Written ~ 01-29-2024
Read Matthew Chapter Twenty-One
Matthew 21
Wow! This chapter is so great! So much is going on!
First we have Jesus coming into Jerusalem, the prophecies in Zechariah 9:9 and Isaiah 62:11 are being fulfilled by Him riding in on a donkey’s colt. The people were praising Him and praising God for His Son.
Then we have Jesus clearing the money changers out of the temple. This is another example of Jesus using Scripture to back up what He is doing. Scripture must be fulfilled and here’s another perfect example of that happening. When the religious leaders began questioning Jesus, He answered again with Scripture. This is a lesson we must learn! Knowing the Bible and using it as a defense of the truth is the only way evil will flee.
The next set of verses Jesus cursed a fig tree because it had not produced any fruit. The disciples were stunned by this action and asked Jesus how it had withered up so quickly. This passage is where you’ll find two of my favorite verses, 21:21-22,
“…I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”
Look how The Message Version translates verses 21:21-22… LOVE IT!!
21-22 But Jesus was matter-of-fact: “Yes—and if you embrace this kingdom life and don’t doubt God, you’ll not only do minor feats like I did to the fig tree, but also triumph over huge obstacles. This mountain, for instance, you’ll tell, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it will jump. Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God.”
AWESOME! I love that so much! Makes me really want to live up to those verses!!!
Next we have Jesus returning to the Temple where He began teaching. Wherever Jesus went the leading priests, elders and teachers of religious law challenged Him with questions in order to trap Him into saying something they could twist around and finally arrest Him. Did you observe in these verses that Jesus doesn’t respond with Scripture? Instead He throws back questions for them to answer, and if you notice, they never answer the questions Jesus asks of them. Jesus doesn’t need to prove where His authority comes from, the leading priests, elders and teachers had completely missed Who He Was.
The rest of the chapter has Jesus telling us a couple more parables, let’s look at the parable we find in verses 21:28-32,
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.”
In a lot of instances the parables Jesus told were to the large crowds following Him, but here we have Jesus using parables as a teaching moment for the leading priests, elders and teachers of religious law. When Jesus would not answer their questions about what authority gave Him the ability to heal the sick and make the blind to see and the lame to walk, He spoke to them in parables to get His point across.
There are non-believers that simply will not believe. No matter how much you point them to Jesus, they just won’t see the need to turn their hearts to Him. So that’s the reason for this parable…
The first son was asked to work with his father and he flat out said, “No.” But a while later after denying his father he changed his mind and went out to the vineyard anyway.
This example is of someone who hears the Father calling, but chooses at first to say, “No.” But sooner or later, when he hears the calling of the Father ringing in his ears, he changes his mind, steps out of selfishness, follows the Father and accepts His calling.
The second son hears his father calling and says, “Yes, I’ll go.” But he never does. He ignores his father’s call.
This example is of someone who hears the Father calling, and maybe at first he listens, he’s intrigued, maybe even contemplates the calling and wants to follow and accept what the Father is asking. But instead of stepping out of his selfishness, he does not respond and remains in a state of denial.
It is so important to understand that we can listen to the Word of God and say, “Yes, I’ll do what You ask,” then set your Bible aside and not take to heart anything you have read. You may have good intentions by saying “Yes,” to the Father, but will you actually do what He’s asking you to do? Are you acting like that second son who has the knowledge of what the Father wants, but you will not heed to His instructions?
Or are you like the first son, you know the Word of God, you have studied and even meditated on the Scriptures but have decided it’s going to be too difficult or too restrictive to follow the Father’s instructions. Your first reaction is to close the Bible and not go back to it. But there is that nagging feeling in the back of your mind, you know what your heart is prompting you to do, so you decide to change your heart, your mind and your soul and follow what the Father is requesting.
Don’t be like the leading priests, the elders and the teachers of religious law who constantly questioned who Jesus was and would not believe. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God, but He has given Jesus to us to forgive those sins and to have the greatest privilege to accept Him and to follow Him. Don’t miss the entire theme of the Scriptures, it’s points to Jesus!
If you say, “No,” …my prayer is that you will have the overwhelming sense to change that response and come to Jesus. If you say, “Yes,” …but do not follow through, my prayer is that you will find your way back to the Lord and give your heart to Him fully and sincerely.
~AMEN~