Matthew 21:1-17
Now when they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. Right away you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:
“Tell the people of Zion, ‘Look, your king is coming to you, unassuming and seated on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
So the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Then Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts, and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are turning it into a den of robbers!”
The blind and lame came to him in the temple courts, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the experts in the law saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself’?” And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.
The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.
COMMENT & QUESTIONS
This begins the final section of the book. Matthew started by introducing us to Jesus (Ch1-4), then he told us about the work Jesus did in Galilee (5-16). We just read through the journey Jesus made down to Jerusalem (17-20). Now we begin with Jesus entering Jerusalem.
This entry into Jerusalem occurs in the final week before Jesus died. The entry into Jerusalem probably occurred on the Sunday and Jesus would be put to death on the Friday.
Jesus comes from Galilee and is welcomed by the people into Jerusalem. Then He drives out the money changers from the temple. Can you begin to see why the Jewish leaders were so upset by His arrival?
The Jewish leaders would have been offended by this foreigner coming into their temple and their city and acting like they were the enemies of God. After all, the Pharisees were living a life in total service to God.
The word ‘Hosanna’ seems to mean, ‘save’ or ‘rescue’. Remember that Jesus was born to ‘save His people from their sins’ (Matt 1:21)
PRAYERS
Give thanks for Jesus the humble King whom we serve Pray that we can make the church into a house of prayer and not make it a den of robbers Praise God for saving us from our sins
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