THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW ~ Chapter 21
When they were nearing Jerusalem, and had
reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples ahead,
giving them orders. “Go into the village that faces you,” He said, “and
immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt at her side. Untie them and
bring them to me. Should anyone say anything to you, then reply, ‘Adonai needs
them’. He will then send them at once.”
All this took place in fulfillment of what
the prophet had said, “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘Look! Your King is coming
to you, meek, mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden’.” (Zechariah 9:9)
The disciples then left and did as Yeshua
directed them. They fetched the donkey and her colt and placed tier coats upon
them, and Yeshua sat thereon. Many of the crowd strewed the road with their clothing,
while others cut off branches from the palm trees and scattered them on the
way. And the people who went ahead of Him – and also those following – shouted ‘Hosanna
to the Son of David! Blessed is He, Who comes in the name of Adonai! Hosanna in
the highest!’ As He entered Jerusalem, it was all astir. The whole city was
asking, ‘Who is this?’ and the crowd kept answering, ‘This is Yeshua, the
Prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’
Yeshua then went into Elohei’s Temple, and he
drove out all the buyers and sellers there. He tipped over the tables of the
cashiers and the chairs of those selling doves. And He said to them, “It is
written, ‘My House shall be called a house of prayer’, but you have made it a
den of thieves.”
He healed the blind and crippled who came to
Him there. But the chief priests and scribes became furious when they saw the miracles
He did and when they heard the children in the Temple chanting, ‘Hosanna to the
Son of David!’ They said to Him, ‘Do You hear what they are saying?’ “Surely,”
said Yeshua, “and have you never heard the saying, ‘You have brought forth
perfect praise from the mouths of babes and sucklings?” Then He left them and
went out of the city of Bethany, and stayed overnight there.
He came into the Temple again, and as He was
busy teaching, the chief priests and elders of the people approached Him and
demanded, ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this
authority?’ Yeshua answered, “Just let Me ask you one question, too, and if you
will answer it, then I will also tell you by what authority I am doing My work.”
My question is, how about the baptism of John? Was it from heaven or from men?”
They argued the question among themselves like this: ‘If we say it was from
heaven, then He will say, “Then why didn’t you believe him?” But if we say it
was from men, then we have the people to fear, for they all believe that John
was a prophet.’ So they answered Yeshua this way, ‘We do not know.’ “Alright,”
said Yeshua, “then I shall not tell you by what authority I do what I do.”
“Now what do you think of this? Once there
was a man who had two sons. One day he went to the first-born and said to him, “My
boy, will you go and work today in my vineyard?” But he answered, ‘No, I shall
not.’ Afterward, he felt sorry, and went to work. In the meantime, the man had
gone to the second son and put the same question to him. He had answered, ‘Yes,
sir, I shall go.’ But he did not go to work. Now, which of the two sons did the
will of his father?” They said to Him, ‘The first.’ Yeshua then said to them, “Yes,
and tax collectors and harlots will go into the kingdom of Elohei before you.
For John came to you preaching righteousness, but you would not believe him. The
tax-collectors and harlots believed him, while you, seeing this, did not
afterwards repent and believe him.”
“Now listen to another parable. Once there
was a farmer who planted a vineyard and fenced it in. Next, he dug a wine-press
and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away. When the
fruit season drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his share.
But the tenants took hold of his servants, one of whom they beat up, another
they killed outright, and still another they stoned. Once more he sent out
other servants – and more of them than the first time – but the tenants treated
them in the same manner. Finally, he sent his own son to them, thinking, ‘They
will surely have respect for my son.’ But it was not so, for when they saw the
son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and get
possession of the estate.’ So they laid hands on him, threw him out of the
vineyard, and killed him, too. When the owner of the vineyard returns, what
will he do to these tenants?”
His disciples said, ‘Those wicked men he will
surely bring to a wretched end and he shall lease the vineyard to other
tenants, who will pay him his share of the fruits in their season.’ Yeshua said
to them, “Have you never read the Scripture passage, ‘The stone that the
builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone; Adonai has done it, and it
is wonderful in our eyes’? Because of this, I tell you that the kingdom of God
shall be taken from you and given to a people who will yield proper fruit. As
for the Stone, He will break to pieces him who fall on it, and he who falls
under it will be ground to powder.” (Psalm 118:22-23 & Isaiah 8:14-15).
As the chief priests and the Pharisees were
listening to His disciples, they understood that it was about them that He was
speaking. They were anxious to have Him arrested, but they were afraid of the
people, who regarded Him as a prophet.
**Matthew 20: https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-gospel-according-to-matthew-chapter_16.html
