197 The Conflict Escalates Matthew 21 A

Jesus now enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The contrast is significant of the Roman Kings that ride in on a war horse and now the Messiah - King of the Jews comes riding on a donkey, his feet no doubt almost dragging in the dust. Everyone flocks out to see and welcome Him into the city. They expect him to set up an earthly kingdom and conquer the Romans. But he instead goes to the temple and drives out the animals and their sellers that had turned it from a place of prayer into a market. Those who question the nonviolence of Jesus point to this story and the fig tree as examples of his violence. However it is his authority not his violence that caused the people to flee. We also address the diagnosis of the fig tree which reveals his disappointment in the nation of Israel that were found to be barren of the fruit that God wanted it to bare.

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Matthew 21 NLT

The Conflict Escalates. Entry, Clearing the Temple, the Figtree, and the Sons.

Jesus’ Triumphant Entry

As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on theMount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”

4 This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said,

5 “Tell the people of Jerusalem,

‘Look, your King is coming to you.

He is humble, riding on a donkey—

riding on a donkey’s colt.’” (Isaiah 62:11; Zechariah 9:9)

Of course this comment is retrospective. Jesus is here recognized as king. He will also be recognized as a prophet.

6 The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. 8 Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all

around him were shouting,

“Praise God for the Son of David!

Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

Praise God in highest heaven!”

The son of David implies he is king and possibly the Messiah.

10 The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” They asked.

This comment indicates that Jesus is a celebrity and a phenomenon. Everybody knows about him 11 And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus is clearly recognized as a prophet, which surpasses being carpenter but does not admit him to messiahship.

Jesus Clears the Temple

12 Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” (Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11)

This is the court of the Gentiles which had become a marketplace and so excluded non-Jews from worshipping God in the temple. This did not bother the Jews at all and possibly gave them satisfaction as they did not regard Gentiles as possible recipients of God’s favour. Clearly Jesus’ actions indicate that heis highly upset with these merchants.

This is the only instance of Jesus apparently using physical violence

that is recorded. Jesus might not have been responsible for the chaos as the next verses suggests Jesus’ body language invited the disadvantaged and children to come into his immediate presence.

14 The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them.

This means that the traders left for moral reasons rather than any violent reasons since if there had been violence the blind and lame would not have entered. The blind and lame would normally have been excluded from the temple as they were not whole. This means they felt welcome not threatened by the presence of Jesus.

15 The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.”

This observation indicates the hardness of the teacher’s hearts. “Even the children” means that the wonder of God was clear but the adults were blind and deaf in their jealousy and envy. The hard hearts of the teachers burst forth in the next verse.

But the leaders were indignant. 16 They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught

children and infants to give you praise.’” (Psalm 8:2)17 Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight.

Truly there are none so blind as those who will not see the presence of God witnessed to by the children.

Jesus’ diagnosis the Fig Tree

18 In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, 19 and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.

Mark 11:20 NLT states that Jesus had cursed the fig tree but this is translator bias. Mark also records that Peter ascribed the wilting of the fig tree to Jesus cursing it. Prediction does not mean causation. This fig tree was dying and Jesus recognizes the parallel with the temple and the nation. They are also dying spiritually and morally with no fruit of righteousness.

20 The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

21 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. 22 You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

The context of this statement by Jesus is understanding the reality around him. Jesus understood the fig tree was diseased and dying and so he could predict it would never produce fruit again. Jesus also understood that Israel was on the brink of destruction because they had a form of godliness but no fruit of the Spirit. Jesus understood this and was able to predict their future in the same way we can predict the death of a hundred-year-old man is imminent.

Jesus also said that if we pray in his name, that is in his character, our prayers would be answered in the affirmative. Not all Jesus’ prayers were answered as we would like all our prayers to be answered. He prayed the people of Nazareth would accept him. They did not and he could only do a few miracles there(Mark 6:4-6). He prayed for unity among his disciples and Judas betrays him, Peter denies him and they all forsake him.

The “mountain” Jesus refers to is the mountain of doubt, hence Jesus’ emphasis on believing in him. It is also the mountain on which Jerusalem is built, mount Zion. If the spiritual leaders had believed Jesus their city would not have been destroyed.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

By “these things” they mean the cleansing of the temple which included driving the animals out, freeing the birds, preventing trading in the court of the Gentiles, accepting the praise of children, healing those who came to him. If Jesus had accomplished his cleansing by violence, they would not have asked this question.

24 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus

replied. 25 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

John the Baptist was the Messiah at one point in popular thinking (John 1:19-25). The authority to forgive sin was regarded as reserved for God. The question of John’s baptism which accomplished the forgiveness of sin apart from the temple was what this contention was about. It is the main cause of the Baptist’s death and Jesus’ death. Both threatened the temple economy and so were marked men.

They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask us why we didn’t believe John. 26 But if we say it was merely human, we’ll be mobbed because the people believe John was a prophet.” 27 So they finally replied, “We don’t know.”

And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.

Jesus clever replies make an impression on the reader and the natural response is to want to emulate Jesus’ cleverness. However, what is more compelling about Jesus is his love and affection for all people whom he met. Jesus does not want Believers to be a skilled debating club but a family of lovers.

The question about Jesus’ authority began in chapter 9 when he forgave and healed the paralyzed man. The question was about the authority of Jesus to forgive sin. Sin at this time was only forgiven by God when the appropriate offering was brought to the temple. Allowing Jesus to forgive sin with a word meant that the temple sacrifices would diminish and that Jesus was divine. Neither of these outcomes were acceptable to the religious leaders.

Parable of the Two Sons

28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. 30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. 31 “Which of the two obeyed his father?”

They replied, “The first.”

Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. 32 For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.

Jesus is illustrating “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” yet again. This application cannot be missed by “the leading priests and elders” who were asking the questions. The tax collectors and prostitutes, who were last in their eyes, would be first into the Kingdom of Heaven. The tax collectors and prostitutes are the group that “refused” to work in the religious vineyard and so were last in the teachers’ eyes but first in Jesus’ eyes.

Parable of the Evil Farmers

33 “Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 34 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. 35 But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.

37 “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’

38 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 39 So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.

40 “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

41 The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”

This is a self-fulfilling prediction by the leaders. It is not a statement on causation. It will be fulfilled in 70 C.E. when the Romans, not God, destroyed the temple, Jerusalem and the people of Judah.

42 Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?

‘The stone that the builders rejected

has now become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord’s doing,

and it is wonderful to see.’

43 I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. 44 Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

The rejection of the teachings of Jesus had awful consequences for the leaders. They would end up betraying each other and eating their children in the siege of Jerusalem.

45 When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet.

The leading priests and Pharisees will eventually act out the murderous thoughts in their hearts. As we think so we eventually act. Our character is the sum of our habitual thoughts and feelings. We can also predict our future from our thoughts and feelings. This is why honest spiritual introspection and insights from fellow believers are essential lest we be self-deceived (Revelation 3:20?).

21:44 ”Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

This verse is not included in some early manuscripts. But Luke 20:18 confirms its inclusion

This was literally fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem a few decades later. If the Jews had welcomed the teachings of Jesus their relationship with Rome would have been quite different. It is also true today.

Those who follow Jesus’ teachings and example have the trajectory of their lives changed in ways they never expected. For some, it means persecution but for all it means inner peace and joy. Those who reject the teachings of Jesus will end up calling the rocks and mountains to fall on them (Revelation 6:15-17).

The essence of Jesus’ teaching is found in Matthew 5:43-48.

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’[q] and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies![r] Pray for those who persecute you! 45 In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 46 If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends,[s] how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Verse 48 is rendered as follows in Luke 6:36

You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

This gives a cleared message in context with the rest of the passage since a call to perfection does not indicate that it is the compassion of God that is being referred to.

The effective witness of Believers is that they treat their enemies with visible kindness.

Ian Hartley, 2025