Verses 1-3 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying 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. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
Bethphage was a small settlement located between Jericho and Jerusalem. Its name means “house of unripe figs”. In contrast to Jericho where Jesus had come from, the name meaning “place of fragrance”, a city known for balsam, honey, cyprus, roses and other fragrant products, Bethphage appropriately represented the state of the Jewish nation and the attitude of the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Unripe figs are useless and are of no value.
Some of Jesus’ disciples had learned to be obedient to His commands. It is doubtful that these men knew the prophecies written in the Old Testament books. It appears that they did not question the reason for getting these animals but just went believing that things would happen as Jesus said they would.
Application: So often the Christian believer will be told to do something or to go somewhere or to talk to someone without any clue as to why he/she is doing, going or talking. This is what it means to be led by the Spirit or to walk in the Spirit. Just as the disciples were obedient to their Master, Jesus, so the Christian believer must be obedient to the leading or commands of the Holy Ghost/Spirit. Just recently this writer clearly knew that a tire store should be called to fix the tractor tires that were leaking fluid. They had been leaking for over a year, but removing them and taking them to a tire store was not an option. At $120.00 per hour for a farm or house call, this expense was not budgeted for and would have to go on a credit card. Not being sure this was the LORD’ leading, a phone call was made, the tire service truck came out two days later, replaced the tire valves, checked the fluid level and did not charge. The young man doing the work said he had to be in the area anyway, that he had spare valves, and so no charge was made. Making an appointment to fix farm tires when it cannot be afforded does not make sense in the natural world and is not being a good steward of the funds God provides, but when told to do so and obedience to God’s leading happens, so does miracles. When walking in the Spirit, the supernatural Kingdom of God is where the believer is living.
Verses 4-5 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 5 Tell 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 fulfilled every prophecy pertaining to Him contained in Scripture. The prophecy above is from Zechariah 9:9 which states, “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.” How did the prophet, Zechariah, know to write this centuries before Jesus came to Earth? He was writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
Verses 6-7 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
The middle east ass is a small animal much like the burro. If a mother animal of any kind is taken away from her young, she will be distressed and will not cooperate with human handlers. Jesus knew this and told his disciples to “loose them” so the mother and the colt were not separated. He created everything, including the animals, and He put in each animal mother the smarts to care for and to protect her young. Jesus loved His created critters enough to be considerate and caring of the mother ass and respectful of her love for her young colt. Jesus was/is gentle and loving to mankind. Jesus was/is gentle and loving with His critters. Remember that. He will not ignore animal cruelty or neglect from His created humans any more than He will ignore abuse towards children, spouses and the elderly by mankind.
Verses 8-9 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
Remember that a great multitude had been following Jesus from Jericho and Jerusalem was filling up with people coming to celebrate holy day rituals. So there would have been quite a crowd. It has been estimated that there were over 100,000 additional people in the city. This writer cannot substantiate this, but however many there were that day, they lined the road Jesus was traveling on and decorated it with what they had to use, crying out “hosanna” which was an expression of adoration, praise and/or joy. This parade was not on the city planning schedule of the leaders of Jerusalem and so it created much noise and it wasn’t long before those living in Jerusalem knew something was happening.
Verses 10-11 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Remember that in those days there was no TV news cameras on site, no drones, no smart phones filming all of this and posting it on line or social media. Jerusalem was a big city so it would take some time for the news that Jesus was at the gates to get to the rest of the city residents. Naturally, all the people wanted to know who was coming and creating such a stir. Also note that people believed Jesus to be a prophet, specifically the prophet of Nazareth. The name Nazareth means “the guarded one”. It was considered to be the home town of Jesus. So the people knew who Jesus was, where he came from when He started His ministry, and equated Him with the town of Nazareth. “And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.” Mark 1:9 Even the devils knew Jesus and His connection to Nazareth. “And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.” Mark 1:23-26
Verses 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, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
The first place Jesus went when He entered Jerusalem was to the Temple. Jesus was/is God, very God, so the Temple belonged to Him. He had every right to cleanse it by ridding it of those people making merchandise of the people and of the worship system put in place through Moses. The Jews had set up a system whereby the people could not used Roman money in the Temple, but had to exchange their regular money for Temple money. So should a person need to purchase a lamb or a dove for sacrifice or want to give an offering, the person first had to exchange their money for official Temple money. And of course, a fee was charged for this transaction. Does this sound like the banking system in place worldwide today? The Greek word translated as “moneychangers” is “kollubistes” and it means a banker.
Verse 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
These healings took place in the Temple in Jerusalem. The handicapped, diseased, or imperfect people were not terribly welcome by the priests of the Temple. More than likely this was to do with the fact that the blind and lame would not have much money because they could not work and had to rely on begging for alms. Like in so many religious establishment churches today, the sick and handicapped are not really welcome if they cannot contribute to the wealth of the pastor or the church. But Jesus Christ set up His new covenant and His church for the sick and handicapped as well as for the fortunate of this world. Churches are to be “hospitals” for the weary and the needy who come to Jesus in faith. Jesus ministered to all and He healed all that came unto Him. Healing should take place in places of true worship today: the true churches. When was the last time someone was healed in your church service through prayer, the laying on of hands, the anointing of oil, the Word of God, or the casting out of devils?
Verses 15-17 And 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, 16 And 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? 17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Remember that the priests knew the Old Testament scripture regarding the coming Messiah. They had to know that Jesus fulfilled the prophesies and yet, instead of falling down and worshiping their Messiah, they were jealous of Him, of His works, and of the worship the people were giving Him. They criticized Him. Jesus simply replied by quoting Scripture to them, verses that they would have been familiar with. Knowing how these religious leaders were conspiring to kill Him, Jesus was still giving them the opportunity to repent and follow Him. Pride, desire for wealth, position and power, and the need to control stopped them from repenting and attaining eternal life. Think about it. “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” Psalms 8:2
Application: Today there is a movement to find fault with the Scripture and to claim that there are errors due to centuries of transcription deficiencies by scribes who supposedly not only copied text incorrectly, by also added their own notes on the borders of the original scrolls which later scribes added to the text. What this writer knows is that Jesus said, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:18 The jot is the smallest Hebrew letter, and the tittle is a type of accent mark. So until everything is fulfilled and the end of time comes, Jesus says His words, which are the law written by the prophets, will continue. Would a perfect God allow an imperfect, faulty representation of His words to continue for all of time? If you, the reader, were the author of a book that was printed incorrectly by the publishing company, would you just let it remain an incorrect representation of what you wrote?
King David said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105 At the time this song was penned most of the prophetic books of the Old Testament and none of the New Testament had been written. But that part of Scripture that the Hebrew people had was to guide their path through life. If it was faulty, it would be a blind guide. And Moses’s writings of the first five books of the Bible would have been rewritten or copied over and over by the time of King David’s reign in Israel. So the Scriptures had to have been copied correctly and kept free of error or King David would not have wanted to follow them.
God said, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing wereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11 So any writings that recorded the words of the LORD are promised by God, who cannot lie, to do that for which He intended them to do and to go where He intended them to go. Would the creator of all things not be able to keep His words from being added to or deleted from or copied incorrectly?
Then in Isaiah 59:21 God speaks about His word this way. “As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from hence forth and for ever.” God’s covenant or agreement guarantees His words will pass from generation to generation for ever, so to remain His words, they have to remain perfect and without transcription errors.
A major problem with presenting Scripture as riddled with errors is that an individual is judged by God according to their obedience to His Word (the Bible). Jeremiah 6:19 states, “Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.” If the Word is faulty, then how can a righteous God hold an individual or nation accountable for violating His Word if it has errors and is faulty? This then calls into question the character of God Almighty. Is He a just God or is He an unjust God?
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7 If the Scripture is full of error and not trustworthy, how can the believer expect any answers to prayers?
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24 If Scripture contains error and therefore cannot be trusted, then how can anyone be sure of salvation from sin, death, and Hell?
Finally, Jesus quoted from Old Testament Scripture all the time. He did not find fault or error, but endorsed His Word by speaking it to His disciples and to the multitudes He ministered to. Any Bible in the English language that is not copyrighted is the Word of God. Any Bible that is copyrighted is the words of man. “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” Mark 13:31 The Apostle Luke wrote the exact same words in chapter 21, verse 33 of his Gospel book. “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” Did Mark plagiarize the writings of Luke or vice versa? Of course not. How is this known? Because they are the words of the LORD verifying and endorsing His Scripture.
“For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the son of man be ashamed when he shall come into his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:26 People who claim but cannot prove that the Bible has errors need to heed this verse.
Verses 18-19 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. 19 And 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.
The fig tree is metaphor for the physical Jewish nation and Jewish people. 1 Kings 4:25 states, “And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.” The prophet Jeremiah wrote regarding the judgement of God upon Judah and Jerusalem, “I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the thing that I have given them shall pass away from them.” Jeremiah 8:13 “I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.” Hosea 9:10
In contrast, the olive tree is metaphor for the Word of God and the true Church made up of believers in the LORD Jesus Christ. It symbolizes spiritual Israel which are the believers in Jesus Christ through faith and who live lives based on the Word of God. See James 3:12, Zechariah chapter 4 and Revelation chapter 11 which discuss the metaphor of the olive tree. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter 11 about the olive tree and its representation of believers.
Application: The fig tree in the verses above was not bearing fruit. Likewise the Jewish nation had not and was not bearing “righteous fruit”. They had again rejected their God and gone the way of the pagan nations around them. They were going to reject and murder Jesus, God manifested in the flesh and walking among them. Jesus was metaphorically pronouncing the end of the nation Israel and its people when He cursed the fig tree. This end happened in 70AD when the Roman general, Titus, destroyed Jerusalem.
Verses 20-22 And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! 21 Jesus 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. 22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
In the natural world, trees do not wither and die in a few hours or even in a few days. This was the Creator talking to and commanding His creation to behave in a certain manner. Remember that Jesus created all the grasses, trees, flowering plants and edible plants on the third day of creation. He did not have to wait for them to grow. He just spoke them into existence, so He could easily speak them out of existence, which is what he did with this fig tree. This was a visual lesson for anyone with eyes to see.
Application: The promise in verse 22 is for all Christian believers. The problem is that most believers never claim the promise. They pray and ask the LORD for many things, but in the back of their minds are thoughts like,”I know God can do this but I don’t know if He will” and “I don’t know if my request is His will or not, so if my prayer is not answered, I guess it wasn’t His will” and so forth. Jesus did not list requirements for a believer to receive an answer to prayer except, “If ye have faith, and doubt not” and “believing, ye shall receive.” The problem to unanswered pray is not God, but lack of faith, a bunch of doubt, and unbelief. Think about it.
Verses 23-23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?
The Greek word translated as “authority” is “exousia” and it basically means power: the power to do as one pleases, the power to have jurisdiction over others, the power to govern, the power to confront evil and to do miracles, and so forth. The chief priests and the elders had never been challenged before in regards to their authority by someone like Jesus, by His words, teachings, and miracles. They were very insecure and unhappy. They were losing their control over the people who were following Jesus because of His words, teachings, and miracles. The very fact that they inquired of Him as to who gave Him authority proves that they recognized that He had authority and they did not know how to combat it. So what do evil people do to get rid of someone who is challenging their authority and exposing their wickedness? Just kill the problem but do it carefully and legally. Hire liars that will testify falsely against the problem, in a court set up by the very people being exposed and challenged by the problem, and make sure the judge can be threatened or bribed into pronouncing a death penalty.
Verses 24-26 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? 26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
Remember that these evil men were religious leaders who where supposed to know God and supposed to teach the laws of God to the people. Jesus trapped them in the question above so that they could not answer.
Verses 27-32 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
The Greek word translated as “tell” is “eido” and it means to know. The chief priests and elders were saying by using this word that they did not know where John the Baptist got his authority. The Greek word translated as “tell” which Jesus spoke is “lego” and it means to say, to speak, to teach, to speak of or to mention. Jesus was saying that He was not going to tell them where His authority came from.
Application: This writer only uses the King James Bible as it is a word for word translation of the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic used in Scripture. The above verse demonstrates the importance of correct translation techniques. There is a difference between knowing and telling. The English language lacks words to differentiate this and so the translators used the word in English that best fit the text. To “tell” in English means to communicate something but it also means to reveal something, to distinguish something from something else, to order, instruct, or advise to do something, and several other meanings depending on the text. So although the translators of the KJB had to use one English word for two Greek words that mean different things, providing the definition of the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic words in such works as Strong’s Concordance allows the reader to research the word meanings for themself. False, copyrighted versions do not use the word for word translation method and often just add or subtract words to provide a “thought” translation so the text presents what the translator thinks the passage means. As a result, more and more false translations tweak and twist the words of Jesus and the men God used to write His Word. Using the wrong English word does not allow for the reader to locate the word’s meaning in the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. And using a false bible translation will lead to the reader not understanding the truth of the Gospel.
Jesus’ parable and chastisement of the chief priests and elders was done publicly. His disciples were with Him and the Temple was a busy, public place. He told the truth and the truth, as is always the case, was offensive to these evil men. They had the opportunity once again to repent and ask forgiveness for their actions and words, but they chose to keep their sin and to continue to follow their father, the Devil.
Verses 33-40 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: 34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. 40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
The householder is God. He created all things which mankind corrupted through willful disobedience and sin. So He established a vineyard, the nation Israel, to be a light among the pagan nations and He made Israel prosperous and powerful, a condition they squandered with sin that lead to foreign captivity over and over in their centuries of history. God expected good fruits from His people. So He sent His prophets to guide them and correct them so that they would be a productive vineyard and produce fruit as a nation that would influence the world for good. It was His right to be involved with the nation as it was His vineyard. The leadership of the nation persecuted and killed these prophets as recorded in the Old Testament books. Finally, after 400 years of silence, the number 4 being representative of the Earth, God sent His son Jesus. But the husbandmen or Jewish leaders and people were going to kill Him just as the parable describes the fate of the householder’s son. What is the inheritance that the husbandmen wanted? World domination and control. Nothing is new under the sun as King Solomon proclaimed.
The Greek word translated as “slew” is “apokteino” and it means to kill in any way whatever, to destroy, or to allow to perish.
Verse 41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
No one knows for sure what these evil men were really thinking, but this writer likes to believe that they were very aware during the telling of this parable that it was aimed at them, and that they could not answer in any other manner but to condemn the husbandmen in the parable because people were listening and expecting them to display righteous judgement. In so doing, they actually condemned themselves and all those who went before them in disobedience and rejection of the laws and statutes of God. They pronounced judgement upon themselves.
Verses 42-44 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
Psalms 118:22-23 is the Old Testament verse Jesus was quoting. “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD”s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.” This writer has never worked with stone, but people who do masonry for a living have explained that the corner foundation stone is the most important stone to lay correctly. If it is out of level in any way or incorrectly angled, the whole building or wall will be out of level and not serviceable. Jesus is the corner stone metaphorically as it is upon Him, the rock, that the whole world depends and that the whole Gospel message depends, and therefore salvation and eternal life depends. “Therefore thus saith the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” Isaiah 28:16
Verses 43-44 above has Jesus pronouncing judgement upon Israel because of their unbelief. No longer were the blessings of God upon them and His spiritual kingdom theirs. The nation to whom it would be given were the Gentiles. If a nation was/is not Jewish, it was/is a gentile nation. A study of the book of Acts and of Christian Church history shows that the Gospel was sent out to all the surrounding gentile nations, initially primarily through the travels and writings of the Apostle Paul. Over the centuries, the Christian Church has borne fruit and has gone into every nation and to every language group preaching the good news of the Gospel. And through the centuries the people calling themselves Jews have continued to reject the Gospel message and the person of Jesus Christ, and therefore salvation from sin, death, and Hell and eternal life just as Jesus said in the verses above.
Verses 45-46 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. (Matthew 21)
The chief priest and Pharisees knew they would be sinning if they murdered an innocent man, but (as is so often the case today) the law did not apply to them but just to those over whom they ruled. They could bend the law and conceal the truth and get away with their actions as they had been doing so for generations. However, their judgement from God could not be avoided and the nation Israel was destroyed in 70AD by the gentiles they hated so much.