Matthew 12:33

Matthew 12:33 says, 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:  Jesus was still speaking to the chief priests and elders, and He told them another parable.  Though they had not accepted the teachings of John the Baptist and so far had not accepted the teachings of Jesus Himself, Jesus was still trying to bring them to a saving knowledge of Who He was and always will be.  In this parable, God would be the householder and the people of Israel would be the husbandmen.  God created the earth and put mankind in charge of it.  God has every right to expect people to act in obedience to Him.  Even when God is not physically present with us, we are still called to live under His authority.  Verse thirty-four says, And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.  Jesus said at the time of the harvest that the landowner sent his servants to the husbandmen to receive the harvest.  I believe that we can say that this would be like all the prophets who had come to the people of Israel to prepare them for the coming of Jesus.  Verse thirty five declares, And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.  We know that God's prophets were often beaten or killed and their message rejected, most recently John the Baptist.  People would not accept that message about the coming Messiah.  I believe that Jesus was equating the chief priests and elders to the husbandmen, since they were the ones charged with representing people before God.  Verse thirty-six says, Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.  God has sent His servants, those who accepted His word, into the world since the beginning, and they have often been beaten and killed.  God has never given up on His creation, but has always sent prophets with His message until the coming of Christ, and now He sends His followers with His message for the world.  Verse thirty-seven declares, But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.  The householder decided to send his son to the husbandmen to collect what was owed to Him.  What we must acknowledge is that everything really belongs to God to start with, and that we are but caretakers or husbandmen.  Verse thirty-eight says,  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.  Though the householder thought that the husbandmen would respect his son, they simply saw his coming as a way to claim everything for themselves by killing him.  We know that God sent His Son, Jesus, to the nation of Israel first, and the religious leaders simply looked for ways to discredit and even kill Him.  They had promised to obey God, but they didn't.  Verse thirty-nine says, And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.  Instead of having reverence for the son, the husbandmen caught him and killed him.  We know that the son referred to Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, the heavenly Householder.  When Jesus comes to us today, we still have the same choice.  We can either accept Him by faith as Savior and Lord, or we can in effect kill His effectiveness in our lives.  Verse forty asks, When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?  The husbandmen may have thought that by killing the son that they would be able to claim the land and harvest, but that would not be the case.  By rejecting Jesus, the people of Israel were not able to claim the world as their own, but they would answer to the heavenly Father, just as everyone will.  Verse forty-one says, And 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.  The chief priests and elders said that the householder would destroy the wicked men, and would let out his vineyard to other husbandmen.  They gave the correct answer, but I am still not sure that they knew that they were condemning themselves.  When the people of Israel rejected Jesus, then the spreading of the gospel passed to the Gentiles.  We still do not own the world, or the gospel, but are simply to be God's caretakers of both.  We can never claim the things of God as our own.  We remain but servants of God.

Matthew 21:28

Matthew 21:28 says, But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.  Jesus was still speaking to the chief priests and elders, and He was still referring to their question about His authority to do the things He was doing.  Again, these were the religious leaders of God's people.  They should have been able to tell if God was at work, or if Jesus was just a man making false claims about Himself.  As followers of Christ today, we should be able to determine what is truly God's work in the world.  If we are following Christ and living under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we should never be confused about what is of God and what is of man.  Jesus told them that a certain man told his son to go into the vineyard and work.  Then verse twenty-nine states, He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.  The son told his father he would not go, but later repented and went.  I believe that we can equate this son with those who at first are outside the will of God, and that would be anyone who does not accept God's authority in their life.  Then they repent and obey God's command.  We know that we can only do this through our faith in Christ.  Verse thirty  states, And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.  The father came to a second son and told him the same thing, to go and work in the vineyard.  The second son respectfully said that he would.  I believe that this would be those, who like the chief priests and elders, claim that they are doing what God wants them to do, but really reject His authority in their lives.  No matter how respectful we may claim to be to God, we must do more than pay lip service to His commands.  In verse thirty-one Jesus asks, 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.  Jesus asks the chief priests and elders which of the sons did the will of his father.  This is a question we need to ask ourselves.  Are we really doing what God is calling us to do, or are we only claiming to without any real obedience.  The chief priests and elders answered that the first son obeyed.  It is better to at first say that we aren't going to do God's wili and then do it, than to say that we will and then not do it.  Jesus told the chief priests and elders that publicans and harlots would go into heaven before they did, because the chief priests and elders were professing to obey the heavenly Father and they weren't.  The publicans and harlots would enter because even though they had said they would not obey the heavenly Father, when they accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord they did obey Him.  The chief priests and elders could not get into heaven unless they also accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  Self righteous would never grant them entry into heaven.  Verse thity-two says, 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.  Jesus said that John the Baptist came to the chief priests and elders proclaiming the way of righteousness, and they did not believe him, whereas the publicans and harlots did.  When we hear the gospel proclaimed, unless we accept it as truth in our lives, then no matter how good of a person we may be, we like the chief priests and elders will not enter heaven.  The only way to everlasting life with the Father in heaven is through faith in the Son in this life.

Matthew 21:23

Matthew 21:23  says, 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?  This time, the chief priests and elders came to Jesus, not to learn from Him, but to question His authority.  I believe that the chief priests and elders thought that they were the authority, and they had not authorized Jesus to teach or anything else.  There are some religious leaders today that think that all authority is theirs, and some that even think that they control the salvation of all who worship under their authority.  The church, as an earthly organization, will never control salvation nor the service of a person called by God to fulfill His purpose.  In verse twenty-four Jesus said, 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.  Jesus said that He would ask them one question, and if they could answer it, then He would tell them by what authority He did the things He was doing.  The chief priests and elders thought they could accuse Jesus of acting without authority, but as they found out, we are never smarter than God.  All they had to do was answer one question, and that is really all anyone has to do to be saved.  The question we have to ask in order to be saved is whether or not Jesus, with the authority of the heavenly Father, came to provide the one and only way to salvation, with faith without wavering.  Though this was not the particular question that Jesus asked them, I believe that Jesus already knew that the chief priests and elders did not believe that He was the Messiah.  Verse twenty-five says, 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?   Jesus asked the chief priests and elders if the baptisms that John the Baptist preformed were of God or of man.  In other words, were they willing to acknowledge that John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ, or was he simply a man acting under his own authority.   The chief priests and elders were unsure what to answer.  First, they said that if they said John the Baptist was sent by God, then they would have to answer why they don't believe him.  Then verse twenty-six states, But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.  They then reasoned that if they said that John the Baptist was not sent by God, then they would upset a lot of people who felt that he was a prophet sent by God.  That is the same question everyone has to ask about Jesus.  Is Jesus the Savior of the world, or is He just some man.  We cannot base our answer on what other people think, but must base it solely on our own faith.  Verse twenty-seven declares,  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.  The chief priests and elders, the religious leaders of the day, could not answer Jesus' question because they weren't looking to God for the answer.  Jesus said since they couldn't answer His question, then He wouldn't answer theirs, which was by whose authority was Jesus doing His works.  Until we accept that Jesus is indeed Who He says that He is, we cannot hope to understand how God works in the world.  Just like the chief priests and elders, we can never discredit God by our own reasoning powers, but must simply come to Him through faith in Christ.

Matthew 21:18 says, Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.  The next day, Jesus returned to Jerusalem, this time without all the crowds preparing the way.  We are told that Jesus was hungry.  We either have to accept that Jesus was just as human and subject to all the physical needs and temptations as anyone who has ever lived, or we have to deny that He is the Messiah.  If Jesus only kept from sinning because He was unable to sin, then we have a false salvation.  Jesus had to fulfill the law through faith in and obedience to the heavenly Father, not because He was incapable of temptation.  Verse nineteen states, 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.   Being hungry, Jesus went to a fig tree and found it barren.  He then declared that no fruit should grow on it again, and the fig tree withered and died.  I don't believe that Jesus did this out of anger.  The purpose of the fig tree was to bear figs, and the tree was not living up to its purpose.  A fig tree that doesn't bear figs is useless.  I believe that Jesus was using this opportunity to teach the disciples about bearing fruit.  Their purpose, and ours as followers of Christ, is to bear spiritual fruit for Him.  If we do not, then spiritually we will wither and die.  This does not mean that we are suddenly unsaved, but that we are spiritually unproductive, or barren.  If someone comes to us spiritually hungry, we must be ready to feed them with the gospel.  Verse twenty says, And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!  The disciples marveled at how quickly the fig tree withered away.  If we are not fulfilling Christ purpose for us today, our usefulness in His kingdom may just as quickly fade away.  Verse twenty-one says, 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.  Once more Jesus told the disciples about the power of faith, and that power did not end with the disciples, but is still there for us today.  This type faith, to wither a fig tree or move a mountain as Jesus told the disciples they could do, comes with a big"if."  Jesus told the disciples if they had faith and doubted not that they could move mountains.  I also believe that this type faith will never ask for anything that does not glorify God.  Even with the greatest of faith, if we are acting to bring honor or riches to ourselves, I do not believe that God will honor our faith.  Even if we somehow are successful and receive the honor and riches of the world for ourselves, we will not have been successful through the blessing of God.  This is not a name what I want and claim it promise.  This is a promise that with an unwavering faith that we can accomplish anything that God calls us to do, so that He might be glorified.  Verse twenty-two states, And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.  As just stated, this has to be in accordance with God's will and to glorify Him.  True prayer seeks God's will and not our own desires, as was demonstrated by Jesus' prayer in the garden.  I don't believe that we can ever make this about God giving us everything we want simply because we have faith that He will.  Not everything that we want brings glory to God.

Matthew 21:10 says, And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?  Jesus's entry into the city moved the whole city.  The people of the city wanted to know what all the commotion was about and Who Jesus was.  We today need to be proclaiming Christ in such a way that lost people will want to know Who He is.  Verse eleven states, And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.  The people now professed Jesus simply to be a prophet from Nazareth.  I believe that until they were asked this question that they were seeing Jesus as more than just a prophet, but now that they had to tell others Who Jesus was, all they were willing to say was that He was a prophet from Nazareth.  This made Jesus no more than any other prophet.  Some people today feel the need to prove by physical evidence that Jesus indeed lived as the Bible states, but ultimately we must simply accept Him as Savior and Lord by faith.  Some concede that Jesus was a great Prophet, but this is not enough.  We must proclaim Jesus as Savior and then allow Him to be the Lord of our lives if His death, burial and resurrection are to have any effect on our lives.  Verse twelve states, 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,  Jesus had the multitudes following Him, but now He began to upset their worship, which had become profitable to them.  The temple had become a place of merchandising instead of a house of worship.  We must be careful today that we don't allow material things to come between God and us, especially in the church.  Verse thirteen says, 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.  Jesus reminded the people what the scripture said about the temple, or God's house.  It was intended to be a place of prayer, but the religious leaders had turned it into a den of thieves.  This was those who were supposedly the religious leaders of God's chosen people who were corrupting worship.  When we gather together in God's name, we need to make sure that we are doing so in a way that honors Him.  Verse fourteen states, And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.  People were still coming to Jesus for physical healing, and He was healing them.  Still, this was not the primary reason Jesus came.  Jesus came to bring spiritual healing.  Even if God heals us of all our physical ailments, if we do not profess Christ as our Savior, then it is only a temporary healing.  Verse fifteen states, 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,  Then, once again the chief priests and scribes saw what was happening with Jesus, and they were very displeased.  We would think that when religious leaders saw wonderful things happening and people worshipping that they would be happy, but they were angry instead.  I believe that this was because their position, and their own self-righteous, was being threatened.  Hopefully, if we as Christians see great things being accomplished for God today we will join in the praising, and not be angry because God is working through someone else to accomplish these great things.  Verse sixteen says, 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?  The chief priests and scribes again questioned Jesus, asking if He didn't hear what the people were saying.  The people were pronouncing Jesus to be the Son of David, or the Messiah.  Jesus once more referred the chief priests and scribes to the scripture.  If they had really been the religious leaders that they professed to be, then they would have recognized Jesus for Who He is.  The scripture will always point us to Christ, some looking ahead the to His coming the first time, and some looking back on His having come and ahead to His return.  Verse seventeen states, And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.  Jesus left the people who were praising Him and the chief priests and scribes in Jerusalem and went to Bethany and lodged there. Most of the crowd were following Jesus for the wrong reasons, and the scribes and Pharisees were totally defiant, so Jesus left.  Jesus is not going to be in the midst of those who attempt to make Him into someone that He is not, no matter how many are gathered together.  If we want Jesus in our midst, where even two or three gather, then we must acknowledge Him for Who He is, our Savior and Lord.

Matthew 21:1 says, And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,  Jesus was nearing Jerusalem, but He stopped at Bethphage and the mount of Olives.  Then, He sent two of His disciples into the city.  In verse two, Jesus said, 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.  Jesus told them the reason for the trip.  When God sends us somewhere, it is always for a purpose.  We simply need to listen to Him to know what it is.  The disciples were to find an ass, or donkey, and a colt with her, and they were to untie them and bring them to Jesus.  Although Jesus had told them what to do, the disciples had to have faith in Him to do it.  They could have been arrested for stealing the animals.  When we know beyond a doubt what Jesus has instructed us to do, we simply need to do it.  Verse three states,And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.  Jesus may have understood that the disciples would be apprehensive, so He told them if anyone asked why they were taking the donkey and colt, to tell them that the Lord needed them and they would soon be returned.  God is never going to send us out to simply take what belongs to another person.  If it is something necessary to accomplish His work, He will make our use of it okay.  Verse four says, All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,  Once more, this was to be the fulfillment of a prophecy.  Matthew did not sit down and write this as it was happening, but wrote it looking back on the events and could easily see the fulfillment of this prophecy.  Sometimes, we may not see the full extent of what God is doing through us until we step out in faith and look back later at what He has done.  Verse five says, 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.  As the scripture foretold, Jesus was not coming as a conquering King on a mighty steed, but as a meek Servant sitting on a borrowed donkey.  We can never allow our expectations of Christ to prevent us from seeing Who He really is.  Even on a borrowed donkey, Jesus was the one true King.  Verse six states, And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,  Even if they may have been apprehensive, the disciples went and did what Jesus told them to do.  I cannot say for sure that they were apprehensive, but I can say for sure that if God calls us to do something that we feel apprehensive about, that as long as we are certain that it is what God is telling us to do, then we must simply obey Him.  Verse seven says, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.  I believe that one way that the disciples knew that what Jesus told them to do was okay was because they evidently found the donkey and the colt as He had said they would, and they brought them to Him.  I believe that we likewise will find that when God sends us to do something, we will find proof that He is indeed in charge of our going.  They used their clothes to make it more comfortable for Jesus, just as we must use what we have today to make it easier for the gospel to be shared.  Verse eight says, And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.  The multitudes made the road itself smoother, with clothes and tree branches, but they still did not really know Who Jesus was.  They were caught up in following Him for material reasons.  There are people today who are happy to proclaim Jesus as their Savior as long as everything goes well in the world.  Verse nine declares, 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.  The multitudes were going before Jesus proclaiming Him to be the Messiah and calling Him blessed.  I believe that part of the problem was that they were going ahead of Jesus and attempting to make Him into what the wanted the Messiah to be, instead of following Jesus and understanding Who He really is.  We can never get ahead of God if we are to be true followers, and we can certainly never attempt to make Jesus conform to what we want Him to be instead of Who He is.

Matthew 20:29 says, And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.  After Jesus had taught the disciples what it meant to follow Him, they were once again on the move.  As much as we might want to simply sit and learn from Jesus, after we spend our time alone with Him, He expects us to be go out into the world and share the gospel.  Great multitudes were still following Jesus as He was on His way to His ultimate destination, which was Jerusalem.  The multitudes were still following for material reasons and not spiritual ones.  When we follow Christ, it must be because of our spiritual relationship with Him through our faith in Him.  Verse thirty states, And, 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.  Two blind men sitting by the wayside heard that Jesus was passing by and cried out for Him to have mercy on them.  When we first encounter Christ, we are like these blind men, sitting helpless by the wayside spiritually.  The only way to be healed is to cry out to Jesus to heal us.  The only way to have our spiritual sight restored is through faith in Christ, and being spiritually blind is even more devastating than being physically blind.  Verse thirty-one says, And 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.  Instead of having compassion on these two blind men, the multitude rebuked them and told them to be quiet.  We cannot afford to be guilty of keeping people from Christ simply because they are disturbing us.  Evidently the multitude around Jesus felt that they were entitled to control who came to Him or even called out to Him.  We, as followers of Christ, can never claim the right to keep anyone from coming to Him.  The blind men did not listen, but cried out even more loudly to Jesus.  When we do cry out to Jesus, no matter who may attempt to stop us from doing so, He will hear us.  We really don't even have to cry out louder, because Jesus will hear anyone who calls out to Him by faith.  Verse thirty-two says, And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?  Jesus asked the blind men what they wanted Him to do, although I am sure He already knew.  God wants us to make our needs known to Him, even though He already knows what we need.  Asking God and believing that He will deliver when we ask  according to His will expresses our faith in Him.  Verse thirty-three states, They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.  The two blind men answered that they wanted their eyes to be opened, or to be able to see.  They had faith in Jesus to restore their sight, but there was so much more that they could have asked for.  We are not told if they believed that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, or if they just saw Him as a great man of God.  Even if we come to Jesus because of a physical problem, our first request should be that He forgive our sins.  Verse thirty-four declares, So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.  Jesus had compassion on them, and restored their sight.  It does not say that He said that their sins were forgiven, but it does say that they followed Him.  We are not really told whether they followed Him by faith in His being the Messiah or just out of gratitude or curiosity.  When someone experiences a miracle in their life today, they may or may not accept Jesus for Who He really is.  To be truly healed, we must come to Jesus first asking for forgiveness.