The Promised King: The King Enters His City

Matthew 21 is the King's arrival in Jerusalem.

He rides in on a donkey — fulfilling Zechariah's prophecy of a humble King. The crowd spreads their cloaks. They cry Hosanna to the Son of David! He enters the temple and drives out the merchants. He curses a fig tree that has only leaves. He silences the chief priests with a question about John's baptism. He tells the parable of the two sons. He tells the parable of the tenants.

In every scene, the Promised King is making His claim — not by armies, not by speeches, but by acts that fulfill every Old Testament expectation about the coming of the Christ.

The donkey

When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples ahead:

"Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once."

This fulfills Zechariah:

"Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"

Conquering kings rode on warhorses. The Promised King rides on a donkey. The humility is the kingship. Not in spite of it. Because of it.

"Hosanna to the Son of David"

The disciples did as Jesus directed. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks. Jesus sat on them.

Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

The crowds going before Him and following Him were shouting:

"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Hosanna means save now. They are quoting Psalm 118. They sense — even without fully grasping it — that the King has arrived.

When He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred:

"Who is this?"

And the crowds said:

"This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."

A prophet — not yet the King. The city sees a prophet from Galilee, not the Promised King fulfilling Zechariah. Even at the moment of His public arrival, He is misread.

Cleansing the temple

Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said:

"It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers."

The Father's house had been turned into a marketplace. Pilgrims were being exploited. The poor were being squeezed. Prayer had been crowded out by commerce.

The Promised King does not lead a reform commission. He does not write a polite letter. He overturns the tables. He acts as the rightful Lord of the temple — because He is.

The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He did and the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the Son of David! — they were indignant. They said:

"Do you hear what these are saying?"

Jesus said: Yes.

"Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?"

The children see what the religious leaders refuse to see.

The fig tree

In the morning, as He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the wayside, He went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. He said to it:

"May no fruit ever come from you again!"

And the fig tree withered at once.

When the disciples saw it, they marveled: How did the fig tree wither at once?

Jesus answered:

"Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."

The cursing of the fig tree is a prophetic act. The leafy tree without fruit is a picture of Israel — full of religious display, empty of fruit. The Promised King does not bless what only looks alive.

By what authority?

When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching:

"By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

Jesus answered them:

"I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?"

They discussed: If we say from heaven, He will say, "Why then did you not believe him?" But if we say from man, we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.

So they answered: We do not know.

Jesus said:

"Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

The Promised King will not give answers to those who refuse to acknowledge the truth they already have. They had already met God's witness in John. If they would not respond to him, they would not respond to Jesus.

The two sons

"What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go."

Jesus asks: Which of the two did the will of his father?

They said: The first.

He says:

"Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him."

The Promised King says that the people the leaders despised are entering the Kingdom ahead of them. Tax collectors. Prostitutes. The people who said I will not with their lives at first — and then changed their minds.

The religious leaders said I go, sir with their words — and never went.

The wicked tenants

He tells another parable. A master planted a vineyard, leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the time came, he sent servants to receive his fruit. The tenants beat one, killed another, stoned another. He sent more servants — they did the same.

Finally he sent his son: They will respect my son.

But the tenants said: This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.

They took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Jesus asks: When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?

They said: He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.

He says:

"Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?"

"Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits."

The chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables. They perceived that He was speaking about them. They sought to arrest Him — but they feared the crowds, because they held Him to be a prophet.

The Promised King told them, to their faces, what they were about to do. And the stone they would reject would become the cornerstone of the Father's new house.

Closing prayer

Father, thank You that the Promised King entered His city humble and mounted on a donkey — and that the children cried Hosanna when the religious leaders would not. Cleanse the temple of our hearts. Drive out the merchants. Bear fruit in us where there have been only leaves. And make us those who do the will of the Father — not those who only say I go, sir and never go. In Jesus' name, amen.

The Promised King: The King Enters His City

Matthew 21 is the King's arrival in Jerusalem.

In every scene, the Promised King is making His claim — not by armies, not by speeches, but by acts that fulfill every Old Testament expectation about the coming of the Christ.

The donkey

When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples ahead:

"Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once."

This fulfills Zechariah:

"Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"

Conquering kings rode on warhorses. The Promised King rides on a donkey. The humility is the kingship. Not in spite of it. Because of it.

"Hosanna to the Son of David"

The disciples did as Jesus directed. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks. Jesus sat on them.

Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

The crowds going before Him and following Him were shouting:

"Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

Hosanna means save now. They are quoting Psalm 118. They sense — even without fully grasping it — that the King has arrived.

When He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred:

"Who is this?"

And the crowds said:

"This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."

A prophet — not yet the King. The city sees a prophet from Galilee, not the Promised King fulfilling Zechariah. Even at the moment of His public arrival, He is misread.

Cleansing the temple

Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said:

"It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers."

The Father's house had been turned into a marketplace. Pilgrims were being exploited. The poor were being squeezed. Prayer had been crowded out by commerce.

The Promised King does not lead a reform commission. He does not write a polite letter. He overturns the tables. He acts as the rightful Lord of the temple — because He is.

The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He did and the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the Son of David! — they were indignant. They said:

"Do you hear what these are saying?"

Jesus said: Yes.

"Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?"

The children see what the religious leaders refuse to see.

The fig tree

In the morning, as He was returning to the city, He became hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the wayside, He went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. He said to it:

"May no fruit ever come from you again!"

And the fig tree withered at once.

When the disciples saw it, they marveled: How did the fig tree wither at once?

Jesus answered:

"Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."

By what authority?

When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching:

"By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

Jesus answered them:

"I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?"

They discussed: If we say from heaven, He will say, "Why then did you not believe him?" But if we say from man, we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.

So they answered: We do not know.

Jesus said:

"Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

The two sons

"What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go."

Jesus asks: Which of the two did the will of his father?

They said: The first.

He says:

"Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him."

The religious leaders said I go, sir with their words — and never went.

The wicked tenants

Finally he sent his son: They will respect my son.

But the tenants said: This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.

They took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Jesus asks: When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?

They said: He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.

He says:

"Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?"

"Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits."

The Promised King told them, to their faces, what they were about to do. And the stone they would reject would become the cornerstone of the Father's new house.