequences.

The choice before the religious leaders is the choice before every person: be broken before God or be completely broken in judgment.

Instead of repenting, the religious leaders respond with anger - thus continuing to increase their guilt.

Chapter 22

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