Fruitless Trees
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Text: Matthew 21:1-19
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 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.
3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “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.’ ”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 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!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
11 And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” 12 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.
13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
15 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,
16 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’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 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.
Jesus’ actions are a calculated declaration of his identity as Messiah and God.
Jesus’ actions are a calculated declaration of his identity as Messiah and God.
Nothing that Jesus does in this passage was “spur of the moment” or chance. Everything that Jesus does in his triumphal entry and temple cleansing is loaded with meaning and symbolism.
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet...
So, we’re going to look, piece by piece, at the context of Jesus’ actions to see the full significance of what he was doing here.
Entering Jerusalem on a donkey was symbolic allusion to the Messiah (vv. 1-5)
Entering Jerusalem on a donkey was symbolic allusion to the Messiah (vv. 1-5)
Matthew says this fulfilled a prophecy. This prophecy comes primarily from Zechariah 9.
The donkey emphasized Jesus’ humility.
The donkey emphasized Jesus’ humility.
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.
When Romans returned victorious from battle to their home city, they would march in a parade with the king or general riding a stallion—a war horse. In contrast, Jesus’ triumphal entry takes place on a humble donkey, emphasizing his humility.
Jesus simultaneously portrays himself as the conquering hero and a humble servant.
Where other military leaders rode in on a stallion and sat on a throne, Jesus rode in on a donkey and carried his own cross.
The untrained donkey was set-apart for a sacred purpose.
The untrained donkey was set-apart for a sacred purpose.
Matthew makes it clear that the colt’s mother—no doubt experienced and well trained—was also present, but Jesus selects the younger, untrained donkey instead. Mark and Luke make it clear that the colt Jesus rode was one that had never before been ridden.
2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.
It was sacred (set-apart) for a religious purpose. Sacrificial animals and the animals used to pull the ark of the covenant were all specified to be animals which had never pulled a yoke. This emphasized the holiness of the task they were called to do—they had been set apart for that special, religious purpose.
7 Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them.
It was dedicated for a King. The Mishnah states that no one else was allowed to ride the King’s horse, sit on his throne, or handle his scepter. So, selecting a donkey on which no one had ridden fulfilled this purpose.
Even the fact that the donkey belonged to someone else may have been significant. Kings had the right of “impressment,” which means that a king or other person of authority could borrow an animal that was needed for immediate service.
It displayed his divine power over nature. No one in their right mind would attempt to ride an untrained, juvenile donkey through such a loud crowd! The fact that Jesus does so without incident demonstrates his divine control over nature.
Entering Jerusalem in this manner publicly proclaimed his status as Messiah.
Entering Jerusalem in this manner publicly proclaimed his status as Messiah.
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 “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.’ ”
While Jesus has kept his identity as Messiah quiet before, now he’s publicly proclaiming it in a parade. Jesus intentionally arranges for the donkey to publicly fulfill OT prophecy from Zechariah 9.
The context of Zech. 9 is a pronouncement of God’s divine judgement upon Israel’s enemies and foretells of a coming Messianic King who would enter Jerusalem and bring about the salvation of his people.
v. 10 says he would bring “peace to the nations/gentiles” and "his rule shall be from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” (Zech. 9:10; c.f. Acts 1:8)
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
The crowd recognized his claim and wholeheartedly affirmed it by calling him the “Son of David”:
8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 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!”
Jesus’ actions also point to his divinity.
Jesus’ actions also point to his divinity.
Jesus refers to himself as “the Lord.” (v. 3)
Jesus refers to himself as “the Lord.” (v. 3)
3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”
The word in Greek is kyrios, which can just mean ‘master/lord.’ But, Jesus only uses that word of himself when he is claiming a much higher level of authority than would be typical of earthly rulers.
There are only a handful of instances in the gospels where Jesus explicitly refers to himself as “Lord,” and in each case he claims authority that far exceeds that of any earthly ruler:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock... 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation...
The crowd uses the same word in Mt 21:9 that Jesus uses of himself in verse 3 to clearly refer to God:
9 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!”
Jesus’ cleansing of the temple and healing of the blind and lame is a claim of divine authority over the temple institution.
Jesus’ cleansing of the temple and healing of the blind and lame is a claim of divine authority over the temple institution.
12 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. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
The Passover festival was just beginning, and Jewish pilgrims and Gentile converts were coming from all over to celebrate the Passover feast in Jerusalem at the temple.
Since many of these people would not have had their own flocks of sheep, they would need to purchase a sheep to sacrifice for the Passover celebration. Furthermore, you couldn’t use pagan money to purchase a sacrifice in the temple, so you would have to exchange your Roman currency for Jewish currency.
So, the religious leaders (Sadducees) had developed a money-making system where they exchanged currency and sold sacrificial animals to religious pilgrims who were coming to worship. And since you had no choice but to use their currency and animals, they could charge whatever they wanted for these services. It had developed into a system of predatory extortion on people who just wanted to serve God—much like the Catholic church’s practice of indulgences in the Middle Ages (and still today). It preyed on people and took advantage of their desire to worship God.
What’s worse, the religious leaders allowed this extortive marketplace to set up shop right in the temple’s walls, in an area called the Court of the Gentiles.
To understand what that means, you have to understand how the Temple was constructed.
The temple that existed during Jesus’ ministry was called Herod’s Temple, and it was an absolutely massive complex of buildings.
Mark Explanation of the Text
The massive temple complex, greatly expanded by Herod the Great, was one of the great wonders of the ancient world. It was built on a huge platform over 300 meters wide and 500 meters long, encompassing thirty-five acres.
For reference, you could fit the square footage of our church (including upstairs) into the temple complex roughly 150 times over.
The temple complex was set up in concentric rectangles, with the temple itself being at the very center.
Inside, the temple was divided into two areas, The Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, by a large curtain called the veil. Outside the veil was the “Holy Place,” where all the priests were allowed to offer incense and perform their duties.
The temple proper (aka, the Holy Place) was surrounded by the Priest’s courtyard, where the sacrificial animals were slaughtered and offered up on the altar. Only male, Jewish worshippers were permitted in this courtyard.
Outside of that courtyard was the Women’s courtyard, where Jewish women were permitted to worship. The temple, priest’s courtyard, and women’s courtyard were all surrounded with a high wall with several gates in them that separated this portion of the temple complex from the Courtyard of the Gentiles which surrounded it.
So, if you were a Gentile who wanted to worship God, the court of the Gentiles was the only place you could go. That was as close to the Temple as you could get.
One of the only things that remains of this temple is an inscription from the dividing wall that separated the Court of the Gentiles from the inner portions of the temple. This inscription reads, “No foreigner is to enter the enclosure and precincts around the sanctuary. And anyone caught will be responsible for his ensuing death.”
So, with that context in mind, guess where these predatory money-changers and animal salesmen were set up? That’s right—in the Court of the Gentiles. So, the one place within the temple complex where Gentiles could go to worship was overrun with thousands of merchants, livestock, and people all looking to profit off of worshippers.
Isaiah tells us that God desired for Gentiles to be able to join themselves to Israel in worship of the one true God:
6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”
The temple was supposed to be a place that drew in Gentiles to worship the one true God, a “house of prayer for all peoples.”
But instead, the religious leaders had turned it into a predatory madhouse full of animals and profiteering. Like thieves who would often use caves to hide their loot and scheme their next heist, the religious leaders had turned the temple into a “den of robbers.”
This had been a long-standing issue. Back in Jeremiah’s time, the Lord issued a stern rebuke against the religious leaders of his day:
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord.
3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’
5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?
11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.
13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.
20 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.”
Earlier we looked at Zech. 9, where Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey was foretold. Well, right after that prophecy, in Zech. 10 it is prophesied that God was angry with the religious leaders of Israel and would punish them and care for his people himself, as a good shepherd.
3 “My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.
So, the point of all of this is that when Jesus strides into the temple and flips tables, he is prophesying judgement upon the temple, the priests, and the High Priest himself for allowing this corruption to take place. Jesus is openly challenging the highest religious leader in Judaism, calling him and his entire system of priests and Levites a bunch of scoundrels and thieves, and invoking God’s prophesied judgment upon them all.
Jesus is claiming a level of authority that exceeds that of the Pharisees, the Scribes, the teachers of the law, the Levites, the Priests, and even the High Priest himself. There is no mere human who has such authority, and that’s the point.
Through his actions, Jesus was making it clear that he had the authority of God himself to pronounce.
Jesus did not lose his cool and fly into a rage. He is making a statement.
15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
Mark’s gospel makes it clear that Jesus entered the temple in the evening, and then came back the following day to cleanse it.
11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. 12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.
It takes a while to make a whip. This is not an instance of Jesus losing control of himself, this is a carefully planned object lesson to demonstrate his divine authority over the highest religious institution and figurehead in the land.
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
Those who were lame, blind, deaf, or disabled were restricted from access beyond the Court of the Gentiles. They were viewed by Jewish leaders as unclean and under the judgment of God. They were unable to offer sacrifices and many Jews assumed they would suffer eternal damnation.
But Jesus heals them, demonstrating the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
The crowd’s praise of Jesus fulfills a prophecy about praise to God.
The crowd’s praise of Jesus fulfills a prophecy about praise to God.
When the religious leaders hear the crowds praising Jesus, they’re angry.
15 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, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?”
And Jesus’ response probably makes them even MORE angry. Rather than softening what’s happening, Jesus cites an OT passage from David that is about babies praising God and applies it to the current situation:
2 O Lord (YHWH), our Lord (Adonai), how wonderful is your name in all the earth, because your magnificence was lifted up far above the heavens. 3 From the mouth of infants and nursing babies you created praise, on account of your enemies, to destroy the enemy and the avenger.
(This is quoted from the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the OT—so it will read a little differently than your English translation.)
This passage is about how the creation reveals the glory of God and evokes praise, even from infants; and yet, Jesus says it applies to the crowd’s praise of him.
Jesus’ appearance in the Temple is a fulfillment of OT prophecy about God himself.
Jesus’ appearance in the Temple is a fulfillment of OT prophecy about God himself.
Malachi, the last book in the OT, prophesied that a messenger would come and prepare the way of the Lord, and then the Lord (Adonai himself) would suddenly appear in his temple:
1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord (Adonai) whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
Now, you could argue that Malachi envisioned a Messianic messenger who would usher in the presence of God afresh, and that the glory of the Lord would once again fill the temple as it had in the days of Solomon. But that never happened!
Instead, the veil was torn after Jesus’ death, and then, ultimately, the Temple itself was destroyed in AD 70. We have no recorded instances of the glory of the Lord filling the temple again like what happened in the days of Moses and Solomon.
So, there’s only one possible fulfillment for this prophecy, and that’s when Jesus—the messenger of the covenant—suddenly appears in his temple.
The religious leaders understood his claims, yet refused to believe.
The religious leaders understood his claims, yet refused to believe.
The religious leaders fully understood the significance of Jesus’ actions.
The religious leaders fully understood the significance of Jesus’ actions.
15 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...
23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
They didn’t need someone to unpack all of the things Jesus was saying and doing. They realized right away the audacity of Jesus’ claims and actions.
What’s more, they witnessed the healings, the miracles, and the signs, and still they refused to believe.
The unfruitful fig tree is a warning against unbelief.
The unfruitful fig tree is a warning against unbelief.
18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 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.
The religious leaders were like an unfruitful fig tree.
See, when a fig tree begins to produce leaves, it also begins to produce green figs. They’re not typically ripe yet at the time of the year when Jesus would have passed by it, but small, green figs will at least have begun to grow.
But this tree was full of leaves and looked promising, yet it had no fruit.
The Pharisees, Sadducees, Priests, and religious leaders made a great show of their knowledge and piety. They dressed nice, they claimed to follow the Law, they held positions of authority, but they denied the very power they said they served.
One greater than the temple was there in front of them, yet they refused to believe and submit to him. Crowds of uneducated people hailed him as king, while the religious leaders who ought to have recognized the coming of their Messiah plotted to murder him.
And what about you?
You sit here week after week hearing the gospel explained. You act the part, you know the right words, you have the knowledge in your head, but has it penetrated your heart?
A preacher friend of mine says that many people are going to miss heaven by 18”—the distance from their head to their heart.
When Jesus says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery, and everyone who even looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” do you respond “yes Lord,” or “By what authority do you say these things?”
When Jesus says, “The one who builds his life upon my words will be like the man who builds his life upon the rock, and the one who does not will perish with the flood,” do you respond “yes Lord,” or “By what authority do you say these things?”
When Scripture says “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind” do you respond “yes Lord,” or “By what authority do you say these things?”
For those who hear the truth over and over and yet refuse to repent, Scripture has some terrifying warnings.
In the past few weeks, we have seen the power of God displayed in our church. We have heard the truth of the gospel. We have tasted the fruit of changed lives in our midst and witnessed the resurrection of dead souls to eternal life.
And if you understand what has happened lately and you have witnessed it for yourself, if that is not enough to convince you, then I am afraid nothing will.
4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
When Jesus cursed the fig tree, his words in Greek get a little lost in translation. What Jesus actually said was, “May no fruit come from you into eternity (forever)!”
Just as the King rode into Jerusalem publicly proclaiming himself as the Messiah and Lord of all, God has blessed us lately with a special outpouring of his Spirit upon those who needed repentance.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
