MATTHEW 21: 12-17
SPIRITUAL KING
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12) 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 money changers, 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.
14) And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple; and He healed them.
15) 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. King James Version (KJV) Public Domain
COMMENTARY
Jesus had just made His triumphal entry as King into Jerusalem. The crowds were welcoming Him as their King. He came not with great armies to attack Rome. His purpose was not to liberate God's chosen people from oppression by Rome, but to deliver people of all nations from the power of sin and death and provide a way to restore us to a Holy God. God cannot look at us in our sin but we are restored to His love through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus literally came to suffer and die for us. What love!
Verse 12) What would you say is man's greatest problem today? social injustice? deprivation and poverty? oppression and cruelty? Here is the way Dr. John MacArthur describes it: Jesus's "mission never focused on those things, because they are not man's greatest problems. It was the far more severe problem of sin that Jesus had come to conquer. Men's problem with God is infinitely greater than their problem with other men." When we get right with God through faith AND obedience, then we are better equipped to solve our problems with each other.
Verse 13) Jesus had cleansed the temple a few years earlier and now, He did it again. Not that it would stay that way. Satan has his way of infiltrating the church through the evil of man's hearts. But for this occasion, nobody questioned His authority as He overturned tables, money scattered, animals were running loose and fowl were flying.
Dr. MacArthur's Commentary explains about how those in charge of the temple were desecrating it with dishonesty. The chief priests and scribes were using the temple much like our congress uses their positions today: for ill-gotten gain and power, with no concern for those who were seeking a way to better position themselves with God.
Dr. MacArthur's Commentary explains about how those in charge of the temple were desecrating it with dishonesty. The chief priests and scribes were using the temple much like our congress uses their positions today: for ill-gotten gain and power, with no concern for those who were seeking a way to better position themselves with God.
Verse 14) Even through all of the chaos, people went to Jesus, believing, and were healed.
Verse 15) Those established powers (chief priests and scribes) agreed the things Jesus did were wonderful but they were power hungry and jealous. We all know those established powers don't give it up easily. They saw with earthly eyes, seeing only earthly things. When our focus is from a heavenly perspective our priorities tend to change.
The children were saying, Hosanna to the Son of David. The motive is not really spelled out to us, but whether from ignorance or hunger for power, the temple establishment is livid with this. They pointed out to Jesus that the children were calling Him the Messiah! Basically, He said, Yeah, I know. You have the same choice to do the same thing but do not. That made them extremely angry, murderous!
This is as old as time: Mankind fights over what God means when He speaks. Satan has a way of turning Truth to lies. We HAVE to diligently search for the truth AND fight to keep and protect it. If the temple staff had only studied Isaiah 53, they might have chose to join Jesus, even to the death!
Here is what the establishment should have known, what they should have studied to obtain the position they held:
Isaiah 53
1) Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2) For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3) He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
4) Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7) He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.
8) He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken.
9) And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.
10)Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11) He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.
12) Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. King James Version (KJV) Public Domain
They could have even studied the Book of Daniel, Chapter 9, Verse 25:
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (KJV)
Anyway, that is on them. You know, that before Jesus, everybody who died ended up in Hades: saint and sinner, but they were separated by a great chasm that no one could breach. You can read further about that in Luke: 16: 19-31. After He died, He went to Hades and set the captives free. He reclaimed His ownership of all that was created. You could say it was His "victory dance". He lives! And because He lives, death has no power over us.
The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57: "O death, where is thy sting: O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. " (KJV)
Jesus says in Revelation 1: 18 "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen' and have the keys of hell and of death." (KJV)
Verse 15) Those established powers (chief priests and scribes) agreed the things Jesus did were wonderful but they were power hungry and jealous. We all know those established powers don't give it up easily. They saw with earthly eyes, seeing only earthly things. When our focus is from a heavenly perspective our priorities tend to change.
The children were saying, Hosanna to the Son of David. The motive is not really spelled out to us, but whether from ignorance or hunger for power, the temple establishment is livid with this. They pointed out to Jesus that the children were calling Him the Messiah! Basically, He said, Yeah, I know. You have the same choice to do the same thing but do not. That made them extremely angry, murderous!
This is as old as time: Mankind fights over what God means when He speaks. Satan has a way of turning Truth to lies. We HAVE to diligently search for the truth AND fight to keep and protect it. If the temple staff had only studied Isaiah 53, they might have chose to join Jesus, even to the death!
Here is what the establishment should have known, what they should have studied to obtain the position they held:
Isaiah 53
1) Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2) For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3) He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
4) Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7) He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.
8) He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken.
9) And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.
10)Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
11) He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.
12) Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. King James Version (KJV) Public Domain
They could have even studied the Book of Daniel, Chapter 9, Verse 25:
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. (KJV)
Anyway, that is on them. You know, that before Jesus, everybody who died ended up in Hades: saint and sinner, but they were separated by a great chasm that no one could breach. You can read further about that in Luke: 16: 19-31. After He died, He went to Hades and set the captives free. He reclaimed His ownership of all that was created. You could say it was His "victory dance". He lives! And because He lives, death has no power over us.
The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57: "O death, where is thy sting: O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. " (KJV)
Jesus says in Revelation 1: 18 "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen' and have the keys of hell and of death." (KJV)
So, here is the bottom line: we see with our eyes that Jesus is crucified. He suffered such a horrible death at so many levels. BUT He has the victory! Whatever we go through in this life, whatever it appears to be through our earthly eyes, I promise you, we have the greatest Hope ever in Jesus! Keep your eyes on Him. Can I get an "Amen"? He has already been where you are going and He has taken victory for you over that situation, even if you should breathe your last! Oh, friend, it is my prayer that you understand this truth. Be still and know that He is in control.
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