Exposition of Matthew (Matthew 20:29-21:5)

Questions to be answered in this chapter of the narrative:

1. How can we know that the healing of two blind beggars in Matthew and the Healing of Blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52 was not a contradiction of Scripture? 
2. What is significant about how the two blind men at Jericho addressed Jesus, “Lord, Son of David?” 
3. Why was the crowd following Jesus nervous when the Blind men called out “Lord, Son of David” andasked them to shut up?
4. What symbol did the casting away of the cloak of Bartimaeus represent?
5. Why did Jesus choose a donkey instead of a horse to enter Jerusalem at the beginning of His final week on earth?
6. How do we see the sovereignty of God involved in the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus?
7. What was the Biblical reason Jesus entered Jerusalem on this occasion riding a donkey when He had in the past walked everywhere?
8. Why was the Eastern gate at the entrance of Old Jerusalem sealed?
9. What did the sacrifice of the lamb during the Passover in Exodus symbolize?
10. What is the significance of the Last Supper, and what event did it fulfill?

Introduction

We have entered the final major section of the Gospel of Matthew, which leads us through the final week of Christ’s earthly ministry and includes the last supper, His death, resurrection, post appearances, and ascension into heaven. In real life time, these events only cover six days, but it covers about a third of the gospel of Matthew. So, buckle up; we will spend some time in this essential part of the narrative of Matthew. 

Chapter 20 closes out with the transition into this third and final section of Matthew which begins Jesus’ final week on earth:

Matthew 20:29-34, “And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. 30And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O LORD, thou son of David. 31And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O LORD, thou son of David. 32And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? 33They say unto him, LORD, that our eyes may be opened. 34So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.”

At this point, Jesus crossed over the Jordon River from Perea to the eastern side and began His final journey toward Jerusalem. His journey would take Him through Jericho. I’ve always visioned Jericho a beautiful city of palm trees and a tropical setting, and I was somewhat disappointed when my wife and I visited there recently. Today its streets are lined with trash and rundown buildings, and I think it is the dirtiest and trashiest place I’ve seen in all my travels. The Old Testament Jericho was in ruins when Jesus visited there nearly 2,000 years ago. The ruins of Herod’s Jericho that Jesus visited have been excavated and are alongside Jericho’s third modern Arab city today. In the center of the ruins of the new Jericho of Jesus’ time are the remains of one of the four palaces of Herod, which lies in the very center of the ruins. Just as it was in the time of Jesus, you walk out of one Jericho into the other one.

It was here, as Jesus passed through the ruins of Old Jericho and entered Herod’s Jericho, that Jesus encountered two blind men. Some have confused this account with the Healing of Blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52. Some have even thought it was a contradiction of Scripture. Blind beggars were common in the time of Jesus. Bartimaeus was healed as Jesus left the ruins of Old Jericho, and the two blind beggars were healed as He entered Herod’s Jericho. Some believe that only Bartimaeus was mentioned in Mark’s account, while Matthew mentions two unnamed blind beggars. It makes little difference in which view we accept as long as we don’t think the Bible is in error; the point being made is the real issue. The total beggars healed at Jericho were three.

In Matthew’s account, the two men hear Jesus approaching. They had heard of Jesus and the healings He had performed and cried out to Him to have mercy on them. Notice how these blind men address Jesus; they cry out “Lord, Son of David;” this was a recognition of Jesus as the Messiah who will sit on the throne of David in the kingdom. That made the crowd uncomfortable. Luke tells us in Luke 18:39 that those leading the way began to rebuke the beggars telling them to be quiet. Although, that did not hush the beggars; they continued crying to Jesus, “Son of David has mercy on us.” One of the reasons the crowd might have been nervous was the blind men were proclaiming Jesus as the king near the palace of Herod, which, if overheard, would be considered an insurrection by the Romans. For the blind men, it was a statement of their faith in Jesus. They undoubtedly knew the danger in their proclamation, but they persisted anyway. It was significantly to their advantage to get the attention of Jesus because little did they know that this would be their final chance to receive the healing of Jesus. After all, Jesus would never pass this way again.

If you are reading this today, Jesus is also passing your way. These two beggars needed not only physical healing but also spiritual healing? Do you also need spiritual healing? If so, Jesus is ready to save you and give you eternal life, but remember, according to the Bible, today is the day of salvation. Just as was the case of these blind beggars, there may never be another opportunity. Call out to Jesus while He is near. He may never pass your way again. According to statistics, at this very minute, 105 people worldwide will die without Christ and any hope for all eternity. Please don’t let that happen to you; come to Jesus; He is calling you today.

It was also important for these two blind men because their healing could be the difference between life and death. Because of their blindness, they could not hold a job and had to beg. They were homeless and had to be exposed daily to the elements. They were considered outcasts from society, and the Pharisees believed them under God’s judgment because of their blindness. Unlike Israel, these blind men demonstrated genuine faith in Jesus, and Jesus heard their pleas for healing and stopped and called the men to Him. Mark put it this way concerning the healing of Bartimaeus in Mark 10:49-50, “And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.”When Bartimaeus cast away his cloak, it symbolized casting away sins or confessing sins as he placed his trust in Jesus for salvation. A cloak was a treasured garment in those days. It served as a protection from the weather, the sand storms, and a shelter at night; this was a mark of trust in Jesus that He would heal him and enabled him to provide for his needs for the first time in his life.

In verse 32, Jesus asks the blind men what they want Him to do. They tell Jesus that they want their eyes to be opened, and with compassion, Jesus grants their wishes. This week I heard 21-year-old Jordon Turpin tell how she felt when she visited a park for the first time. She had been a prisoner in her home, along with 13 siblings, from age 2 to 29 years; cruel parents ruled her for her entire life until she escaped at 17. She said the park was beautiful and wondered how even heaven could be better. As the blind men opened their eyes and saw the beauty of the blue sky and perhaps puffy white clouds above a horizon of swaying green palm trees for the first time, they were overjoyed and probably overwhelmed with the beauty they had never seen before.

In the gospel of Mark, we read Jesus said to blind Bartimaeus, “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.”(Mark 10:52).These blind men whose eyes were opened became disciples and followed Jesus to Jerusalem.

The faith of these men proves the necessity of faith for a relationship with Jesus. The author of Hebrews says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). 

We now come to the place in Matthew where Jesus will soon be crucified and die for the sins of man:

Matthew 21:1-5 “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The LORD hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.”

Jesus entered Jerusalem from the east from the town called Bethpage, located on top of the Mount of Olives; it was from here, in a few days, that Jesus ascended into heaven. It is the same place on the east side of Jerusalem, where Jesus will return on His second coming. We read in Acts,“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. ¹⁰And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; ¹¹Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. ¹²Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey” ((Acts 1:9-12).

 From here, Jesus directs two disciples, giving them explicit instructions to enter Bethpage, seek out a donkey and her colt, and bring them to Him. Jesus tells them if anyone asks, tell them that the Lord needs them. Jesus refers to Himself as LORD, “Yahweh,” the proper name of God. It so happened that men asked why the disciples were taking the donkey and her colt, and when they replied that the Lord needed them, they relented. God had made arrangements in advance for Jesus to use the donkey. It was common in those days for a dignitary to borrow a mule or donkey for transportation as it is today to rent a car.

While horses were rare in that day and used primarily for war, donkeys were plentiful, associated with degradation and poverty, and also a symbol of peace. It was the standard way for a dignitary to enter the city of Jerusalem, which sent a signal of peace and humility. King Solomon is an Old Testament example; he rode a mule to his inauguration, as we read in 1 Kings chapter 1. According to Luke, this particular colt had never been ridden and was reserved for royal service.

It took a lot of things coming together at the appropriate time to ensure the events went as God had planned. The colt was born at precisely the right time and hitched at the right place, and the bystanders were prepared for the proper response. God is sovereign in all matters, including His plans for our lives as believers, without controlling our actions but giving us the freedom to make choices. We can rest assured that God will provide all our needs according to His sovereign will. 

God is the creator of the universe and can bring about whatever outcome He desires. We sometimes think we own property and material things, but it’s God who holds all things, and it is through grace that He allows us to use them for a little while. Jesus went through His life owning nothing but the clothes on His back, and he said He had no place to lay His head.

Nevertheless, God provided everything He needed at the appropriate time. We as believers should understand that all we have belongs to God, and we are only using it for a while. Also, we need to rest assured that God loves us and will provide for our needs if we have the patience to wait for His plans. When that is our attitude, it eliminates anxiety and relieves us of forever struggling to obtain things that we will leave behind in the end. Also, it builds our faith in God that He is in control and will provide us with those things needed to serve Him.

We can depend on God for our needs but not always for our wants. Without God’s provision, there would be no hope; through His grace, God provides for both the saved and the unsaved; The Bible says in Matthew 5:45, “…he makes his sun rise on both evil and good people, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous.:” Even though unbelievers may not realize it, they could not exist without God’s daily provisions.

We may wonder why, on this occasion, Jesus rides on the back of a donkey when He has walked everywhere during His Galion ministry. We know why based on verses from the prophet Zachariah: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zechariah 9:9). 

The final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry fulfills many Old Testament prophecies. There are also a lot of misconceptions and false traditions that need to be corrected. In the weeks ahead, we will expand on this week’s events and hopefully know more about it than we have ever known. In the present text, Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate. The Eastern Gate faces the Mount of Olives, the site of Jesus’ second coming, and is the main entrance to the Temple. That gate has been sealed and can no longer be used. The Eastern Gate was sealed shut in 1541 by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman. However, the Eastern Gate was sealed before this occasion and then reopened. The final sealing of the gate is said to have been a defensive move by the sultan to prevent the Jewish Messiah from entering the city of Jerusalem; this was based on the Jewish belief that the Messiah was yet to come. According to the Bible, the Messiah had already entered Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate on Palm Sunday nearly 2,000 years ago.

According to Mark, Jesus arrived at the Temple late in the day on Sunday and later left Jerusalem to go to Bethany, which was a short distance, for the evening. After Sunday night, Jesus returned to the Temple each of the following three days before the Passover. There He taught on the temple grounds and was questioned by several religious leaders. These first four days of Jesus’ last week are highlighted in the Old Testament. The fulfillment of the Passover will occur in the latter part of this week when Jesus and the disciples meet in the upper room to observe the Last Supper; this is the fulfillment of the Passover feast described in Exodus when God gave the observance of the Passover to Israel.

In Exodus, God gave Israel the Passover observance. He told them to select a lamb on the tenth of Nisan: “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening” (Exodus 12:3-6).

After the tenth day of Nisan, the lamb was kept in the house and examined for any flaw for four days until the fourteenth. On the evening of the fourteenth, the lamb was sacrificed to symbolize when Jesus would die for the sins of Israel and the world. The lamb’s blood was put on the doorposts of the house, and the remainder of the lamb was eaten that night with nothing to be leftover. The tenth day of Nisan would fall on the Sunday of the week Jesus was crucified. When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, He went straightway to the Temple, and for four days, He was inspected by the religious leaders. Just like the spotless lamb, no flaw could be found in Him.

Jesus did not come to Jerusalem to rule and reign; He came to fulfill the Passover, symbolized by the Last Supper and consummated by His death on the cross the next day. Jesus meets every detail of the Passover as Israel celebrates the feast; this was the timeline; as we go forward, we will study the movement of Jesus throughout this week. Also, in the middle of this final week, we will see Jesus’s discourse on the end-time events. In it all, we will see how the sovereignty of God brought about all the events that collimated in the death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection and ascension into heaven.