Year 2, Week 36, Day 2 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 36, Day 2

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Matthew 20-21.

Today’s reading consists of two chapters from Matthew’s Gospel account. A statement that Jesus expressed at the end of the previous day’s reading becomes a key issue in the first chapter of today’s reading: “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Matthew 19:30). The statement from the end of Matthew 19 is expressed twice in Matthew 20. First at the completion of a parable: “So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). And next, in a slightly modified form, at the conclusion of a discussion of which disciples will have positions of greatness in the Kingdom: “It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave” (Matthew 20:26-27). The sad irony should not be missed that in a chapter in which Jesus once again points to His imminent arrest and crucifixion, the disciples are focused on greatness—specifically their own—while Jesus is burdened by serving the need of others: “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 19:28). Matthew 21 orients us to the last week of Jesus’ life as preparations are made to enter Jerusalem on the first day of the week: “Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me” (Matthew 21:1-2).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is the focus on Jesus entering Jerusalem as the son of David: “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9). On the way from Jericho to Jerusalem, we read in yesterday’s reading that Jesus was addressed as the son of David as well, as two blind men sought Jesus to heal them: “And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matthew 20:29-30). As the son of David is entering Jerusalem, Matthew is emphasizing that Jesus is the rightful Davidic King promised to Israel. The very fact that Jesus would enter Jerusalem riding a donkey fulfills the prophet Zechariah’s words concerning how the Davidic King would return to Jerusalem: “This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden” (Matthew 21:4-5, quoting Zechariah 9:9). A reading of a larger portion of Zechariah’s words speak of how God will liberate Jerusalem by the hand of a king who comes in humility. Portions of Zechariah’s prophecies seem to be more fully fulfilled when Jesus comes again, but there is no mistake in saying that what occurs at Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem is that homage is being made to Jesus as a King.

But while the crowds praise Jesus, the Jewish religious establishment is not as taken in with positive excitement. In fact, they were greatly angry: “But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant” (Matthew 21:15). No doubt a factor that stirred the Jewish religious establishment to anger was Jesus’ actions at the Temple: “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers” (Matthew 21:12-13, quoting Isaiah 56:7). It is very probable that Jesus cleared the section that should have been reserved for the Gentile, but was instead turned into a place of convenience for the purchase of the animals that the travelers to Jerusalem would need to obtain upon arrival to Jerusalem. The commerce itself is not the problem, as much as the location of the commerce. The location of the commerce being moved into the court of the Gentiles meant that the Gentiles were being deprived of the place to worship the One True God. By excluding Gentiles from the temple, they show that for them the temple is a symbol of Israel more than it is a place of worship. The temple has become their nationalist stronghold in which they were robbing the Gentiles from worshipping God. In addition to cleansing the Temple area, Jesus also restored the Temple to a place of healing: “And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them” (Matthew 21:14).

As the Jewish religious establishment is indigent over what they are seeing and hearing, Jesus appeals to them: “and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (Matthew 21:16, quoting Psalm 8:1-2). Psalm 8 speaks of God ordaining children to praise him. Since Jesus is Son of God and Son of Man, it is right for children to praise him. Perhaps the Jewish leaders grasped the significance of Jesus’ words for we read from parallel Gospel accounts that Jesus’ words and actions at the Temple prompted them to double down on their efforts to kill Him.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe