Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MATTHEW #34 - 21:12-32)
XIX. 21:12:23-39 JESUS PROPHESIES THE REJECTION OF JEWRY
A. 21:12-17 CLEANSING OF TEMPLE
1. 21:12-16 JESUS CLEANSES TEMPLE AND ACCEPTS PRAISE
a. 21:12-13 JESUS STRONGLY CHALLENGES TEMPLE-SELLERS
Kai eiSELthen IeSOUS eis to hi-eRON [2411], kai eXEba-len [1544]PANtas tous poLOUNtas [4453]
And Jesus entered into the temple, and cast out all that sold
kai a-goRAson-tas [59] en tohi-eRO, kai tas traPEzas [5132]ton kol-lu-biSTON [2855]kaTEstre-psen [2690],
and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers,
kai tas kaTEdras [2515] ton poLOUNton tas pe-ri-steRAS [4058]; kai LEgei auTOIS,
and the seats of them that sold the doves; 13and he says to them,
GEgrap-tai, Ho OI-KOS mou OIkos pro-seuCHES [4335]kleTHEse-tai [2563]:
It is written, My :house shall be called a house of prayer:
huMEIS de auTON poiEIte SPElai-on [4693]leSTON [3027].
but you make it a den of robbers.
b. 21:14 And theblind and lame came to him in the temple; and he cured them.
kai proSELthon auTOtuphLOI [5185]kai choLOI [5560]en to hi-eRO; kai e-theRApeu-sen [2323]auTOUS.
c. 21:15-16a PRAISES OF CHILDREN UPSET CHIEF PRIESTS
iDONtes de hoi ar-chi-eREIS [749] kai hoi gram-maTEIS ta thauMAsi-a [2297] ha ePOIe-sen
But the chief priests seeing the wonders which he did
kai tous PAIdas [2816] tous KRAzon-tas [2896] en to hi-eROkai LEgon-tas,
and the children :crying in the temple and saying,
HosanNA [5614]to huiODauID, egaNAKte-san [23], kai EIpan auTO, A-KOUeis ti HOUtoi LEgou-sin?
Hosanna to the son of David, were indignant 16aand said to him, Do you hear what these are saying?
d. 21:16b JESUS POINTS THEM TO SCRIPTURE
ho de IeSOUS LEgei auTOIS, Nai: ouDEpo-te aNEGno-te [314][HOti]
And :Jesus says to them, Yes: did you never read [that]
Ek STOma-tos nePIon [3516]kai the-laZONton [2337]ka-terTIso[2675]AInon [136]?
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise?
2. 21:17 And he left them, and went forth out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there.
Kai ka-ta-liPON auTOUS, eXELthen Exotes POle-os eis Be-thaNIan, kai euLISthe[835]eKEI.
B. 21:18-22 LESSON ON FAITH THROUGH A FIG TREE
a. 2l:18 Now in the morning as he returned to the city, he hungered.
ProI de e-pa-na-gaGON [1877]eis ten POlin, ePEIna-sen [3983].
b. 21:19a JESUS CURSES THE FIG TREE
kai iDON suKEN [4808]MIan ePI tes hoDOU, ELthen auTEN,
And seeing one fig tree on the way, he came to it,
kai ouDEN HEUren en auTE, ei me PHULla [5444]MOnon; kai LEgei auTE,
and found nothing on it, but leaves only; and he says to it,
Ou meKEti ek sou karPOS [2590]GEne-tai [1096]eis ton aiOna.
Be there no more fruit from you unto the age.
c. 21:19b And immediately the fig tree withered away.
kai e-xeRANthe[3583]pa-raCHREma [3916]hesuKE.
d. 21:20 MARVELING: THE REACTION OF THE DISCIPLES TO THE WITHERING
kai iDONtes hoi ma-theTAI eTHAUma-san [2296], LEgon-tes,
And the disciples seeing itmarveled, saying,
Pos pa-raCHREma [3916] e-xeRANthe [3583] he suKE?
How did the fig tree immediately wither away?
e. 21:21 FAITH - WITHOUT DOUBT - CAN MOVE A MOUNTAIN
a-po-kriTHEIS de ho IeSOUS EIpen auTOIS, A-MEN LEgo huMIN,
And :Jesus answered andsaid to them, Amen I say unto you,
eAN Eche-te piSTIN, kai me di-a-kriTHEte [1252], ou MOnon to tes suKES poiEse-te,
If you shall have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do what is done tothe fig tree,
alLA ka' 'n to Orei [3735] TOUto EIpe-te, ARthe-ti [142] kai BLEtheti [906] eis ten THAlas-san, geNEse-tai.
but even if you shall say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done.
f. 21:22 And all thingswhatever you shall ask in :prayer, believing, you shall receive.
kai PANta HOsa an aiTEse-te [154]en tepro-seuCHE, piSTEUon-tes [4100], LEMpses-the [2983].
C. 21:23-22:14 GOD TO REPLACE JEWRY WITH THE CHURCH
1. 21:23-32 JESUS DEFENDS HIS AUTHORITY THROUGH JOHN
a. 21:23 CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS CHALLENGE JESUS' AUTHORITY
Kai elTHONtos auTOU eis to hi-eRON, proSELthan auTO diDAskon-ti [1321] hoi ar-chi-eREIS [749],
And when he came into the temple, the chief priests came to him whileteaching,
kai hoi presBUte-roi [4245] tou laOU, LEgon-tes, En POIa e-xouSIa [1849]
and the elders of the people, saying, By what authority
TAUta poiEIS? kai TIS soi Edo-ken ten e-xouSIan TAUten?
do you these things? and who gave you this :authority?
b. 21:24 JESUS CHALLENGES THEM WITH HIS QUESTION
a-po-kriTHEIS de ho IeSOUS EIpen auTOIS,
And :Jesus answered andsaid to them,
E-roTEso [2065] huMAS ka' 'GO LOgon HEna, hon eAN EIpeTE moi,
I also will ask you one word, which if you tell me,
ka' 'GO huMIN eRO en POIa e-xouSIa TAUta poiO.
I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
c. 21:25a The baptism of :John, whence was it? from heaven or from men?
to BAPtis-ma [908]to IoAnou, POthen en? ex ou-raNOU eex anTHROpon?
d. 21:25b JESUS' QUESTION STUMPS THEM
hoi de di-e-loGIzon-to [1260] en he-auTOIS, LEgon-tes, E-AN EIpo-men,
And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say,
Ex ou-raNOU; eREI heMIN, DiA ti oun ouk e-piSTEUsa-te [4100] auTO?
From heaven; he will say to us, Why then did you not believe him?
e. 21:26 THEIR FEAR OF THE CROWD
eAN de EIpo-men, Ex anTHROpon; phoBOUme-tha [5399] ton OCHlon;
But if we shall say, From men; we fear the crowd;
PANtes gar hos proPHEten [4396] Echou-sin ton IoAnen.
for all hold :John as a prophet.
f. 21:27a And they answered :Jesus, andsaid, We do not know.
kai a-po-kriTHENtes toIeSOU, EIpan, Ouk OIda-men [1492].
g. 21:27b HE also said to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.
EpheauTOIS kai auTOS, OuDE eGOLEgohuMIN en POIa e-xouSIa TAUta poiO.
h. 21:28a But what do you think? ti de huMIN doKEI [1380]?
i. 21:28b THE FIRST OF TWO SONS - A PARABLE
ANthro-pos EIchen DUo TEKna [5043]; pro-selTHON to PROto,
A man had two children; and he came to the first,
EIpen, TEKnon, HUpa-ge [5217] SEme-ron erGAzou [2038] en to am-peLOni [290].
andsaid, Child, go work today in the vineyard.
j. 21:29 And he answered andsaid, I go, lord, and went not.
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen, E-GO, KUrie, kai ouk aPELthen.
k. 21:30a And he came to the second, andsaid likewise.
pro-selTHON de todeuTEro, EIpen hoSAUtos [5615].
l. 21:30b And he answered andsaid, I will not, and went not; but afterward he repented, andwent.
ho de a-po-kriTHEIS EIpen, Ou THElo; HUste-ron me-ta-me-leTHEIS [3338], aPELthen.
m. 21:31a Which of the two did the will of the father?
tis ek ton DUo ePOIe-sen to THEle-ma [2309]tou paTROS?
n. 21:31b They say, The last. LEgou-sin, Ho HUste-ros.
o. 21:31c THE ROUGH APPLICATION OF JESUS' PARABLE
:Jesus says to them, Amen I say unto you, that the publicans
kai hai PORnai [4204] proAgou-sin [4254] huMAS eis ten ba-siLEIan tou TheOU.
and the harlots go into the kingdom of :God before you.
p. 21:32 THEIR RESPONSE TO JOHN THE BAPTIST JUSTIFIES JESUS' APPLICATION
ELthen gar IoAnepros heMAS en hoDOdi-kai-oSUnes, kai ouk e-piSTEUsa-te
For John came unto you in theway of righteousness, and you believed
auTO; hoi de teLOnai kai hoi PORnai ePIsteu-san auTO:
him not; but the publicans and the harlots believed him:
huMEIS de iDONtes ouDE me-te-meLEthe-te HUste-ron tou piSTEUsai auTO.
but you seeing itdid not even repent afterward unto :believing him.
NOTE: Jesus cleansed the Temple twice: once at the beginning of His 3-year ministry, and once at the close. We need to hearthe words of Jesus to the temple-sellers and money-changers of His day. What applied 2000 years ago still doestoday. Do wemake merchandise of the house of God, when He designed it as a house of prayer? And, the church is His, not ours! “I will build mychurch, and the gates of hell shall not prevailagainst it.”Matthew 16:18.
Then look at the indignation of the chief priests and elders who were upset with Jesus healing in the Temple- grounds, and the children praising Him as the son of David! When Jesus countered their objections, like He did to Satan in the wilderness, He used Scripture! The word used here to perfectpraise , is “ka-tarTIso”. It means to fit together to perfection. Jesus was happy to receive the perfectedpraise of the children. This word to “perfect” or “adjust” is used 17 times in the NT. In Ephesians 4:12 the Holy Spirit leads the apostle Paul to write - that the 5-fold ministries of the preceding verse, are designed by God to give a “chiropractic adjustment” to all members of the Body of Christ. Just as our 33 human vertebrae sometimes need adjustment by a chiropractor - so the members of the Church, Christ's Bride, His Body, the One New Man - regularly need “spiritual adjustment”; so that under our Head, Jesus - we might be in position for Him to use us corporately on earth any way He sees fit.
The perfectedpraise of children to Jesus is on a parallel plane.
But what of the fig-tree? One of the other gospels states that it wasn't time yet for figs. Yet Jesus used His act of speaking death to the tree - to open wide the attention of His disciples to the powerof the spokenword. In Hebrews 3:1, the Holy Spirit through Paul says, “Whence, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostleand High Priestof our :confession, - Jesus!”When we confessour faith to the Father in Jesus' Name - this confessionopens the door for the Triunity of the Godhead to release the answer. Just as the Father withered the fig-tree for His Son on earth - sowill He listen to His Son at His right hand. When Jesus says, “Father - he has confessed faith in us and our Word. As the High Priest of his confession, it is entirely appropriate to answer. Let 1 John 5:14-15 take effect!” And it does! Just like the fig-tree! Just like a mountain cast into the sea!
Then see the wisdom Jesus used in countering the carping, critical Pharisees - the religious, blind leaders of His day! They couldn't answer His challenge concerning the “baptism of John!” Depend upon it. When we too, like Jesus, are confronted by similar religious leaders - the Spirit of our Father will give us wisdom in that hour to effectively answer them.
He who hears the words of Jesus - and doesthem, like the second son, he like the publicans and harlots, will be received by God before blind, religious leaders. J.A.W.