Matthew 21

— upon an ass, and a colt] Rather, “Upon an ass, even a colt,” Mark xi. 7; Luke xix. 35; John xii. 14. Dr. Whitby, Bp. Pearce.

Matthew 21:2

2.—and straightway ye shall find &c.] We should here remark the Divine knowledge and power of our blessed Lord: the former in foretelling where and in what manner His disciples should find the beasts required for the occasion; the latter in inclining the hearts of persons at a distance to so ready a compliance with His commands. Dean Stanhope.

Matthew 21:4

4.—that it might be fulfilled &c.] Events were so admirably disposed, by the wise providence of God, to fulfil His purposes, that the minutest circumstances relating to Christ were described beforehand, in order to prepare men for His reception. Bp. Mann.

Matthew 21:5

5. Tell ye &c.] See Zech. ix. 9, and the notes there. The Jews themselves applied the passage to the expected Messiah.

—the daughter of Sion.] That is, Jerusalem, so named from mount Sion, on which the city was partly built. This poetical manner of personifying cities and countries was familiar to the Prophets. See Isa. lxii. 11; Zech. ix. 9. Dr. Campbell.

The buyers and sellers driven out of the temple. Anno DOMINI 33. c Mark 11. 4. meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

Matthew 21:7

7. — thereon.] “Upon the colt,” Luke xix. 35. Dr. Whitby.

Matthew 21:8

8. — spread their garments &c.] The strewing of clothes, flowers, and branches before kings, was an usual ceremony in the East. See among other passages

Matthew 21:9

9. — Hosanna to the Son of David.] The word “Horanna” is an abbreviation of two Hebrew words, which signify “save now” they are found at Ps. cxviii. 25, and were a customary acclamation of the common people on solemn occasions. Bp. Pearce. The people sing hosannas to Jesus in this manner, as proclaiming Him the Messiah. For it had been their custom, at the feast of tabernacles, not only to sing hosannas with the greatest joy, but to carry branches in their hands, to celebrate their expectation of the coming of their Messiah; on which account it was that, on acknowledging Jesus for this Messiah, they sing the hosannas, and use the rites customary at that feast; wishing prosperity to Him and His kingdom, from Him that dwelleth “in the highest.” Dr. Whitby. — Blessed is he &c.] Blessed is He whom God hath sent to be our King and Deliverer. Dr. S. Clarke. At the time predicted by the Prophets, not only Jerusalem looked for a completion of the prophecies, but the whole earth sat still, expecting that Judea should give her a King. And, lo, the promised King of the Jews is born of the royal house and lineage of David. All the circumstances of His birth, the words of His mouth, and the actions of His life, demonstrate Him to be the Messiah, foretold by the Prophets from the beginning of the world. He cometh to His own; and Jerusalem is commanded to rejoice and shout: but His own receive Him not; and Jerusalem turns a deaf ear to the voice of all her Prophets, not suffering herself to believe that any thing said by them could refer to Jesus of Nazareth. Her heart was depraved and hardened: she demanded to be put in possession of the empire of this world: she despised the appearance of her King, with the acclamations of an ignoble multitude; and soon nailed a spiritual Monarch to the cross. With how different sensations are the members of the Christian church affected, when they hear the words of Zechariah, “Behold thy King cometh unto thee,” and read the history of their accomplishment in this chapter, from which is selected the Gospel for the first Sunday in Advent! With inexpressible delight we carry back our thoughts to that happy era, when the King of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews, made His appearance in the flesh. We join His train, we attend Him in His progress towards Jerusalem, and seem to enter with Him into the holy city, while the multitude of those who go before, and who follow after, cry, “Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” When we behold this scene, as presented to our view at this season, we are taught to conceive by it a noble idea of the Messiah, at His first advent, ushered into the Church, as her Lord and King, the Prophets going before and the Apostles following after Him, all proclaiming and bearing testimony to Jesus, all singing Hosanna to the son of David, all pronouncing the blessedness of Him, who thus cometh in the name of Jehovah. We know that this is He, to whom give all the Prophets witness; and that He hath fulfilled these things which were written of Him. We know that He hath overcome our enemies, and triumphed gloriously, that He hath erected an universal and everlasting kingdom, and given laws to the world; nay, that He doth govern all things in heaven and earth. Bp. Horne.

Matthew 21:12

12. — into the temple of God.] Into the outer court of the temple, called the court of the Gentiles. Bp. Pearce. — the tables of the moneychangers.] Meaning those who furnished the Jews, who came from foreign parts with money for their bills, or with the current money of Judea for that of their own country, or changed larger pieces of money into smaller. Dr. Whitby, Bp. Pearce. — that sold doves.] St. John (chap. ii. 15) adds, that our Saviour drove out also “the sheep and the oxen;” all of which were wanted for sacrifices: the doves for offerings made by the poor, Levit. v. 7. Bp. Pearce.

Matthew 21:13

13. — but ye have made it a den of thieves.] Ye, by turning My house into a place of unjust gain, of gain got by exactions, have given just occasion to apply to you the words of Jeremiah, chap. vii. 11. Dr. Whitby. — of thieves.] Meaning persons who make undue gain of others by traffick. Dr. Hammond. He intimates, that profit extorted by fraud and oppression is nothing else than robbery: and that the exercise of such trades in a consecrated place, was so derogatory to the purposes of its institution, that it made their injustice become sacrilege. From our Saviour’s words and actions on this occasion, we should learn, what respect is due to the temples of God, and how we ought to behave ourselves in them. Since they are the houses of God, we should demean ourselves in them, as under His more immediate presence and observation; and, since they are houses of prayer, every one should be careful to make them such to himself, by frequenting The fig tree cursed. CHAP. XXI. Christ silenceth the priests and elders. Anno DOMINI 23.

Matthew 21:16

16.—Last perfected praise?] Hast caused Thy praise to be set forth in a most perfect manner. Bp. Pearce.

Matthew 21:17

17.—into Bethany;] To the house of Lasarus, whom He had raised from the dead, John xii. 1.

Matthew 21:19

19.—and found nothing thereon.] The law of Moses, at Deut. xxiii. 24, 25, permitted the Jews, when passing through a vineyard or field of corn, to gather food for immediate use; and this law was extended to olives, figs, and all other eatable fruits. Bp. Pearce.

—And presently the fig tree withered away.] This transaction may be considered as typifying the impending destruction of the Jews, in consequence of their want of fruit. Our blessed Lord prefigured His eternal mercies by numberless miracles for the good of mankind. He expressed the severity of His judgments on the unfruitful and barren, by a single sign inflicted on the senseless tree. Grotius. Considered in a moral light, this miracle may be a caution to us, not to be barren or unfruitful in the work of the Lord: otherwise, if we have only the shew and profession of Christianity, and bring forth only leaves without producing fruits of it in holiness of life, we shall be devoted to destruction. Bp. Mann. Respecting this transaction of the fig tree, see further notes at Mark xi. 13, &c.

Matthew 21:21

21.—say unto this mountain, &c.] See note at chap. xvii. 20. No encouragement is here given to any enthusiastic notion of the power of faith; it is only a strong figurative expression, signifying that, by a firm and lively trust in God, the disciples would be enabled to work the greatest miracles. Bp. Mann.

Matthew 21:22

22. And all things, whatsoever &c.] Whatsoever ye shall ask of God, in order to confirm your doctrine and ministry, with stedfast faith, without doubt or wavering, He will enable you to perform. Dr. S. Clarke.

Matthew 21:23

23.—the elders of the people] Meaning the magistrates, who from their age and gravity were chosen in every city, and invested with authority in public matters. Beausole.

—doest thou these things?] Referring to His publick entry into Jerusalem, His driving the buyers and sellers from the temple, His miracles wrought in the temple, and His teaching there. Abp. Newcome.

Matthew 21:25

25. The baptism of John &c.] His question is, When John the Baptist preached and baptized, did he do so by God’s appointment, or was it only a human contrivance? Dr. S. Clarke.

—Why did ye not then believe him?] When he pointed out Me as the Christ. See chap. in. 3, 11, 14; John i. 29, 30. Bp. Pearce.

Matthew 21:27

27.—Neither tell I you] This question of our Saviour, as it completely silenced and confounded these malicious Scribes and Pharisees, containing a secret conviction and reproof of their unreasonable unbelief in rejecting John the Baptist, so it pointed out the reasonableness of His not returning a positive answer to their question, since it was evident that they who believed not John the Baptist, whom yet they dared not expressly deny to be sent from God, would much less have believed Jesus’s plain assertion of His own Divine authority. Dr. S. Clarke.

Matthew 21:28

28.—A certain man &c.] Our Saviour, by this parable, points out the justice of God in utterly rejecting

The parables of the two sons, and of the wicked husbandmen. Anno DOMINI 33. man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.

Matthew 21:31

31. — the publicans and the harlots] Even publicans and harlots, those whom you most despise and hate, repent and become Christians, whilst you obstinately set yourselves against the gracious terms of the Gospel. Bp. Mann. Prodigate persons were sometimes sufficiently humble to repent, but the Pharisees, who had faults also, and great ones, though not so scandalous, had withal so much pride and high-mindedness, that they imagined it more their business to sit as censors and correctors over all mankind, than to confess their own sins, or to repent of them. Dr. Waterland.

Matthew 21:32

32. — came—in the way of righteousness,] Came to preach to you the necessity of repentance and obedience. Dr. S. Clarke. Setting an example of righteousness, and promoting its cause. Abp. Newcome. — and ye, when ye had seen it,] When ye had seen even the publicans and most vicious people wrought upon by his presching, yet this had no effect upon you. Dr. Hammond.

Matthew 21:33

33. which planted a vineyard,] There is no allegory in Scripture more frequent or more significant, than that which represents the Church of God under the figure of a vine or vineyard. Dean Stanhope. See notes at Ps. lxxx. 8; Iasi. v. 1, 2. — digged a winepress,] In Persia they still dig their wine-presses; for they form them in hollow places dug in the ground, which they line with masons’ work. Sir J. Chardin. — built a tower,] An elevated building, where the vine-dresser might lodge, to overlook and watch the vineyard. Dr. Lightfoot.

Matthew 21:36

36. — beat one, and killed another, &c.] This refers generally to the maltreatment of the Prophets by the

Matthew 21:37

37. — last of all he sent unto them his son,] “Having yet one son, His wellbeloved,” Mark xii. 6. Thus, at last, God sent His Son into the world, that, if there were any means left of reducing the Jews to repentance, they might be convinced at last by the miracles and authority of Christ. Dr. S. Clarke.

Matthew 21:38

38. — This is the heir;] This verse, compared with John xi. 48, seems to hint that the rulers of the Jews acknowledged amongst themselves, that Christ was the Son of God. Dr. Lightfoot. — This is the heir; come, let us kill him,] Thus the Jews, after all the indignities which they had offered to God’s messengers the Prophets, were to add this at last, to fill up the measure of their iniquity; that they should also put to death the Son of God, casting Him out of the Church, who was the foundation of it, and the author of all God’s blessings to it. Dr. S. Clarke.

Matthew 21:41

41. They say unto him,] The chief priests and elders, with whom He was now discoursing, (ver. 23,) say unto Him. Bp. Pearce. — He will miserably destroy &c.] The ingratitude and insolence of the husbandmen, here represented, constrained even these hearers to acknowledge it a most fit thing, that the Lord of the vineyard should dispossess and destroy these wretches, and provide Himself with other husbandmen, more true to their trust, and more sensible of the honour of having it reposed in them. This image of that which the Jews had done, and were about to do, manifests the justice of that punishment, which they thus drew on themselves and their whole nation, when God turned those very measures to their destruction, upon which they chiefly depended for the safety and establishment of their usurped dominion over the people’s consciences. For He utterly Parable of the marriage of the king’s son. Anne DOMINI 22. • Ps. 116. 22. Acts 4. 11.

Matthew 21:42

42.—The stone which the builders rejected, &c.] The expression, “head of the corner,” seems to denote that stone of the corner which is the uppermost, and binds all under it the closer together. Bp. Pearce. In the same manner, Christ the Messiah, whom the Jews rejected, shall receive and unite the Gentiles to His Church, as a principal corner stone unites and links together the two sides of a building. See Ephes. ii. 20. Dr. S. Clarke.

—this is the Lord’s doing.] This is a wonderful act of the Divine power, and an extraordinary instance of the immediate and overruling influence of God’s peculiar providence. Dr. S. Clarke.

Matthew 21:43

43.—The kingdom—shall be taken &c.] This is one of the clearest predictions of the rejection of the Jews, and of the call of the Gentiles, to be found in the Gospel histories. Dr. Campbell. The meaning is, the Jewish nation shall no longer be the peculiar people of God; but other nations, more worthy of the title, shall obtain this distinction. Rosenmüller.

ding garment. 15 Tribute ought to be paid to Cesar. 23 Christ confuteth the Sadducees for the resurrection: 34 answereth the lawyer, which is the first and great commandment: 41 and poseth the Pharisees about the Messias.

Anne DOMINI 23. AND Jesus answered *and spake unto them again by parables, and said, a Luke 14. 16. Rev. 10. 9.

Matthew 21:44

44.—whosoever shall fall &c.] The meaning is, This great and general revelation of the will of God by the Messiah, being the last discovery that He will ever make to mankind; whoever shall stumble and be offended at any part of it, or behave himself in any manner unworthy of it, shall be severely punished. But he that shall utterly and finally reject it, or behave himself so as to deserve the utmost effect of the wrath which it reveals and brings along with it, shall be miserably and utterly destroyed. Dr. S. Clarke.

Chap. XXII. ver. 2. The kingdom of heaven &c.] The primary and principal object of this parable is to represent, under the image of a marriage feast, the invitation given to the Jews to embrace the Gospel; their rejection of that gracious offer, the severe punishment inflicted on them for their ingratitude and obstinacy, and the admission of the heathens to the privileges of Christianity in their room. See Iasi. liv. 5; Ps. xlv; Jer. iii. 8. Bp. Porteus.

—The kingdom of heaven is like &c.] That is, The dispensations of the Almighty, with respect to the Christian religion, here denoted by the kingdom of heaven, may be compared to the conduct of a certain king, &c. Bp. Porteus.

—made a marriage] A marriage feast, as the Greek word signifies, and as must be understood from the sequel of the parable. These feasts continued for several days, Judg. xiv. 10, 12. Dr. Whitby.