Jesus and Jerusalem

Introduction:

Hear how David Platt introduces this chapter of Matthew’s gospel:

Exalting Jesus in Matthew The King Is Coming (Matthew 21:1–22)

The beginning of the end.

That’s the best way to describe Matthew 21. For 20 chapters we have journeyed with Jesus from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth, throughout Galilee, into Capernaum and Gennesaret, into the Gentile areas of Tyre and Sidon, to Magadan and Caesarea Philippi, and into Jericho and Judea. Now, for the first time in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus enters Jerusalem.

Matthew 21 records the last week of Jesus’ life. For three years Jesus had preached, taught, and healed, and now, during Passover week, He was entering the holy city. It would be difficult to exaggerate the significance of the events that transpire in the remainder of this Gospel. Over a period of eight days, Jesus entered Jerusalem, cleansed the temple, challenged the religious leaders, instituted the Lord’s Supper, got arrested, was tried, was crucified, and then was raised from the dead. This was the week all of creation had been waiting for. Back in the garden, God had promised the serpent, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen 3:15). The Son of God ultimately fulfilled that promise, crushing the head of the snake by His death and resurrection. The events of this week, planned before the foundation of the world, were not just climactic for Jesus’ life; this was the climactic week for all of history!

Over a quarter of Matthew’s Gospel—eight chapters—is devoted to these last eight days. Up to this point, Jesus has told those who were healed not to tell others, since it was not the time for His full identity and purpose to be more fully revealed. For example, when He healed two blind men in Matthew 9:27–31, Matthew writes, “Jesus warned them sternly, ‘Be sure that no one finds out!’ ” (v. 30). However, at the end of Matthew 20, Jesus again healed two blind men, but this time He gave them no such warning (20:29–34).

In Matthew 21 Jesus asserts Himself as the Messiah, the promised King who would save His people from their sins (cf. 1:21). But He was not a King for the Jews only, for His saving rule would extend to the nations. You and I are also part of this purpose, for we are called to submit every part of our lives to His rule and reign. Christ is worthy of our adoration and the abandonment of our lives. In this chapter and the ones to follow, Matthew gives us a breathtaking, awe-inspiring, life-transforming picture of this King who will one day return. His attributes are on display, and the picture is stunning.

Jesus enters the city (1-11)

“The arduous upward hike from Jericho has covered about fifteen miles and climbed about thirty-five hundred feet” (David Turner, BECNT, 494).

Jesus instructs two of his disciples to go into the village to retrieve a donkey and a colt on which to enter Jerusalem

Jesus’ command is to fulfill the Scripture from Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The disciples did “just as Jesus had instructed them”

The twelve laid their cloaks on the animals; Jesus sat on the cloaks

People were spreading their cloaks on the road; like a “red carpet”

People were also cutting branches from the trees, spreading on the road

Crowds were going ahead of Him and following Him, shouting:

“Hosanna to the Son of David”; Aramaic - “Save, we pray”

“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD”; Psalm 118:26, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.”

Hosanna in the highest!; Aramaic - “Save, we pray”

“As the narrative unfolds, the triumphal entry is shown in reality to be a very tragic entry” (David Turner, BECNT, 497).

The crowds acknowledged Jesus as a “prophet” from Nazareth, but do not fully grasp His kingship; their ideas of what a king should look like do not match up with the person of Christ

Exalting Jesus in Matthew Attributes of the King (Matthew 21:1–22)

If a king was going to war, he would ride on a warhorse as a picture of power. When he was not at war, the king would ride on a donkey as a picture of peace. The fact that Jesus came riding on a donkey speaks to His mission as the One who came to make it possible for us to have peace with God.

Jesus cleanses the temple (12-17)

Jesus enters the “temple area” which was a sprawling complex comprised of several different and distinct areas

“The word ‘temple’ refers to the entire walled second-temple complex enlarged by Herod the Great. It was roughly rectangular, with an area of 172,000 square yards, the size of thirty-five football fields” (David Turner, BECNT, 499).

Jesus began to drive out all those who were conducting commerce on the temple grounds, overturning the tables of the money changers

Jesus quoted Scripture as he cleansed His Father’s house, specifically, Isaiah 56:7 “Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”” and Jeremiah 7:11 “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I Myself have seen it,” declares the Lord.”

“Jesus’ disgust is probably not against the financial activities as such, since these are necessitated by duties required by the Torah. The problem is evidently that the transactions are taking place within the temple itself or that the merchants are dealing dishonestly with the pilgrims, either by not changing money equitably or by charging them exorbitant prices for their sacrificial animals” (David Turner, BECNT, 500).

Jesus also met the needs of the blind and lame as He healed them

The religious leaders were, of course, displeased with both the goodness of Jesus and the recognition even of the children shouting His name

Jesus responds with Scripture and silences His religious critics

The Gospel according to Matthew 2. The Cleansing of the Temple, 21:12–17

They had no criticism of the unholy traders who defiled the sacred place, but they objected to the praises of children. But has adversative force; Matthew sets Jesus over against them. He agrees that he has heard the boys, but then questions the leaders about their knowledge of Scripture. “Did you never read” means, of course, “read in Scripture,” and Jesus goes on to refer them to Psalm 8:2.

Psalm 8:2 “From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your enemies, To do away with the enemy and the revengeful.”

Jesus curses the fig tree (18-22)

Jesus returns to Jerusalem from Bethany where he had spent the night

He observes a fig tree which has leaves but no fruit

Jesus then curses the tree; since it has borne no fruit, it will never do so

“The cursing of the fruitless fig tree portrays the fruitless religious leaders, whose temple was just cleared” (David Turner, BECNT, 504).

Exalting Jesus in Matthew Attributes of the King (Matthew 21:1–22)

Jesus was commenting on the religious life and worship of God’s people, particularly Israel’s leadership. They had leaves, so to speak, on the outside, but on the inside there was no real fruit. There was a lot of man-centered religious activity completely devoid of God-centered spiritual productivity. These spiritually dead individuals claimed to worship God in the temple, all the while rejecting Jesus, who was God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14), the new and greater temple (John 2:19). Jesus had no tolerance for such hollow worship and hypocritical religion.

The disciples don’t understand what has just happened with the fig tree, nor do they comprehend the significance of what Jesus has done

Jesus gives the disciples a lesson about faith and prayer, both of which they still need to grow in their own lives and ministry

“The fig tree incident also shows that Jesus’ disciples still need to develop faith that God will answer prayer…The fruitlessness of the unbelieving religious leaders is contrasted here with the potential fruitfulness of Jesus’ believing disciples” (David Turner, BECNT, 504-505).

Exalting Jesus in Matthew Application to Our Lives (Matthew 21:20–22)

Jesus is specifically giving this promise to the community of disciples. So what is your church asking God for that can only be accomplished by His power? Have you asked Him to give you an impact on nations, such that He alone gets the glory? These are prayers that God will answer. If we ask and believe, we will receive these things, so let us have faith as His church. We have every reason to be confident in Jesus, no matter what lies ahead.

Conclusion:

What does this Scripture teach us about Jesus? Jesus enters Jerusalem as the Lord and King of all creation, yet he enters with unmatched humility. He rides on a donkey which is symbolic of the peace He came to bring. He completely upends the world’s image of a King as He comes to rescue sinners through His death rather than to win a war with military might.

What does this Scripture teach us about ourselves? Jesus is totally worthy of our praise and devotion because of His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. He came to take my place on the cross for my sin. Also, I need to make prayer a priority in my daily life as I humbly follow Jesus. He hears. He knows. He answers. I must seek His face daily through prayer. Finally, I should be bearing fruit in the life Jesus has given to me. Jesus is worth far more to me than insincere worship and man-centered religion. I must demonstrate my faith in Christ by trusting Him to accomplish His work in my life every day. He can do the impossible…and He most certainly will.