Matthew — Chapter 21

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1 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.
4 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.
6 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.
8 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.
10 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.
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 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.
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.
18 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.
20 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.
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?
24 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.
27 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.
33 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?
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.
42 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.
45 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.
Abrahamic Catechism
Bible Study
Matthew — Chapter 21
✦ Talmud

• Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey fulfills the messianic expectation in Sanhedrin 98a, where Rabbi Alexandri resolves the contradiction between the Messiah coming "on the clouds" (Daniel 7:13) and "riding on a donkey" (Zechariah 9:9): if Israel is worthy, he comes on clouds; if not, on a donkey. The Talmud in Sanhedrin 99a debates whether the messianic age will differ from the present in any way beyond political liberation. The donkey entry signals the humble-Messiah tradition.

• The cleansing of the Temple engages the Talmudic discussions in Shekalim 1:3 about the proper commercial use of the Temple mount and Berakhot 54a about required comportment on the Temple grounds. The Talmud in Pesachim 57a records a fierce critique of the priestly families: "Woe to the house of Boethus, woe to their clubs... they are High Priests and their sons are treasurers and their sons-in-law are trustees and their servants beat the people with staves." Jesus's action echoes internal Talmudic criticism of Temple corruption.

• The cursing of the fig tree parallels the Talmudic teaching in Taanit 24a about Rav Huna's miraculous interactions with the natural world and the principle that the righteous have authority over creation. The Talmud in Bava Metzia 59b records Rabbi Eliezer causing a carob tree to uproot itself. More significantly, Sanhedrin 92a teaches that a Torah scholar who does not bear fruit (good deeds) is like a barren tree and deserves to be uprooted. The fig tree symbolizes Israel's failure to produce the fruits of repentance.

• The parable of the two sons — one who said "I will not" but repented and went, versus one who said "I will" but did not go — directly engages the Talmudic framework of teshuvah (repentance) in Yoma 86b, where the sages teach that genuine repentance transforms intentional sins into merits. Kiddushin 40b teaches that one who intended to do a mitzvah and was prevented by circumstance receives credit as if he had done it. The Talmud values the ultimate action over the initial declaration.

• The parable of the wicked tenants who killed the vineyard owner's son resonates with the Talmudic understanding of Israel as God's vineyard (based on Isaiah 5) discussed in Berakhot 35b and the Talmud's own reckoning with the cycle of prophets rejected and killed. Sanhedrin 96b-97a acknowledges that Israel's suffering often resulted from rejecting divine messengers. The parable uses a form of argument that the Talmud would recognize as a nimshal (application) drawn from Israel's prophetic history.