Previously, we examined all the events that occurred on the second day (Monday) of Christ’s Holy Week (see Part 1).
Tuesday
In the morning, Jesus and His apostles set out for Jerusalem again. Along the way, they come upon the fig tree that Christ had cursed the day before. Peter is astonished because the tree is completely withered in only a day. Jesus addressed his consternation:
“Have faith in God…you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart…you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.
“But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins too. Mk. 11:22 – 25. NLT
So, the withered fig tree was an object lesson about the power of faith-based prayer, and the necessity for doing so, with no ill will towards anyone.
(Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Heb. 11:1 NLT)
(Some biblical scholars see His response as using prayer to remove the things in your path (‘mountain’), that keep you from bearing fruit in your life. Others, see it as a metaphor of a virtue-signaling church – looking polished and proper on the outside but fruitless in the eyes of God.)
When they arrive in Jerusalem, Jesus heads for the Temple and begins to preach; but as He is doing so, the chief priests and church elders confronted Him. They demanded to know by whose authority Christ was teaching, seeing as how He was neither priest nor scribe.
Jesus answered their question with a question of His own:
“Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?” Mt. 21:25 NLT
He is placing His confronters in a spiritual pickle. If they answered, ‘from heaven,’ they would have to acknowledge that Jesus was the Son of God – as John the Baptist professed. If they said, ‘it was merely human,’ they would be denying that John was a prophet, in front of a crowd, who fervently believed that he was. (Jesus was trying to force them to delineate where they got their authority.)
Moreover, if they would take that stance, they believed their immediate physical well-being would be in jeopardy. So, they took the easy way out and said that they didn’t know.
And so, neither did Jesus answer them. Instead, He peppered them with a barrage of parables.
The first one was about a man who owned a vineyard, who asks his two sons to go out and work in it. The first son refuses, but has a change of heart, deciding to heed his father’s request. The second, said he would work it, but didn’t.
Jesus asked the priests to answer which of the two was the obedient one. They rightly identify it being the ‘first son.’ Christ responds:
“…corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did.
“And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.” Mt. 21:32, 32. NLT
Christ is saying that ‘repentant sinners’ would enter the Kingdom, but that access would be denied to the hypocritical, self-righteous religious folks, like the priests.
In a second parable, He tells of a landowner who leased his land to vinedressers. When harvest time came, the landowner sent three of his servants to the vinedressers to get his share of the wine, as was stated in the lease.
However, the vinedressers reneged on the lease – killing one of the servants and badly beating the other two. The landowner sends three more servants, who receive the same treatment.
Finally, he sends his own son, thinking the vinedressers would respect him; but they kill him as well.
(Obviously a metaphor for the killing of the prophets and the imminent murder of the Son of God.)
Jesus pauses, turns to the priests, and asks them what they think the landowner should do to the vinedressers. They answer that they should be killed and replaced with honorable ones. Christ responds by asking them if they had read Ps. 118:22, 23 – which He quotes:
‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’ Mt. 21:42 NLT
This is an Old Testament Messianic prophecy that Jesus is declaring now fulfilled – where He has become the Cornerstone in the Kingdom of God. Furthermore, He is outing the priests, as being part of those who reject Him. Then, He tells them what that will cost them:
“…the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.” Mt. 21:43, 44. CSB
In other words, the Kingdom of God will now be ripped away from the ‘religious system’ in Israel, and be given to all His Jew and Gentile followers in other nations.
Finally, Jesus hits them with a third parable, whereupon He likens the Kingdom of heaven to a king who sends out his servants to bring the guests who were invited to the wedding of his son. However, the guests refuse to come.
He sends his servants a second time, declaring that the king has prepared an exquisite feast. Not only do they still refuse, but they also kill the king’s servants. The king retaliates by having his army slay them.
The king then sent out other servants into the streets to gather new guests, (some evil, some good) to fill the wedding hall. But, one guest was tossed out, because they had no wedding garment, whose final disposition is elucidated by Christ:
“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Mt. 22:13 NKJV
He then directly addressed the priests:
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” Mt. 22:14 CSB
Similarly, as in the second parable, this metaphorically illustrates that God first called the Jews to come to Him, both through His prophets and His Son. The Jews killed many of the prophets and are about to crucify His Son.
Subsequently, corporate Israel has now lost its chance for salvation, during the time of Jesus’ incarnate visit to Israel. Instead, salvation is being offered to the Gentiles and to the believing Jews outside of Israel – to those who have faith in God and Christ (i.e., ‘wearing the wedding garment’)…
The Pharisees and high priests were beside themselves, due to Jesus’ verbal spankings. In a counterattack, they try to force Him to blaspheme Himself. First, by approaching Him with a group of Herodians (those loyal to Governor Herod Antipas and to the Roman occupiers who kept Herod in power) – to try to trick Jesus by asking Him if it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar.
You see, if Jesus says ‘yes,’ He would be betraying the Temple, that advocated for all taxes to be paid to it; and if He says ‘no,’ the Herodians would accuse Him of being a traitor to the Roman empire.
Jesus is not fooled. He replies:
“You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me? Here, show me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed him a Roman coin, he asked, “whose picture and title are stamped on it?” Mt. 22:18 – 20. NLT
They rightly answer that it was Caesar’s. Jesus replies:
“Well then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” Mt. 22:21
Foiled again!
Then the Sadducees (the other major Jewish religious sect (who didn’t believe in resurrection), approaches Him with a ridiculously absurd scenario for Jesus to try to explain, in hopes to show Him, the flaws in the concept of resurrection, which would then discount all of Christ’s teachings.
They began by quoting a Mosaic law (Dt. 25:5 – 10.), stating that the brother-in-law of a childless widow must marry her and have children with her, to perpetuate the deceased brother’s lineage.
In the Sadducees’ twisted example, a childless widow was married to her six surviving brothers-in-law, because each of them died sequentially. None of them left her with child. So, they ask Jesus, which of the six brothers would be her husband in heaven. He answers:
“Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.” Mt. 22:29 – 30 NLT
“And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection.” Lk.20:36 NLT
“But now, as to the resurrection of the dead – haven’t you read about this in the Scriptures? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’* So he is the God of the living, not the dead.” Mt. 22:31, 32. NLT *(Ex. 3:6)
Jesus is saying that they are unable to understand the transcendent relationships of the children of eternity.
When the Pharisees saw that Jesus debunked the Sadducees rejection of the resurrection, they sent a lawyer (scribe) to Him to ask which of the Ten commandments was the greatest. Christ answers:
“’You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Mt. 22:37 – 40. NLT (see also Dt. 6:5; Lv. 19:18)
His response is met with grudgingly approval. But now, It’s Jesus’ turn. He asks the Pharisees:
“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “He is the son of David.” Mt. 22:42 NLT
Jesus counters:
“Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord? For David said,
“‘The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’”
“Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” Mt. 22:43 – 45. NLT
Christ is quoting Ps. 110:1 – a very well-known and highly authoritative Messianic prophecy, showing that the Messiah cannot be a mere man because He is acknowledged by King David as his ‘Lord.’ Moreover, God (LORD) is saying that this ‘Lord’ will sit at His right hand – the place only reserved for His Son.
Jesus’ logic was irrefutable. The Christ was not the nationalistic military hero that many of the Jews were waiting for. He was the Son of God, who existed both before and after David.
So, we come full circle in this very extended answer to why Jesus had the authority to preach and teach in the Temple…
Jesus turns to His apostles and to the crowd that surrounded them to try to open the eyes of the Jewish laity to these devils that teach in the Temple (Pharisees and scribes), of which we will listen to – next time.
Goodnight and God bless.