CHAPTER 11

(A.D. 33)

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM

¹And when they came near to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives (concerned two villages, suburbs of Jerusalem east of the city), He sent forth two of His Disciples (tradition says Peter and John),

²And said unto them, Go your way into the village over against you (probably Bethphage, because it was nearer): and as soon as you be entered into it, you shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat (no one had ever ridden the colt); loose him, and bring him.

³And if any man say unto you, Why do you this? (Implying that this would be the case, and so it was.) say you that the Lord has need of him (as God, the Lord needs nothing; as the Son of Man, He did need certain things); and straightway (immediately) he will send him hither (will give permission to use the colt, all of this revealed to Christ by the Holy Spirit).

⁴And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him (their way was His Way).

⁵And certain of them who stood there said unto them, What are you doing, loosing the colt? (Represents that no prior arrangements had been made.)

⁶And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded (the Lord has need of him): and they let them go (an instant obedience; what a privilege these men had to lend their colt to Christ).

⁷And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and He sat upon him (proclaims the beginning of the Triumphal Entry; this was a fulfillment of the Prophecy given by Zechariah [Zech. 9:9]).

⁸And many spread their garments in the way (this was His formal presentation of Himself as the Messiah; as is obvious, it would be rejected): and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way (probably palm fronds).

⁹And they who went before, and they who followed (represents crowds both behind Christ and in front of Christ, as He went into Jerusalem), cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord (taken from Psalms 118:25-26; this acclamation was given at the Feast of Tabernacles, as the Priests marched once daily for seven days around the Altar with palm branches in their hands; on the eighth day they marched seven times, which was the Great Hosanna; the people believed that Jesus was now about to take the Throne; they felt the great Kingdom Age was now beginning; the truth is, it could have, but the religious leadership of Israel rejected Him):

¹⁰Blessed be the Kingdom of our father David (should have been translated, Blessed be the Kingdom that comes, the Kingdom of our Father David), that comes in the Name of the Lord (should have been translated, Who comes in the Name of the Lord; Jesus was that Person!): Hosanna in the Highest (meant that He was the Highest One; consequently, the Only One Who could save them).

¹¹And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the Temple: and when He had looked round about upon all things (He observed all the haggling, bartering, arguing, over prices, which probably was in the Court of the Gentiles; He would come back the next day, and cleanse the place), and now the eventide was come, He went out unto Bethany with the Twelve (it was probably Sunday, and if so, one week later Jesus would rise from the dead; consequently, the intervening week would be one of such magnitude of sorrow as to defy description).

JESUS PLACES A CURSE ON A BARREN FIG TREE

¹²And on the morrow (suggests it was Monday; Matthew says it was early, probably before 6 a.m., with the Disciples, He has probably spent the night in the open), when they were come from Bethany, He was hungry:

¹³And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find any thing thereon (according to all appearances, there should have been figs): and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves (no fruit); for the time of figs was not yet (means that despite its appearance, which suggested fruit, and which there should have been fruit, it was barren).

¹⁴And Jesus answered and said unto it (proclaims the Lord forgetting His natural hunger and the thought of a spiritual figure which the sight of this tree began to present to His mind), No man eat fruit of you hereafter forever (symbolic of the Jewish nation; a curse was placed on the fig tree, not necessarily for being barren, but for being false; as well, the word forever, should have been translated for the age, that is, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled; this will be at the Second Coming). And His Disciples heard it (they will learn a lesson from this, even as we shall see!).

JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE

¹⁵And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the Temple (refers to the fact that its condition, spiritually speaking, had been on His mind all night; He was probably in the Court of the Gentiles), and began to cast out them who sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them who sold doves;

¹⁶And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the Temple (He would have the whole of His Fathers House regarded as sacred).

¹⁷And He taught, saying unto them (no doubt to a large crowd of people who had gathered, watching, as it seems, with open-mouth astonishment!), Is it not written (took the people and His actions to the Word of God), My House shall be called of all nations the House of Prayer? (Signifying, as stated, that He was in the Court of the Gentiles, which had been turned into a market place. His statement is derived from Isa. 65:7 and Jer. 7:11.) but you have made it a den of thieves (should have been translated robbers, for the Greek word signifies operations on a large and systematic scale).

¹⁸And the Scribes and Chief Priests heard it (they were the robbers, because they were in charge of what was taking place there, and actually profited personally from what was being done), and sought how they might destroy Him (meant to not only kill Him, but to utterly destroy His influence as a great spiritual energy in the world): for they feared Him (feared that He would use His Power to upset their corrupted place and position), because all the people was astonished at His Doctrine (a Doctrine which was so different than their doctrine).

¹⁹And when evening was come, He went out of the city (there is no indication that Jesus ever spent the night in Jerusalem, with the exception of the night that He was on trial).

THE LESSON FROM THE WITHERED FIG TREE

²⁰And in the morning (probably refers to Tuesday), as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots (means that it was completely withered away; Israel in a short time would do the same, actually ceasing to be a nation).

²¹And Peter calling to remembrance said unto Him, Master, behold, the fig tree which You cursed is withered away (Jesus could have done the same thing with His enemies, had He so desired; but He never used His Power, except in the way that the Heavenly Father told Him to use it).

²²And Jesus answering said unto them (indicates Jesus dealing with what happened, rather than why it happened; they were not able yet to grasp the fig tree as a symbol of Israel; that would come later!), Have faith in God (literally says, Have the Faith of God; such a faith judges profession [the fig tree] removes difficulties [the mountain] forgives injuries).

²³For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says (the mountain is used as a symbol, i.e., mountain of difficulties, etc.; God is a Miracle working God, and will do so for any of His Children, whosoever; however, every petition must be predicated as well on the Will of God).

²⁴Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire (one seeking to do the Will of God, will want only what God desires), when you pray (the value of prayer, without which these things cannot be done), believe (have faith) that you receive them, and you shall have them (as is obvious here, the receiving of these things, whatever they might be, requires relationship, and that is the key).

²⁵And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any (implying, that the above Promises will not be honored, if we harbor unforgiveness): that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses (forgiveness from the Lord on our part, is predicated on us forgiving others).

²⁶But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in Heaven forgive your trespasses (implies, unforgiveness breaks down relationship, which destroys the whole program of God; in such a case, our sins are not forgiven, and neither can we expect God to answer prayer; these are extremely serious implications).

JESUS AUTHORITY QUESTIONED

²⁷And they come again to Jerusalem: and as He was walking in the Temple (represents the third day in which He visits this edifice), there come to Him the Chief Priests, and the Scribes, and the Elders (these were the religious leaders of Israel),

²⁸And say unto Him, By what authority do You do these things? and who gave You this authority to do these things? (They were the custodians of the Temple. Our Lord, by forcibly ejecting those who were engaged in business in the Temple, was claiming a superior jurisdiction.)

²⁹And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question (His question and the answer, will greatly simplify the issue), and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things (actually means that the correct response to His question will provide the answer to their questions).

³⁰The baptism of John, was it from Heaven, or of men? answer Me (John had introduced Christ as the Messiah; if they claimed the Prophet to be of God, then they would have to acknowledge the One he had introduced; they had tried to put Jesus on the spot, and now they are instead on the spot).

³¹And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From Heaven; He will say, Why then did you not believe him? (Refers to believing what John said about Jesus.)

³²But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a Prophet indeed (the respect for John by the people had even deepened since his martyrdom; they feared if they denied Johns calling, the people might stone them then and there).

³³And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell (their answer was ridiculous to say the least!; they were the very ones who were supposed to know). And Jesus answering said unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things (in effect, I will not answer you, because your answer to My question is the answer to your own; Jerome says, He thus shows that they knew, but would not answer; they saved themselves from this dilemma by professing ignorance).