Exposition of Matthew (Matthew 21:12-22)

For a study help through Matthew chapter 21, click on Bible in the navigational bar above.

(Jesus’ final week of earthly ministry)

Questions to be answered in this study

1. What is the gospel?
2. What is God’s plan of salvation according to the Bible?
3. What did it mean when Jesus said on the cross “it is finished?
4. Why did it upset the chief priest and scribes when children cried out to Jesus, “Hosanna to the Son of David?”
5. Why is it that 85% of those who accept Jesus today as a savior are from age four to fourteen?
6. Why did Jesus place a curse on the fig tree for not bearing fruit when it was not yet time for the fig tree to bear fruit?
7. How was Israel compared to the fig tree that Jesus cursed?
8. When did the curse Jesus placed on Israel for not bearing fruit come to pass?
9. Did Jesus mean that we could literally move mountains if we believe?
10. When we consider that Jesus lay down His life for us, how should that affect our lives?

Introduction

What is the gospel? The meaning of the word gospel is good news, and the good news of the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. How could Jesus dying on a cross possibly be good news? Why was it even necessary? Correctly answering those questions is clear understanding of what the gospel means beyond a simple definition. The answer to those questions: When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, it plunged humanity into sin. Because of sin, the penalty of death passed on to all: “Wherefor as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” Romans 5:12 (KJV). After this, God needed to provide a plan of salvation to rescue man from the state of spiritual death. 

What is God’s plan of salvation according to the Bible? Man cannot die to pay the penalty for his sins. “For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV). It took someone who had no sin to die in man’s stead. Jesus, the perfect God-man, was the only solution. So, He came to earth to die on the cross, offering an eternal sacrifice, one time, to atone and make a payment for the sin of man: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life,” Romans 5:8-10 (KJV). Jesus said on the cross “it is finished.” God’s plan of redemption was completed. If you have never come to Jesus for salvation and eternal life, why not do it today. For a step-by-step guide from the Bible, just CLICK HERE.

Jesus was tested for four days before His crucifixion. During this time, He was teaching on the temple grounds. In the time of Jesus, Herod had enlarged the Temple that included a courtyard for the gentiles that surrounded the Temple proper. The religious leaders were there asking Jesus questions to trick Him into something they could accuse Him of and put Him to death, but their efforts failed because Jesus was perfect in every way. By the end of the week they would falsely accuse Jesus of blasphemy and crucify Him.

As we begin our study today, we will study those four days of testing that Jesus went through on the Temple grounds before the Passover:

Matthew 21:12-13, “And Jesus went into the Temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers. The seats of them that sold doves, 13And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.”

As we saw in our last study on Sunday, the first day of the week, Jesus entered Jerusalem, and went to the Temple on, the 10th of Nisan. As He entered the Temple, He upset the money-changers tables; this upset the priests and the religious leaders, and they began to accuse Jesus; this was the first phase of the testing of Jesus, which He would endure for the next four days. 

After the commotion, the blind and the lame came to Jesus for healing, as we shall see in the following verses:

Matthew 21:14-17, “And the blind and the lame came to him in the Temple; and he healed them. 15And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the Temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, 16And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? 17And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.”

After the confrontation with the money changers, He immediately was met by the needy seeking healing, and Jesus showed compassion on them and began healing them. Verse 15 says that as He healed, the children cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David;” thisupset the chief priests and scribes, and they said to Jesus, Do you hear what they say? To them, the children were blaspheming by calling Jesus the Messiah. It was strange that it had never registered on them that Jesus was the Messiah even as he performed miracles and healed the sick. They wanted Jesus to deny that He was the Messiah, but instead, Jesus said unto them in verse 16, quoting from Psa. 8:2: “Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? 17And he left them and went out of the city into Bethany, and he lodged there.” After Jesus said this, He left because the day ended and went to Bethany to spend the night.

Consider the quote Jesus used from Psalm 8:2: This is a Psalm of David. David had enemies just as Jesus did. He is saying that his strength, through God, was enabled through the mouths of children who, without the wisdom of adults, received spiritual truth and mocked the self-righteous. God commonly uses the weak things of this world to shame those who think they are wise. Jesus uses this quote to show the scribes and others, who accused Him, that God’s Word foretold the event that just took place. The children recognized the arrival of the Messiah instead of the learned religious leaders. That explains why 85% of those who accept Jesus today as a savior are from age four up to fourteen. Today, it is shameful that children have more excellent spiritual knowledge than their adult supervisors.

Earlier in our study, in Matthew 11:25, Jesus said, “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, LORD of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; ” this was the first of many times that the religious leaders test Jesus, and it is to be noted that Jesus never needed to defend Himself; He always used the Scripture as His defense. On this occasion, the children supported Him and mocked the ignorance of the religious leaders. These leaders were ignorant of the Scripture or ignored what Scripture taught. Jesus silenced them with the quote and went His way.

When Jesus left the Temple, He traveled a short distance to Bethany to spend the night with friends; this was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; this was God the Father’s provincial care of Jesus since there were millions in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration and the lodging was taken. Jesus will retreat to Bethany each evening for the four days before His crucifixion. Each day, He will enter the eastern gate to go to the Temple for further testing. 

On the second day, Matthew records an exciting event along the way to the Temple:

Matthew 21:18-19, “Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. 19And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.”

It is early in the morning as Jesus is on His way to the Temple, and He has not had breakfast. He sees a fig tree standing alone beside the road. As He comes near the tree, He notices that it has leaves but no fruit on it. Jesus responded by placing a curse on the tree and declaring that it shall never again produce fruit; so, the tree weathers away. We wonder why Jesus did this since it was not yet time for the fig tree to bear fruit. It was March/April During the Passover and the fig tree bears its fruit in summer. The situation here is that the tree had already put on its leaves, which indicated that there were also buds, “pre-figs” called paggim, edible before the fruit developed. Solomon mentions these pre-figs in the Song of Solomon in chapter two. 

When Jesus saw the tree with leaves, it meant that there should also be pre-fig fruit, but it was not so. The tree was like some people who advertise something they don’t have, in other words, hypocrites. Jesus uses the fig tree to set an example, a lesson to His disciples. Jesus established a metaphor of this fig tree that failed to bear fruit although its leaves were saying the opposite; this metaphor exposed the religious teachers of Israel who pretended to be something they were not, and also describes many false teachers today. Israel, in general, is also an example of people who failed to bear fruit at the time of the arrival of their Messiah. There was no excuse for this, for the Old Testament foretold Israel of the coming Messiah in detail, but they refused to believe and accept Him.

Israel observed the Passover each year and attempted to keep the law as if they were bearing fruit, but they faltered when it came time to receive the Messiah. Like the fig tree, they were indicating they were bearing fruit by their teachings of the coming Messiah and keeping the law when there was no natural fruit, only a false appearance. When Jesus came to Israel expecting spiritual fruit, all He found was barrenness. The nation had been led astray by Pharisaic Judaism and self-righteous living. Like the fig tree, there was no fruit; therefore, Jesus placed a curse on Israel because of their barreness, which ultimately caused them to lose their Temple and be removed from the land, which also became desolate. Jesus pronounced this judgment back in chapter 12 when He said to Israel; He was leaving her house lonely.

The fall of Jerusalem came in A.D. 70 when Titus, the Roman General, marched on Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. Judea was left desolate just as Jesus had foretold. Most of the people either fled to other remote lands or were killed. A small defiant garrison remained at Masada, a mountian top fortress south of the Dead Sea built by Herod the Great. They would also be overtaken later, but to avoid capture, they committed mass suicide.

Mark divides the event of the fig tree in two separate events. On their arrival to Jerusalem one day, the tree was cursed, and then the following day, the disciple noticed the tree had withered. Matthew, on the other hand, combines this event into just one scene, as we see in the following verses where we also see the disciple’s reaction:

Matthew 21:20-22, “And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! 21Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. 22And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

It is doubtful if the disciples learned the lesson Jesus was teaching concerning the fig tree. They were more interested in His power to make the fig tree wither by just speaking the word. Jesus told them not to be amazed by that because they could command a mountain to be cast into the sea if they asked believing. Jesus said, just ask, and you shall receive it. However, there is more to be seen in this than meets the eye as we shall see as we go forward.

From these words of Jesus, false teachers tell their followers that they can have their desires; all they need to do is believe and ask for it, and it is theirs. Have you ever known of anyone who moved a mountain by just believing and asking for it? There must be something more than meets the eye here than what it seems to be on the surface. It does not mean that we can desire something and ask for it, believing that it will happen and then it happens. Jesus is speaking of faith in the power of God to bring things about. If you think it is the power of your faith, go tell a mountain to move and see what happens. That does that not mean we don’t have faith if the mountain does not move. Jesus is not saying that we can literally move mountains if we believe; He is saying the power to make things happen lies within God. When we are prepared to trust in God to do things, things happen; it has nothing to do with the power of our faith or our desires. It is faith in the power of God to do whatever He wills to do. God is not a genie in a bottle ready to do whatever we desire of Him.

When we believe, in faith, that God can do all things according to His will, we will witness things as unbelievable as a mountian being moved. That is why when we pray, we conclude our prayer “in Jesus’ name.” That means that His will be done and not ours. The power to bring things about does not depend on our faith; it depends on God’s power. When we pray for those things that God reveals to us and those things He desires, we can join in and be part of God’s mighty works, which sometimes appear as amazing as moving mountains.

Jesus is teaching that Israel had leaves, as did the fig tree, but there was no fruit. They were not abiding in the Lord and receiving the Messiah and bearing spiritual fruit. As was the case with Israel, we can have the leaves but still not be abiding in Christ and bearing fruit. The lesson for us today is that we can do nothing in our power. If we are to bear fruit, we must abide in Christ and depend on His power. We can have the leaves, but leaves without fruit are worthless. 

We need to ask ourselves, am I abiding in Christ and bearing the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control? We read in John 15:3-6, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Our purpose is outlined in the next verses, which is to fulfill God’s will for our lives: 

Matthew 5:14-16, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, His glory and love come within us, and then we have the opportunity to allow that glory and love to shine out to others and bless their lives and bring glory to God. 

My wife and I bought a crystal prism once and hung it in a window so sunlight could shine through it. It was beautiful when the sun came up in the morning, revealing the spectrum of colors, red, yellow, blue. India, etc. That is an example of how God’s love and glory shine through believers out to others. The white light of God’s glory and love is reviled in its beautiful components, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, and all the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit. Only when the branch is abiding in the vine can it bear fruit. Likewise, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is evident when believers abide in Christ. It requires our submitting to Jesus; we can dam up God’s glory and His love so that it does not shine out to others and does not bring glory to God; that happens when believers live a carnal life apart from God. Unless we are connected to the vine, we can do nothing independently that honors God. It requires following Jesus and being daily committed to Him to bear fruit. We can have the leaves by attending church, reading the Bible and praying, etc., but unless we are bearing fruit, we are not bringing glory to our heavenly Father. If we are not bearing fruit, we become like the fig tree that dries up and weathers away and is tossed aside, in other words a worthless life.

In Jesus’ day, Israel rejected their Messiah and lost their opportunity to bear fruit; if we don’t abide in Jesus, we will lose that opportunity in our lifetime. Today Christians spend a lot of time worrying about trivial things of which they have no control instead of consecrating on the things they can control. For example, it is easy to be caught up in our own concerns while abiding in Christian rituals but be as barren as the fig tree of which Jesus spoke. Consider what Jesus has done for us. He laid down His life so that we may have eternal life. He said His burden is light, meaning that to bear fruit is so easy and is rewarded with so much in eternal rewards. So, shouldn’t we be willing to bear Spiritual fruit and glorify the name of our Heavenly Father?