Matthew 14

Chapter 14. The Manifestation of the KingSay to the Daughter of Zion,“See, your king comes to you,gentle and riding on a donkey,on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”(Matthew 21:5)The time had now come when the Lord Jesus was to be publicly manifested as the Son of David and the King of Israel. Hitherto He had refused the demands of the multitude, who, after His Galilean miracles, had tried “to come and make him king by force” (John 6:15). But now as the end draws near, it is proper that He should literally fulfill the announcements of ancient prophecy, and for a brief moment, at least, appear as the heir to David’s throne and the answer to all the Messianic hopes of Israel. Blind Men

1. The Recognition of the King It was strange that the first to recognize Him as Israel’s King should be two blind beggars. That which the rulers of Israel, with all their wisdom, failed to comprehend, was discovered by poor old Bartimaeus and his blind companion. Calling Him by His Messianic name, they cried, as the procession pressed by, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 20:31). When Jesus heard that name, He instantly ordered the procession to halt, and, calling them to Him, granted their petition like a king, bidding them receive their sight and follow Him in the way. So still it is ever true, “you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Matthew 11:25). The wisdom of the world and even the culture of theological science have blinded men to the vision of God, and it is the lowly and often illiterate to whom the Holy Spirit reveals “the secrets of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 13:11) and the blessed hope of the coming once more of our glorious King. How did these blind men know that Jesus was the Son of David? With their inner senses they felt after Him until they found Him. It is still so that the hungry heart finds the Savior. Reaching out in our darkness and sense of need, groping for One who we feel can meet and satisfy our need, we press our way toward the light even as the blind man who, while he cannot discern the objects before him, can see vaguely at least the glare of the light and press closer to it. Even so we can press toward God, and He will meet the seeking soul and reveal Himself in the vision of light and love even as He did to them. Seeker for Christ, follow the light you have and He will give more as you follow on, and you, too, will hear Him say, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you” (Luke 18:42). The Triumphal Entry
2. The Manifestation of the King Ancient prophecy had foretold the coming of the King of meekness, truth and love, and his triumphal entry into Jerusalem was a striking fulfillment. Zechariah especially had literally described the scenes portrayed in this chapter: “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). For the first time in His earthly ministry, our Lord permits Himself to be borne by the beast of burden, which had always been recognized as the bearer of kings. Riding upon a little colt never ridden before, draped with the garments of His disciples as they walked beside, and accompanied by the mighty multitude surging up from the city at this, the Passover time, when the population of Jerusalem was multiplied tenfold, he slowly descended from Bethany toward the city. At every step the enthusiasm of the crowd grew higher. Cutting down branches from the palm trees, they strewed them in the way, and even their garments they flung in homage at His feet, while their voices rose to a mighty shout as they cried in the language of an old prophetic psalm, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matthew 21:9). But His own demeanor was in strange contrast to all these scenes of tumultuous excitement. Truly, He came as the King of meekness, lowliness and love. This became still more apparent when the city suddenly burst upon their view, and the sight of it drew from Him an outburst of sorrow and compassion, and amid all that pageant of popular acclamation He gave way to bitter tears and lamentations over the certain doom which He saw impending upon the scenes that lay spread before Him in all their glorious beauty. But the procession swept on, and in a little while He entered the city and the temple. His triumphal entry into Jerusalem was the foreshadowing of that glorious time when He shall come again as Israel’s long expected Messiah and take His place upon the throne of David, never again to leave it. It is also typical of His entrance upon the throne of the individual heart when we receive Him as our Lord and King. The little foal on whom no man had sat before, is the exquisite type of the heart that gives Him its exclusive affection. He comes to reign, not as tyrant, but as a King of gentleness and love in all the attractive attributes so finely set forth in the ancient picture that we are considering. He does not come to repress, but to satisfy. He does not dominate us as a despot, but He meets all the needs and longings of our being, and so blends with our nature and our will that we become His willing subjects and the very partners of His kingdom and His throne. Have we thus received Him and known Him as our King? Cleansing the Temple
3. The King of Zion and the Lord of the Temple Immediately upon entering the city, He passed through the gates of the temple and repeated the miracle of its cleansing which had formed the first chapter of His early Judean ministry. The difference between this miracle and the former, is that then He called it His Father’s house (John 2:16); now “My house” (Matthew 21:13). He was now taking the position of being Himself the Lord of the temple and the true theocratic Head of the kingdom. A little later the phrase was changed again. As He left that temple after His solemn warnings and judgments were pronounced against the false rulers and leaders of Israel, He declared “your house”—“Mine” no longer—“your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Matthew 23:38-39). The cleansing of the temple was occasioned by the abuse which was made of its courts by the class of money brokers and cheap traders who took advantage of the people’s desire for silver change in order to pay the half shekel offering which was required of everyone entering the temple. Out of this there grew up a regular business and a large class of men who, at exorbitant rates of usury, supplied the silver exchange to the worshipers as they crowded into the courts without having provided themselves with the requisite coin. Another class of tradesmen in like manner filled up another part of the court with their filthy stalls for the supply of doves and other animals for the sin offerings and burnt offerings of the daily sacrifices. These also were sold at exorbitant prices for the convenience of the worshipers, but really for the gain of the dealers. As our Lord looked upon this unseemly spectacle in the house of God, His indignation was aroused. Taking a whip of small cords, He drove them out, overturning the tables, ordering the dove cotes immediately removed, and driving them before Him under such a spell of fear that they forgot everything but the means of escape from His holy wrath (Matthew 21:12). This act was a final assumption on His part of the highest authority, not only in, but even above the temple and its worship. The same high place He still claims in the Church of God and the individual heart. The abuses of the temple courts of old have, alas, been more than paralleled in the history of Christendom. It was the sale of indulgences, in the time of Luther, for the enrichment of the ecclesiastical parties that brought about the Reformation. The kind of sin here described is not secular business in its own place, but the doing of things in the name of religion which are prompted by mercenary motives. The preaching of the gospel for the sake of gain; wrong financial methods in supporting the church; the desecrating of the house of God by social and secular entertainments; methods of raising money which appeal to the selfishness and frivolity of man; the use of Christianity in any way as a cloak of covetousness, as an advertisement of business, as a means of social preferment or secular gain—these are things which are so common on every side of us that the hearts of many of God’s children have been filled with humiliation and sorrow, and moved to earnest prayer for the coming of the King once more to cleanse His temple and purge from His Church these shameful profanations. The second cleansing of the temple would seem to suggest that before the Lord’s coming, there is to be a profound work of sanctification among the people of God answering to the first cleansing of which we read so fully in the early chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. Still more truly does it apply to the individual experience of the Christian. Here, too, there is a second cleansing which the Lord comes to bring when He Himself enters the consecrated heart, not only saving, but sanctifying and separating us unto Himself in a deeper sense than we can possibly know, even in the early joy of conversion. Have we received this second cleansing? Hosannas of the Children
4. The Children’s King This was not an ordinary crowd where the children always love to be in the front, but it was a genuine outburst of heaven-inspired love and loyalty that made them cry, “Hosanna in the highest” (Matthew 21:9). For the Lord Jesus Himself bore testimony of the genuineness of their praise and indeed gave it the highest place over all others as He quoted the ancient Scripture, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise” (Matthew 21:16). Others might join in the acclamations because of the contagious influence of an excited multitude, but theirs was “ordained praise.” As usual, the Pharisees were ready to scorn their juvenile enthusiasm, but the Lord Jesus was also ready to vindicate them as He had once before. Let us never forget that Jesus is the children’s King. By and by, when we welcome Him to His heavenly throne, we shall find that a vast proportion of that ransomed crowd will consist of little children. Let us train our little ones to know Him and crown Him as their King. The word used here in their childish praise is the Hebrew word hosannah. It is not quite the same as hallelujah, the usual expression for worship and praise. Literally, it means “Lord save us.” Our hallelujahs must begin in hosannas. Even the children, too, must learn that they are sinful children, and that they also require His cleansing blood, and only as they accept it and honor it will their hosannas become hallelujahs, and the Lord pronounce their homage “ordained praise.” Miracles of Healing
5. The Blessing of the King Immediately after Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and His cleansing of the temple, we read these significant words, “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them” (Matthew 21:14). Purification always leads on to power. The cleansing of the temple was followed by the healing of the sick and the revelation of the great and good Physician. So, still, it will be found in our personal experience. This was not a momentary gleam of divine beneficence over a dark and suffering world, but “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). And warm, sweet, tender, even yet A present help is He; And love has still its Olivet, And faith its Galilee. The healing of His seamless robe Is by our beds of pain, We touch Him ‘mid life’s pain and strife, And we are whole again. But, of course, all this awaits its perfect fulfillment in this happier time when the King shall come to His own again, “and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (Isaiah 35:10). Then, when this earth is purged of all iniquity, will it be also true that the inhabitant shall no more say, “‘I am ill’; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven” (Isaiah 33:24). Come, Lord, and take away The sin, the wrong, the pain, And make this blighted world of ours Thine own fair world again. The Fruitless Fig Tree6. The Curse of the King But the King has not only blessing, but also judgment recorded in His mighty hand. The only miracle of judgment recorded in all the life of Jesus Christ immediately followed these incidents. It was the cursing of the barren fig tree, to which He came seeking fruit and from which He was encouraged to expect it by the luxuriant leaves that covered its branches; but lo! there was “nothing on it except leaves” (Matthew 21:19), and He pronounced upon it the withering words that left it leafless and dead. This was, of course, a type of the fruitless nation that He had already referred to under the parable of the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9), and it forecasts the solemn judgment that awaits every professed follower of Christ who shall meet Him at last with empty hands and fruitless life. But there is a beneficent aspect, even in the curse of the King. It tells us of One that has power to consume and destroy the things which we are unable to cast out of our lives. There are fig trees of sinful habit and physical disease which our human strength cannot throw off alone. Oh, how glad we are sometimes to have a God who is “a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29) and from whose presence Satan, sin and sickness flee away! He tells us we may enter into His destructive power against these things and hand over to His flaming sword adversaries and obstacles too great for us to overcome. “I am so glad,” said a little child once, “that I have a God that can shake the world.” Our Christ is not all soft and easy benevolence. Back of His gentleness is an arm of might and a holiness as inexorable as the lightnings of the sky. Oh sinner, whatever else you dare, beware of “the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:16)! The Faith of God
6. The Scepter of the Kingdom In the closing verses of our lesson, the Lord reveals the secret of His own power and tells the disciples how they may share it also. The secret of it is faith. “Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,” and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer’” (Matthew 21:21-22). And so He passes over to us His very scepter, and tells us that we may exercise the same omnipotence of faith through which He wrought His mighty works. It was by faith that He overcame and became for us “the author and Perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). But we, too, may exercise the same faith, too. Some time in that coming kingdom we shall be like Him and exercise a power over the universe of God at which, could we fully realize it now, we would be amazed and appalled. But He is training us now in the use of this mystic scepter, and teaching us the lessons of that faith of which He once said, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26); “Everything is possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23). We have but touched its borderland, beloved. There are great continents of faith and power and prayer for us yet to explore. “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1), help our unbelief (Mark 9:24) and give us “the faith of God” (Romans 3:3).