Day Twenty-One – Wednesday, January 29, 2025

One Year Journey Through the New Testament

Matthew 21

Welcome to our journey through the New Testament!

The Triumphal Entry Prophecy

Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:29–38; John 12:12–15

1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. ³ And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”⁴ All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:⁵ “Tell the daughter of Zion,‘Behold, your King is coming to you,Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 21:1–5.

Points to Ponder:

• This change in setting and event sets up the Triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
• Jesus gives specific directions to His disciples as to where and from whom they should get the animal upon which He would ride into Jerusalem. This fulfilled a prophecy from Zechariah 9.

The Triumphal Entry

⁶ So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. ⁸ And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:“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 had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”¹¹ So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 21:6–11.

Points to Ponder:

• After the disciples did as Jesus commanded and then prepared the animal for riding, Jesus mounted the donkey and proceeded into Jerusalem.
• Multitudes gathered to welcome Him, and they laid their clothes and palm branches on the road as if to keep his ride from even touching the dirt under its feet, a sign of honor for royalty.
• The people cried out a phrase worthy of the Messiah, “Hosanna.” This word literally means, “O Save.” They were calling on the Messiah to come and save them. They added a blessing and noted that He came to help them “in the name of the Lord.”
• This great welcome and affirmation of Jesus’ purpose created quite a stir and started people asking questions.
• We need to praise God and declare Jesus so that people will start asking about the Great Savior Messiah.

The Cleansing of the Temple

Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45, 46

¹² Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹³ And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”¹⁴ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant ¹⁶ and 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 babes and nursing infantsYou have perfected praise’?”¹⁷ Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 21:12–17.

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus got through the crowd welcoming Him, and then went to work.
• He walked into the temple and drove out the people who were there to sell doves for offerings to YahweH. He reminded them that the Father declared that His house would be a house of prayer, but that they had transformed it into a place of price gouging and extortion. It was now a “den of thieves.”
• After this clean up, the sick came to Jesus and He healed them.
• When the Pharisees saw these things, they were offended (as usual) They approached Jesus asking if He heard what the people were saying. Now sure how they thought He could not hear the roar of the crowd, but He answered them with a prophecy from Psalm 8 that said, “out of the mouth of babes…You have perfected praise.”
• Then Jesus left suddenly, perhaps unwilling to further debate with the Pharisees.

Cursing of the Fig Tree

Mark 11:11–14, 20–24

¹⁸ Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. ¹⁹ And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.²⁰ And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”²¹ So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, 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 also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. ²² And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 21:18–22.

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus, after spending the night in Bethany, came back to the city and saw a fig tree by the road.
• He was hungry, but the tree was bare. He cursed the tree and declared it forever impotent. The tree withered away immediately.
• The disciples were amazed and began to ask about it.
• Jesus let them know that this was just a small example of what could happen when God’s people act in faith.
• If they even told a mountain to rise up and be cast into the sea, it would happen. He summed up with the teaching thought, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Question of Jesus’ Authority

Mark 11:27–33; Luke 20:1–8

²³ Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”²⁴ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵ The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 21:23–27.

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus came into the temple again after the fig tree incident and taught. The chief priests and elders questioned His authority.
• They wanted to know by what authority He did these things.
• Jesus turned the question back on them: “tell me by whose authority John the Baptist baptized individuals?”
• The reasoned about it and saw no good result by answering the question, so they declined, and Jesus then declined to answer their question.

Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?”They said to Him, “The first.”Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 21:28–32.

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus then proceeded to tell a parable of a man with two sons.
• The man instructed the first son to go work in the vineyard. He refused, but then regretted his words and went to work anyway.
• The man instructed his second son to go work in the vineyard, and he said he would, but did not.
• Which one of the two did the will of his father? The first son was the consensus answer. Jesus then used this story to explain that rank sinners would likely enter the kingdom of God before some of the Jews. The tax collectors and harlots responded to John’s message of repentance, but the religious leadership of the Jews did not repent or believe his message.
• Therefore, the sinners would make it to the kingdom of heaven, just like the first son was the one who obeyed.

Parable of the Landowner

Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–19

³³ “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. ³⁴ Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. ³⁵ And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. ³⁷ Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”⁴¹ They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.”⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:‘The stone which the builders rejectedHas become the chief cornerstone.This was the Lord’s doing,And it is marvelous in our eyes’?⁴³ “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. ⁴⁴ And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”⁴⁵ Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. ⁴⁶ But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Mt 21:33–46.

Points to Ponder:

• Jesus then finishes this chapter with another parable about a landowner.
• A man owned some land on which he planted a vineyard and put a hedge fence around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. He leased it to some people who would tend the vineyard and take its harvest and pay rent to the landowner.
• When it was time to harvest and make wine, the landowner sent his servants to collect his due. They killed one servant, great another one, and stoned a third.
• He sent more servants a second time and they did the same to these servants.
• The third time, the landowner sent his son, thinking that they would surely respect his son. But they killed him as well, thinking they would receive his inheritance.
• Jesus asked what they thought the landowner would do to those stewards. The resounding answer was that he would destroy those stewards and lease it to others stewards who would give him his earnings at the time of harvest.
• Jesus then referred to the prophecy from Psalm 118 about the rejected stone becoming the chief cornerstone by the Lord’s doing.
• Be cause of it, the kingdom will be taken away from Israel and given to a nation that will bear fruit. Israel killed the owner’s Son, Jesus, and gave away their right to the kingdom.
• That stone will break and grind to stone every kingdom that refuses Christ.
• The Jewish leaders were offended, and wanted to arrest Jesus, but the crowds prevented them.
• We are allowed to believe in Jesus and be saved because the Jews rejected Him as their Messiah. It will all come back together one day, but for now, we Gentiles has access to Christ because of grace. Be thankful and serve Him with gladness!

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All Scriptures from New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Join us this afternoon at 5:00 pm for a discussion of this chapter live online. Live@5 with Dr. Greg Sloop can be found on Facebook on the Dr. Greg Sloop page or on the Kannapolis Church of God Facebook page or Youtube page.