Matthew 21:18-22
The Gospel Of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:16-25
Introduction
Introduction
I Feel like I Say this a Lot…
But it’s Important to Understanding Scripture:
In the Scriptures, Nothing is Random or Out of Place
Sometimes You’ll Run Across Verses, Passages, or Stories…
That Seem like They Don’t Belong/Make Sense in Their Context
It Seems as if the Author Just Arbitrarily Placed in There…
For No Particular Reason
I can Promise You that’s Never the Case
If it’s Within a Context…
I Guarantee You it Fits the Context
It May Just Take a Little Extra Digging to Figure Out How
Our Text this Morning is One of Those Texts…
That Seems Random & Out of Place
But By No Means is that the Case
Matthew Strategically/Purposefully…
Placed this Story Exactly Where it is Within the Context
Matthew 21:18-22
Matthew 21:18-22
We’re in the Final Week of Jesus’ Mortal Life
He Made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Sunday
Then He Went to the Temple & Took a Look Around
Then He Left for Bethany & Stayed the Night There
On Monday, He Re-Entered Jerusalem…
And Performed the Prophetic Act of Cleansing the Temple
But Mark Tells Us…
That Jesus Performed Another Prophetic Act…
Before He Re-Entered Jerusalem
Matthew Also Tells Us about this Prophetic Act…
But He Presents it as if it Happened After the Temple Cleansing
Why?
Where Mark Does More Chronological Story-Telling…
Matthew Does More Thematic Story-Telling
Matthew is Going to Use this Prophetic Act…
To Set Up Jesus’ Telling of 3 Parables…
That will Elaborate Upon the Meaning of the Act
In a Nutshell:
Matthew Saves this Prophetic Act for After the Temple Cleansing…
Because He Wants it to Be Fresh on the Readers’ Minds…
When We Read the 3 Parables that Follow
Lord Willing, We’ll Look at Those 3 Parables Next Week
Alright, Let’s Check Out the Prophetic Act in Our Text
Matthew 21:18–19 (NASB95)
18 Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.
On Monday Morning, Before the Temple Cleansing…
Jesus was Leaving Bethany & Heading Toward Jerusalem
He was Hungry…
And Happens to See a Fig Tree in the Distance
Mark Tells Us that it wasn’t Fig Season Yet…
But the Tree was Nice & Green…
So Jesus May have Been Expecting to Find…
What the Arabs Call “Taqsh” (tash):
Little Buds of Young Figs that can Be Eaten
But When Jesus Got There, There was No Taqsh…
Which Meant, this Tree wouldn’t Produce Any Figs All Year
So Jesus Curses the Fig Tree and Says:
“May You Never Bear Fruit Again!”
Then the Fig Tree Dries Up & Dies
What’s Going on Here?
Does Jesus have a Bad Case of Being Hangry?
No, that’s Not What’s Going on Here
Jesus Didn’t Cleanse the Temple Out of a Fit of Rage…
And He Didn’t Curse the Fig Tree Because He was Hungry & Irritable
Jesus is the Prophet
He was Performing a Prophetic Act…
That was Pointing to a Much Bigger Reality
The Tree Represents Israel & Israel’s Religious Leaders
They’re Just like the Fig Tree
They Look Good from a Distance…
But When You Get Closer…
You Find that They’re Bearing No Fruit
On the Outside, They Look Holy/Righteous/Devout…
But Inwardly, They’re Empty/Hollow
There’s No Holiness/Righteousness/Devotion to Be Found
In a Word, They’re Hypocrites
Jesus is Going to Talk a Lot about that in Chapter 23
Jesus is Pronouncing Judgment Upon Jerusalem & Her Religious Leaders
They are Cursed By God…
Because of Their Hypocrisy
They are Rejected By God…
Because They’ve Rejected His Anointed King
Next Week, We’ll Look at Jesus’ 3 Parables…
That Elaborate Upon this Prophetic Act of Cursing the Fig Tree
The 2nd Parable Comes to Close with These Words:
Matthew 21:43 (CSB)
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit.
The Jewish Leaders were Producing No Fruit
So the Kingdom will Be Taken from Them…
And Given to Those Who are Producing Fruit
This Prophetic Judgment of Jerusalem & Her Leaders…
Would Be Fulfilled in the Year 70 AD…
When the Romans would Destroy the Temple
The Jewish System of Worship would Come Crumbling Down
God’s Kingdom would No Longer…
Exclusively Be the Blood Descendants of Abraham…
But All Who Love/Serve/Bear Fruit for God
Matthew 21:20–22 (NASB95)
20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Mark Tells Us that it was Actually the Next Day (Tuesday)…
When the Disciples Saw that the Tree was Dead
They Wanted to Know How the Fig Tree Died so Suddenly
(As if They’ve Never Seen Jesus Work Miracles Before)
So Jesus Saw this as an Opportunity to Teach about Faith
“Truly I Say to You”
That’s Jesus Way of Saying:
“Listen Up, Because I’m About to Tell You Something…”
“Very Important & Very True”
“If You have Faith and Do Not Doubt”
“If You Trust & Don’t Doubt…”
“You’ll Do Even Greater Things than this”
“You’ll Be Able to Do the Impossible”
God Answers the Prayers of Those Who Trust & Don’t Doubt
Jesus isn’t Telling His Disciples:
They can Have/Do Whatever They Want…
So Long as They Believe
It’s Not the Faithful Who Move the Mountains/Do the Impossible
It’s God Who Moves the Mountains/Does the Impossible…
Through the Faithful
He’s Telling Them:
If They Trust God & Don’t Doubt His Power/Ability…
He can/will Do Great Things Through Them
Faith/Trust is Not about Us Achieving Great Things
It’s about God Achieving Great Things Through Us
Praying to God in Faith…
Is an Expression Our Powerlessness & Dependence Upon God
If We could Achieve it Ourselves…
We wouldn’t Need to Pray
Prayer is Saying:
“God, I’m Not Able…”
“But I Know that You are”
“I Trust in Your Ability to Grant My Request…”
“And I Do Not Doubt You”
The Weaker We Realize We are…
The More We’ll Rely Upon/Trust Him
The More We Rely Upon/Trust Him…
The Greater His Power will Be Shown Through Us
Listen to Paul Make this Point:
2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV)
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul Wanted God to Take His Weaknesses Away
Had God Taken His Weaknesses Away…
Paul would have had Faith in/Trust in/Relied Upon His Own Strength/Power
But God Wanted Him to Realize…
That God’s Power Works Through the Weaknesses of His People
Paul then Began to Embrace His Weaknesses
Because When We are Weak…
We have Faith in/Trust in/Rely on the Strength/Power of God
That’s When Mountains are Moved
That’s When the Impossible Becomes Reality
That’s When the Walls of Jericho Fall
That’s When 300 People Defeats an Army of 135,000
That’s When the Young Shepherd Boy Defeats the Giant
If You Want to Do Great Things in the Kingdom of God:
Recognize Your Lack of Power/Strength to Do Anything Worthwhile
Have Faith in/Trust in/Rely Upon God’s Power to Do the Impossible Through You
Ask God to Use/Work Through You to Do Amazing Things for His Glory
Pray for His Power to Work Through You…
And then Submit Yourself…
To the Opportunities that He Presents to You
He’ll Provide You with a Ministry/Service in His Kingdom
And He’ll Do Amazing Things Through You…
If You Serve in Humility & Weakness…
And Place Your Trust in His Ability & Not Your Own
Application
Application
Why Did Jesus Curse & Kill the Fig Tree?
Because it Wasn’t Producing Any Fruit
What Did the Cursing of the Fig Tree Represent?
The Cursing & Destruction of National Israel & Their Religious System
Why?
Because They were Producing No Fruit
Like the Fig Tree, They Looked Fruitful…
But They Weren’t
And for that They were Cursed/Judged
What about Us?
Judgement is Still Coming for Those Who Look Fruitful But Aren’t
Matthew 7:15–23 (NASB95)
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
It Doesn’t Matter if You Look the Part
It Doesn’t Matter if Call Jesus Your Master
If You Produce No Fruit, You’ll have No Place in His Eternal Kingdom
What Fruit Does Jesus Want Us to Produce?
We could Make a List a Mile Long if We Wanted to Get Specific
But, Thankfully, Paul Wrote a Wonderful & Concise List for Us
Galatians 5:22–23 (NASB95)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
This is the Fruit of Following the Master
This is the Fruit of Setting Your Heart/Mind/Will Upon Serving Him
This is the Fruit the Spirit Produces in Someone…
Who has Set Their Heart on the Gospel of Christ
The Fruit that Jesus Desires/Requires of His People…
Are the Characteristics of a Heart…
That’s Been Renewed/Transformed By the Gospel
Has Your Heart/Spirit/Life Been Transformed By the Gospel?
Are the Fruit of the Spirit Evident in Your Life?
Or are You Masquerading as a Spiritual Person…
Whose Actually Following the Desires of Your Flesh…
Instead of the Desires of God?
Surrender/Submit to God By Imitating Jesus…
Following After the Spirit Instead of the Flesh
Bear the Fruit of a Citizen of the Eternal Kingdom…
As We Wait for Our Kings Return