Before reading this commentary, I encourage you to first read the text of Matthew chapter twenty-one.

Verses 1-2

The triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is recorded in Matthew 21:1–11, Mark 11:1–11, Luke 19:28–44 and John 12:12–19.

Once again, Jesus demonstrates his omniscients. Clearly, he is not an ordinary man. He can predict future events with 100% accuracy.

Is this theft? Is Jesus telling the disciples to steal the donkey? No. He is borrowing it. Mark chapter 11 states that the animal’s owner was told his donkey would be returned to him shortly.

I’ve been horseback riding on trails at which the horses were so familiar with the path, that no amount of pulling the reins would convince the horse to leave the trail. They knew exactly where they were going.

When Jesus is finished with the donkey, God has the ability to make the donkey find its own way back home.

Verse 3

“If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This can be viewed in a couple of different ways. The first is that Jesus is calling himself Lord (i.e. Jesus is God). The second possible interpretation is that the Romans had the right to commandeer private property as they saw fit for carrying out their duties. When the disciples said “The Lord needs them” the owner may have thought the disciples had been sent by some Roman official.

Whichever interpretation you lean toward, just know that Jesus knew ahead of time that they would agree to the borrowing of their animals, thus showing that Jesus was not an ordinary man.

Verses 4-5

Jesus, a moment ago gave an accurate prediction when he told the disciples, “Go into town and you’ll find this donkey”. In like manner, 500 years earlier, God spoke through a prophet named Zechariah and said something very similar regarding this present donkey.

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Zechariah’s prediction, through the power of God, was 100% correct. But did you know that his same prediction also includes an end times prophecy about Jesus’s second coming?

“Then He will proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion will extend from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.” This is speaking of Jesus’s millennial reign after the tribulation. This prediction is also 100% accurate. It’s going to happen. Faith is believing that what God has said is true.

Verses 6-11

The people may have been aware of the prophecy just mentioned and they may have understood that what they were seeing was exactly like the prophecy. The people were then very excited and shouting Hosanna, and were praising Jesus.

Verses 12-13

Our modern culture views Jesus Christ as a pushover. Someone who’s a weak pacifist. They view Jesus as being meek and soft. Jesus is the one to whom they can stomp on his toes, spit in his face and assume he’ll do nothing in response.

Today, the most depraved and immoral people will claim that Jesus accepts them just the way they are. Repentance is a vulgar word to them. I once even argued with a man who claimed that Jesus never said the word repent. When I showed him in scripture, that repentance was the very first thing Jesus preached in his ministry, this man then proceeded to argue that repentance didn’t mean repentance.

All such people view Jesus as the meek, mild and humble servant who came the first time. However, they totally fail to consider who Jesus will be when he comes the second time. Not only that, but we are now closer in time to his second coming than we are to his first. He is presently right at the door.

The turning over of the tables in the temple courts are the only moment in Jesus’s earthly ministry in which we see him get angry. But consider for a moment the Jesus who is coming back:

Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war. He has eyes like blazing fire, and many royal crowns on His head. He has a name written on Him that only He Himself knows. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God.

The armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white horses. And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. And He has a name written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:11-16)

Also, while on the subject of anger, don’t let anyone tell you that being angry is itself a sin. Rather the Bible says, in your anger do not sin (Psalm 4:4). Meaning that while you are angry do not escalate it into sinful actions. Learn how to cool your heals. Pray to the Lord for patience. Become empathetic toward the people around you. If someone pulls out in front of you in traffic, learn how to step on your brake rather than your horn. People make mistakes all the time, and so do you. As a matter of fact, just yesterday I was driving home not paying attention to the road because I was thinking about this very commentary. I almost missed my turn and had to switch lanes quickly. The man behind me was very gracious and did not blast his horn but instead he let me come over. Be considerate of others needs and learn how to love your neighbor as yourself.

Verses 14-15

The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple and He healed them. But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

There are some people who start with a position, belief or opinion and work backwards to the Bible. The net result is either having to twist the Word of God to make it fit their opinion or an outright rejection of God’s Word, labeling it false and incorrect. The priests and scribes are starting from the opinion that Jesus can not be the Messiah. Therefore, no matter what he does, they are going to be indignant toward him.

Verse 16

“Do You hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”

It was only two chapters ago that Jesus said we all need to be like children (Matthew 19:13-15). Now the children are praising Jesus and shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David”.

Parents, you are missionaries and your mission field is your own children. It’s not enough to merely drag them to church each week. If that’s all you do, they’ll quit church the moment they leave home and they’ll become worse than unbelievers. It’s imperative that they see your Christian walk outside of church. And it’s also imperative that they experience the living God for themselves.

Outside of church, you should be reading the Bible with your children, daily. You should be praying with your children and asking them to pray also. You should make note of what they pray for so that when their prayers come to pass, you can remind them of it. They should be associating with other kids who believe (i.e., if your church is populated by the elderly, go to a different church). Is there anything wrong with the elderly? No, not at all. But when your children are in elementary, middle school, high school, or even college and there’s no one else their age at church, they will view church attendance as boring. And if you do find a place that has kids their own age, don’t assume those kids are all Christians. There can be bad influences at church no different than at school or anywhere else. Don’t send your kids to a youth group that only plays games and eats pizza. Send your kids to a youth group where the Word of God is being taught.

Verse 17

Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where He spent the night.

Verses 18-19

In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.

This event is also told in Mark chapter 11. There it is described as being the following day when the disciples see the fig tree withered. This, however, is not a contradiction because we can call a tree completely withering overnight as having been “immediately”. For example, when a pine tree gets struck by lightning, in most instances the tree is killed instantly from electrocution, but it will take one to two weeks for its needles to wither and turn brown. So, a tree withering overnight can readily be described as having been immediate.

But why did Jesus curse the tree?

Recall from the parable of the sower when Jesus describes the seed sown among thorns as being unfruitful because of the worries and the deceitfulness of wealth choking the word, and causing it to become unfruitful. And then that the seed sown on good soil are those who hear the word and understand it. They bear fruit and produce a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.” (Matthew 13:22-23)

And recall when Jesus compared false teachers to bad trees bearing bad fruit (Matthew 7:15-20)

And when John the Baptist warned the Pharisees “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:7-10)

In Luke thirteen we find the parable of the barren fig tree:

Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9)

Jesus is providing the disciples, as well as we, the Bible readers, a real-world example of what God’s judgement looks like. Those who bear no fruit (i.e. the fruit of faith), will be cut off and thrown into the fire.

There are so many people today who worship the creation rather than the creator. They would accuse Jesus of wrong doing for having killed the fig tree. They would say that everything is lovely and everyone has value just the way they are. They will claim that Jesus loves everyone (a true statement), but as such they incorrectly deduce that Jesus’s love means there’s no need for repentance.

What Jesus is showing us, however, in this example of withering the fig tree, is that without the fruit of faith you have no value to God. The fact that he planted you is evidence that he loves you, but if you don’t bear any fruit (i.e. if you have no faith), the love that he has for you is not going to prevent him from digging you up and throwing you away. He may love you, but do you love Him?

It’s important to understand what faith actually is, because everyone who claims to be a Christian will assert they have faith, but such is often not the case because Jesus said:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

What is the will of the Father in heaven? That we put our faith in Jesus Christ. Why does Jesus say he never knew them? Because they never put their faith in Him. So what exactly is faith? We can not claim to have faith unless we first know what faith is. Faith has two critical aspects to it. The first is that we believe that God is real. This is what I call the belief of demons.

You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (James 2:19)

By referring to demons, I am by no means suggesting that believing in God is somehow evil. Rather I am saying that if you believe that God is real. If you believe that Jesus Christ was a true historical figure who died on the cross and rose from the dead, congratulations! That is a great start. However, those beliefs only rise to the level of the belief that demons have. At that point, you are still no better off than the demons, who, at the end of this age will be cast into the lake of fire.

The second aspect of faith is that you fully believe that what God said is true.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe. He himself was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.

The true Light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-14)

So let me offer you an example:

If a “Christian” couple moves in together before marriage and are having sex without marriage, their actions are a statement of their lack of faith. What they are saying, by their actions, is that they do not believe that what the Word of God says about sex and marriage is true. They, by their actions, are stating that they reject the Word of God.

All of faith can be boiled down to the conversation that took place between Satan and Eve. Satan asked, “Did God really say that?” Eve believed Satan rather than God. Every sin that has ever taken place in the history of planet earth and the human race, did so because someone chose not to believe God (or was ignorant of what God said).

Remember….The Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was the light of men and the Word became flesh (i.e. Jesus is the Word of God). Therefore, anyone who rejects what is written in the Bible, is rejecting Jesus. You can not have salvation by rejecting faith in Jesus Christ. (However, as long as a person is still living, there is still time to put their faith in Jesus Christ). But what I am talking about herein is that if you call yourself a Christian, and yet you demonstrate by your actions that you do not put your trust in the Word of God; that you don’t believe it and you reject it, we can logically conclude that you don’t have faith.

Salvation is by faith alone. It is not earned. But herein we are defining what faith is. One pastor says salvation is by faith and obedience. A second pastor points to him and calls him a false teacher because, he claims, by mentioning obedience the pastor is preaching salvation by works, but it’s ridiculous to say that faith and obedience are wholly disconnected. If you disobey it is because you didn’t believe God. Nor did you trust Him. You didn’t believe that what God said was true. Thus, obedience is the fruit of faith.

An act of disobedience is an act of anti-faith. We do not earn salvation by getting brownie points for every good work we do. But if salvation is by faith, and by your disobedience, you demonstrate that you don’t have faith then we can rightly conclude a high probability that you may not yet be saved.

If salvation is by faith and you see what the Word of God says, and you don’t do what it says, your actions show that you don’t believe it. Your actions are a rejection of Jesus Christ. We can not reject Jesus Christ and enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Everyone is a sinner. Everyone stumbles into sin on a daily basis. That is not what I’m talking about herein. Rather, I’m referring to the person who reads the Word of God, understands what the Bible is communicating and then says, “No, I’m not going to do that”.

Every day when a Christians stumbles into sin, they later say to themselves “I shouldn’t have done that.” However, there are other “Christians” who say “I’m going to do what I want, and I don’t care that the Bible says not to.”

This is a person who, although he claims the name of Christ, has totally rejected what God has said. Thus, by his actions he demonstrates his anti-faith. He is rejecting Jesus Christ. We can rightly conclude that if he doesn’t repent, Jesus Christ will, like the fig tree, cut him down and throw him into the fire. Despite the fact that Jesus loved him, he had no value to God, (He had no faith), and as such was thrown away.

When Jesus cursed the fig tree and it died, Jesus was demonstrating to the world what will happen to them if they are found (on their day of judgment) to have lived a life devoid of faith.

Verses 20-22

In Florida there is an invasive species of tree called the Brazilian Pepper. It is from Brazil and doesn’t belong in Florida. It’s rapid, wide spreading growth and dense canopy threatens native Florida species. When my wife and I bought our first home, there happened to be a Brazilian Pepper tree in the back yard. We were in the house for only a couple of days when I was at one point looking at the tree from our back window. My wife commented on how she hated Brazilian Pepper trees because of how they make life more difficult for endangered species in Florida.

While continuing to look at the tree from my window, I raised my hand, pointed at the tree and said, “I curse that tree in the name of Jesus”. My comment was intended to be humorous to my wife. Afterward, I thought nothing more of it. However, the next afternoon, when we returned home from the grocery store, I looked out the back window and to my shock saw that the tree was gone. Someone had cut it down and completely removed it. Apparently, my neighbor had taken it upon himself to put a chainsaw to it and cut it down. We had never talked to our neighbor about the tree, he just decided to do it.

I had prayed a curse onto that tree in the name of Jesus, and the very next day, the tree was gone. It never ceases to amaze me, the things that Jesus does and the ways in which he makes himself known to us through the mundane activities of our lives.

Does this mean I believe we can go around cursing every tree we don’t like? No. I don’t think what happened was about the tree, (and it certainly wasn’t about me). I believe what happened was about Jesus making himself known and receiving praise and glory.

When the disciples saw the fig tree, they marveled and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Does this mean we can all pray for a million dollars and next week we’ll all win the lottery? No. Absolutely not. Notice that Jesus said “If you have faith”. We just finished discussing exactly what faith is. Faith is believing that God exists, that Jesus Christ lived, died and rose from the dead, and that we trust that the Word of God is true. Faith = complete and total trust in God’s Word. (Always remember, the Word was with God and the Word was God).

Thus, if we have faith, we’re not praying to win the lottery because by the Word of God we believe and understand that such a prayer would be contrary to God’s will.

In order to receive whatever we ask for in prayer, we must believe that what the Word of God (the Bible) says is true. Thus, the prayers that we make are going to align with the Will of God. We’re not asking for a million dollars, nor are we asking for the vain things of this world. Lust, fame, fortune, pride, and other worldly desires are all things outside of God’s will and thus, if we have faith, we would not pray for such things.

Here’s an alternative: Every person you see, pray for their salvation. Every missionary you meet, pray for their provision to continue sharing the gospel with people around the world. Every widow you encounter, pray for her needs and pray that you might be able to be the one who supplies her needs. Pray for Godly wisdom. Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Pray that you can understand God’s word more deeply. Pray that you can raise your children to know and trust Jesus. Anything you ask for will be given to you.

Verse 23

When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”

Let’s be honest, this is one occasion in which we can have empathy for the chief priests and elders. Imagine that you’re a pastor, and one Sunday a random person who doesn’t attend your church, walks in. He walks up onto the stage, picks up a hot microphone and just starts preaching the Sunday sermon to your congregation. If you were the pastor, you would immediately be waving your arms at the sound booth and making gestures for them to cut off his microphone. You would have security lay hold of the man and escort him off the property. Later you would probably file a restraining order against him.

But Jesus rightly believes he has the authority to just stroll into the temple courts uninvited and begin teaching those who are there. What gives him this authority?

So behold, I plan to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God, according to what the LORD said to my father David: ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place, and he will build the house for My Name.’ (1 Kings 5:5)

Solomon built the temple to be God’s dwelling place. Herod made it even more grandiose than Solomon. When Jesus walks into the temple courts to begin teaching the people, He is walking into the house that was built for him. It is his house.

Verses 24-27

Jesus already knows that whatever answer he might give, regardless of its content, they are not going to accept anything he says. So instead of answering their question, he proceeds to set a trap for them which he knows will silence them. He’s doing to them exactly what they have tried numerous times to do to him which was to try to catch him in his own words.

Jesus asks, “What was the source of John’s baptism? Was it from heaven or from men?”

They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

The scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees have always been to me a mystery. Why did they make up their minds that no matter what evidence was presented to them, even when Jesus rose from the dead, they were not going to accept him as the Messiah.

Verses 28-32

Jesus then tells a story with the intent of illustrating his point about their disbelief.

The first son who refused to work in the vineyard but later changed his mind represents every sinner ever, who lived in rebellion against God but later came to faith. Meanwhile the other son represents the pharisees and Sadducees and to a greater extent Israel as a whole. For they said after leaving Egypt that they would follow God, but then they didn’t.

Verses 33-41

Listen to another parable: There was a landowner (God) who planted a vineyard (Israel). He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants (the Israelites) and went away on a journey.

When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants (The profits) to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son (Jesus) to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants (the gentiles) who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”

This is all very reminiscent of the time in which the prophet Nathan told King David a story about a rich man who took a poor man’s only lamb. Nathan described how a rich man, instead of taking from his own flock, took and slaughtered the beloved lamb of a poor man to feed a traveler. David became outraged at the injustice until Nathan revealed that the story was about David himself. “You are the man!” declared Nathan (2 Samuel 12:1-7).

Jesus is telling this parable to the crowd of people at the temple courts which include the chief priests and Pharisees. When asked what the owner of the vineyard should do, the crowd declares that those wretches should be brought to a wretched end.

However, most of them fail to realize that Jesus is talking about them. The chief priests and Pharisees understand who Jesus is talking about. They know he is talking about them.

But as for the rest of the crowd, what this demonstrates is that while people are fully aware of right and wrong, they often fail to see it when it is themselves who are committing the sin. Seldom do we consider ourselves to be the villain of the story. We make excuse after excuse to justify our behavior. But if presented with a story of someone else doing the same thing, we would readily recognize his sin and would declare him a wretched person. Yet we fail to see it in ourselves.

So how do we overcome this tendency? Let’s look at Jesus’s response:

Verse 42

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Jesus said, “Have you never read in the Scriptures?” Reading from your Bible on a daily basis should be to you the most important thing you do each day. Familiarity with the Word of God is literally the means you have with which to avoid getting entangled in sin and the terrible consequences that arise as a result of sin.

Imagine this scenario: You are drafted into a war. At some point, you are faced with walking across a mine field. You’ve already seen some of your friends walk into the field, step on mines and get blown up. Now it’s your turn. But suddenly someone finds a map which shows the location of all the mines. The map is handed to you. What would you do at that point? You would study the map carefully. This is exactly the same scenario that’s happening with your Bible study. Satan is seeking to kill you. The Bible tells you exactly how to avoid all of Satan’s schemes. The fact that you don’t read from the Bible daily, demonstrates that you’re being an idiot.

Verses 43-46

Jesus is telling them that the Kingdom of God is going to be taken away from the Israelites and given instead to the gentiles (gentile meaning everyone who is not of Israelite ancestry). Jesus is the stone the Israelites rejected. He has become the cornerstone.