Matthew 21

Jesus enters Jerusalem as the promised King, humble and welcomed with praise, then cleanses the temple and heals there. The fig tree and the questions about His authority show that outward show without fruit is empty. Three confrontations follow: the two sons, the wicked tenants and the rejected stone. In them Jesus warns the leaders that they are refusing God’s Son.

Matthew 21:1-3

Jesus is near the end of His journey. He sends two disciples to fetch a donkey and her colt, and tells them what to say if questioned. He knows what they will find, and He speaks of Himself simply as the Lord who needs them.

BSA: Bethphage (“the house of unripe figs”): The village name hints at figs, and a fig tree appears later in the chapter.

See also: Zechariah 14:4.

Matthew 21:4-5

Matthew says this fulfills the prophet’s word. Zion’s King comes not with horses and war but humbly on a donkey. He is the true King, and He comes in peace and lowliness.

BSA: gentle (“meek, humble”): The King’s strength is joined to a lowly, unthreatening manner.

Greek: πραΰς (praus, G4235) — “gentle, meek.” This is the same word Jesus uses of Himself in Matthew 11:29. It means strength under control, not weakness.

See also: Zechariah 9:9.

Matthew 21:6-7

The disciples do exactly as told, and everything happens as Jesus said. They lay their cloaks on the animals and Jesus sits on them. A borrowed donkey becomes the throne of the King.

See also: John 12:14-15.

Matthew 21:8

The crowd honors Jesus as people once honored a king. They spread cloaks and leafy branches on the road before Him. It is a spontaneous and costly welcome, with ordinary people giving up their own garments.

See also: 2 Kings 9:13.

Matthew 21:9

The crowds cry out words from Psalm 118. They greet Jesus as the Son of David, the promised royal Savior, and as the one who comes in the Lord’s name. The shout is both praise and a plea for rescue.

BSA: Hosanna (“oh save, a cry of praise”): The word began as a prayer for rescue and became a shout of joyful praise.

Greek: ὡσαννά (hōsanna, G5614) — “save now.” It is a Hebrew plea, ‘save, we pray’, carried into Greek. The crowd is asking the King to save them, whether or not they understand how.

See also: Psalm 118:25-26.

Matthew 21:10-11

The whole city is shaken and asks who He is. The crowds answer only that He is the prophet from Nazareth. It is true but not yet the full truth, since He is more than a prophet.

BSA: stirred (“moved, shaken”): The city is shaken as by a tremor, because the arrival of Jesus cannot be ignored.

Greek: ἐσείσθη (eseisthē, G4579) — “was shaken.” It is related to the word for an earthquake. The whole city trembles at His coming.

Matthew 21:12

Jesus goes straight to the temple and drives out those who turned the courts into a marketplace. Money changers and dove sellers served worshipers but had made God’s house a place of business. He acts with the authority of the Lord of the house.

BSA: overturned (“threw down, turned upside down”): It shows a forceful act that stopped the trade completely.

See also: Malachi 3:1.

Matthew 21:13

Jesus joins two Scriptures. God meant His house to be a house of prayer, and Isaiah had said so for all peoples. Jeremiah warned that people can use the temple as a hiding place for dishonesty. The place for meeting God had become a place for profit.

BSA: den (“a cave or hiding place”): Robbers run to their den for safety after doing wrong, as if the temple could cover their sin.

Greek: σπήλαιον (spēlaion, G4693) — “cave, hideout.” The word pictures a robbers’ cave, the place thieves retreat to after their crimes. It points to people who use religion as a hiding place.

See also: Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11.

Matthew 21:14

Right after the cleansing, the blind and the lame come to Jesus in the temple, and He heals them. Those who were often kept at a distance now find welcome. The house of prayer becomes a house of mercy.

BSA: healed (“restored to health, made whole”): His healing is a full restoration of the person.

Matthew 21:15

The religious leaders see wonders and hear children praising the Son of David, and they are angry. They would rather protect their position than rejoice at what God is doing. Children see plainly what the learned refuse to see.

BSA: indignant (“deeply upset, offended”): Their displeasure runs deep, because His works and the children’s praise threaten their authority.

Greek: ἠγανάκτησαν (ēganaktēsan, G23) — “were greatly displeased.” The word describes sharp, bitter irritation. Their anger is aimed at the very thing God was blessing.

Matthew 21:16

Jesus answers them from Psalm 8. God Himself has arranged for praise to rise from the youngest voices, and the children are saying what the leaders should be saying. Jesus takes the praise as rightly given to Him.

BSA: ordained (“prepared, perfected”): God has brought this praise to its full and fitting shape, so the children’s cry is no accident.

Greek: κατηρτίσω (katērtisō, G2675) — “you have prepared, made complete.” The word means to fit something out fully and make it ready. God has made this childlike praise perfectly suited to its purpose.

See also: Psalm 8:2.

Matthew 21:17

Jesus leaves the city and spends the night in Bethany, a nearby village. Having been rejected by the leaders, He rests among friends outside the city’s centre of power.

See also: John 11:1.

Matthew 21:18-19

The hungry Jesus finds a fig tree full of leaves but with no fruit. Leaves promised figs that were not there. His word withers it, a picture of a showy religion that produces nothing for God.

BSA: leaves (“only outward appearance, no real substance”): The tree looked fruitful from a distance but offered nothing when He came near.

See also: Mark 11:13-14.

Matthew 21:20-22

The disciples are amazed. Jesus turns their amazement into a lesson on faith. Those who trust God without doubting can see great obstacles removed, and faith-filled prayer is heard. Moving mountains pictures what seems impossible, and the promise belongs to prayer that trusts God and seeks His will.

BSA: faith (“trust, confidence in God”): The power lies not in the one praying but in the God being trusted.

See also: Mark 11:22-24; 1 John 5:14.

Matthew 21:23

The chief priests and elders challenge Jesus after the temple cleansing and ask who gave Him the right to act. They want Him to name a human source for His authority so that they can reject it.

BSA: authority (“power, divine right”): They are asking whether He has the right to do these things, not only the strength.

Greek: ἐξουσίᾳ (exousia, G1849) — “authority, right to act.” This word means power that comes with the right to use it. The leaders think it belongs to them alone.

Matthew 21:24-27

Jesus answers with a question about John’s baptism. Either answer traps them. If they say heaven, they stand condemned for not believing. If they say men, they fear the crowd. They say only ‘We do not know’, so their fear of people rules them, not the truth.

BSA: heaven (“the spiritual realm, God’s dwelling”): The question is whether John’s work came from God Himself or from human invention.

See also: Matthew 3:1-6.

Matthew 21:28-30

A father asks both sons to work in his vineyard. The first refuses but later goes. The second agrees politely and never goes. Jesus shows that what matters is what we finally do, not what we first say.

BSA: changed his mind (“repented, felt regret”): The first son truly turned around, and his change shows in his actions.

Greek: μεταμεληθείς (metamelētheis, G3338) — “having regretted, having changed his mind.” The word carries the sense of afterthought and regret. It describes a heart that turns from refusal to obedience.

Matthew 21:31-32

The leaders themselves admit that the first son did the father’s will. Jesus applies the point sharply. Tax collectors and prostitutes, who had said no to God, listened to John and repented, while the religious leaders did not. The door to the kingdom is open to repenting sinners.

BSA: repent (“feel regret, turn away from sin”): Repentance is more than feeling sorry. It means turning around.

See also: Luke 7:29-30.

Matthew 21:33

Jesus tells another parable using the picture of Israel as God’s vineyard. The owner plants it with care, fencing, winepress and watchtower, then leases it to tenants and goes away. God has given His people everything needed to bear fruit for Him.

BSA: vineyard (“a place for growing grapes”): This was a familiar picture of God’s people, who were meant to yield fruit.

See also: Isaiah 5:1-7.

Matthew 21:34-36

At harvest the owner sends servants to receive his share. The tenants beat, kill and stone them, and treat a second group the same. The servants stand for the prophets God sent, so often mistreated. Even so, the owner keeps sending messengers, showing God’s patience.

See also: 2 Chronicles 36:15-16.

Matthew 21:37-39

Last of all the owner sends his son, expecting respect. Instead the tenants kill the heir, hoping to seize his inheritance, and throw him outside the vineyard. Jesus here foretells His own rejection and death, which took place outside Jerusalem’s walls.

BSA: heir (“one who receives a share”): The son is the true owner’s successor, which is why killing him is an attack on the owner himself.

See also: Hebrews 13:12.

Matthew 21:40-41

Jesus asks the leaders what the owner will do, and they answer correctly that he will punish the wicked tenants and find others who give him his share. They pronounce judgment on themselves without seeing it.

BSA: wretches (“evil men, wicked”): The leaders condemn the tenants as wicked, not realizing the story describes them.

Matthew 21:42

Jesus quotes Psalm 118. The stone the builders threw away becomes the cornerstone, the key stone that holds a building together. It is a picture of Jesus. Men rejected Him, but God raised Him up, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

BSA: cornerstone (“head of the corner, chief stone”): He is not merely one stone among many, but the chief stone on which everything depends.

Greek: κεφαλὴν γωνίας (kephalēn gōnias, G2776) — “head of the corner.” The phrase marks the stone that sets the line for the whole building, whether at the base corner or the top. All the rest is fitted to it.

See also: Psalm 118:22-23; Acts 4:11.

Matthew 21:43

Jesus warns that the kingdom of God will be taken from those who do not bear its fruit and given to a people who will. God looks for fruit, meaning lives of repentance, faith and obedience. Privilege without fruit is not enough.

BSA: fruit (“the product of their actions, spiritual results”): What God asks for is a life that shows His work, not only a religious claim.

See also: John 15:8.

Matthew 21:44

The stone is Christ, and He cannot be ignored. Those who stumble over Him in unbelief are broken. For those who stubbornly oppose Him to the end, the stone falls in judgment and crushes. The wise course is to come humbly to Him now.

BSA: crushed (“grind to powder, scattered like dust”): The final judgment on those who reject Him is total.

See also: Isaiah 8:14-15; Daniel 2:34-35.

Matthew 21:45-46

The chief priests and Pharisees understand that the parables are aimed at them. They want to arrest Jesus but fear the crowds, who see Him as a prophet. They understand the warning, yet they harden their hearts instead of repenting.

BSA: prophet (“one who speaks forth God’s will, a messenger of God”): The crowds see Him as one who speaks for God, which protects Him for a time.