Matthew 21
21
The Triumphal Entry
1 # For ver. 1-9, see Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-38; John 12:12-15 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to #ch. 24:3; 26:30; Zech. 14:4; [John 8:1]; [Acts 1:12] the Mount of Olives, then Jesus #[Mark 14:13]sent two disciples, 2saying 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. 3If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4This took place #See ch. 1:22to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 # Cited from Zech. 9:9; [Isa. 62:11] “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
# ch. 11:29 humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt,#21:5 Or donkey, and on a colt the foal of a beast of burden.’”
6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8Most of the crowd #2 Kgs. 9:13spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, #[Rev. 7:10]; See Ps. 118:25 (Heb.) “Hosanna to #ch. 20:30 the Son of David! #ch. 23:39; Cited from Ps. 118:26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna #Luke 2:14; [Ps. 148:1]in the highest!” 10And #Mark 11:11when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11And the crowds said, “This is #ver. 46; Luke 7:16; 13:33; 24:19; John 4:19; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17; [Mark 6:15; Luke 9:8, 19; John 1:21] the prophet Jesus, #See ch. 2:23from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
12 # For ver. 12-16, see Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-47; [John 2:14-16] And Jesus entered the temple#21:12 Some manuscripts add of God and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of #[Ex. 30:13] the money-changers and the seats of those who sold #Lev. 1:14; 5:7; 12:8; Luke 2:24pigeons. 13He said to them, “It is written, #Cited from Isa. 56:7 ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but #Jer. 7:11you make it a den of robbers.”
14 # ch. 11:5; 15:31 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15#[Luke 19:39, 40] But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, #[See ver. 9 above]“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; #ver. 42; ch. 12:3, 5; 19:4; 22:31 have you never read,
# Cited from Ps. 8:2 (Gk.) “‘Out of the mouth of # ch. 11:25 infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
17And #ch. 16:4 leaving them, he #Mark 11:19; [Luke 21:37] went out of the city to #Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29; 24:50; John 11:18Bethany and lodged there.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
18 # For ver. 18-22, see Mark 11:12-14, 20-24 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, #ch. 4:2he became hungry. 19#[Luke 13:6-9]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.
20When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21And Jesus answered them, #ch. 17:20 “Truly, I say to you, #[John 14:12] if you have faith and #Acts 10:20; Rom. 4:20; 14:23; James 1:6 do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, #[Ps. 46:2; 1 Cor. 13:2; Rev. 8:8]‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22And #[See ver. 21 above] whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, #See ch. 7:7if you have faith.”
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 # For ver. 23-27, see Mark 11:27-33; Luke 20:1-8 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him #See ch. 26:55 as he was teaching, and said, #[Ex. 2:14; John 1:25; Acts 4:7]“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25The baptism of John, #[ch. 13:54] from where did it come? #Luke 15:18, 21; John 3:27 From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, #ver. 32; Luke 7:30‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘From man,’ #ver. 46; ch. 14:5 we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was #[John 5:35]; See ch. 11:9a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 # ch. 17:25; 18:12 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in # ver. 33; ch. 20:1 the vineyard today.’ 29And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he #ver. 32; ch. 27:3; Heb. 7:21changed his mind and went. 30And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, #Luke 7:29 the tax collectors and #Luke 7:37-50 the prostitutes go into #See ch. 12:28the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you #[ch. 3:8-12, 15; Prov. 8:20; 2 Pet. 2:21] in the way of righteousness, and #ver. 25; ch. 11:18 you did not believe him, but #Luke 3:12, 13 the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward #[See ver. 29 above]change your minds and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 # For ver. 33-46, see Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted # ver. 28; Ps. 80:8; Isa. 5:1 a vineyard #
Isa. 5:2 and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and #
Song 8:11, 12 leased it to tenants, and # ch. 25:14, 15; [Mark 13:34] went into another country. 34When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants#21:34 Or bondservants; also verses 35, 36 to the tenants #[See ver. 33 above]to get his fruit. 35#ch. 5:12; 22:6; 23:34, 37; [2 Chr. 24:19; 36:15, 16; Neh. 9:26; Jer. 37:15; 38:6; Acts 7:52; 2 Cor. 11:24-26; 1 Thess. 2:15; Heb. 11:36, 37] And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and #[2 Chr. 24:21; John 10:31-33; Acts 7:59]stoned another. 36#ch. 22:4Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, #Heb. 1:2; [John 1:11; Rom. 8:17] ‘This is the heir. Come, #[1 Kgs. 21:19]let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39And they took him and #Heb. 13:12threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40#[ch. 24:50; 25:19]When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They said to him, #Luke 19:27 “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and #ver. 43; Acts 13:46; 18:6; 28:28; [ch. 8:11, 12]let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
42Jesus said to them, #ver. 16 “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
#
Acts 4:11; 1 Pet. 2:7; Cited from Ps. 118:22, 23 “‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;#21:42 Greek the head of the corner
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God # [Luke 14:24] will be taken away from you and given to a people # [ch. 3:10; Isa. 5:4, 7] producing its fruits. 44And #Isa. 8:14, 15; Rom. 9:32, 33; 1 Pet. 2:8 the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and #Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, 45when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”#21:44 Some manuscripts omit verse 44
45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46And #Mark 11:18; Luke 19:47, 48; John 7:25, 30, 44; [ch. 26:4] although they were seeking to arrest him, #ver. 26 they feared the crowds, because they held him to be #[ver. 11]a prophet.
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Matthew 21: ESV
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