"The Triumphal Entry" 

THREE SIGNS CONCERNING ISRAEL -- 21:1-22

1. Presentation of the King -- This was in fulfillment of Zech. 9:9. 
   Notice, that Matthew omits the phrase "just and having salvation" when he quotes Zechariah. Christ will not come with justice and salvation (victory) for Israel until He returns in Rev. 19:11-21, riding the white horse of victory. Notice that in verse 11 that the city called Him "the prophet" but not the King. This same crowd would cry "Crucify Him!" in a few days. Unfortunately, the Jews "knew not the day of visitation" (Luke 19:41-44) and rejected their King. Now we see Israel's spiritual blindness.
2. Purifying the Temple -- 21:12-16 Israel's inward corruption is seen by the way their temple had become a house of merchandise. The cleaning at the start of Christ's ministry (John 2) did not last, for the Jews' heart were not changed. Christ quotes (Isa. 56:7) and calls the temple "My house." Later, Christ would say, "YOUR house I left unto you desolate" (Matt. 23:38); for having rejected their King, Israel now had an empty temple.
3. Cursing of the fig tree -- 21:17-22 Matt. 24:32-33 and Luke 13:6-10 teaches that the fig tree pictures Israel. This tree had leaves but not fruit, picturing Israel with its outward "show of religion" but its FRUITLESSNESS. In Luke 13:6-10 it seems to indicate that God gave Israel THREE YEARS in which to bring forth fruit, but the nation failed. Christ used this miracle as a lesson in faith, suggesting that it was Israel's UNBELIEF that brought about her judgment. How easy it is to have " a form of godliness" but never bear any fruit. Many counterfeit Christians will hear Christ's " Depart from me, ye cursed" because they had "nothing but leaves."
   In these three signs, Christ reveals Israel's spiritual blindness, her inward corruption, and her outward fruitlessness.
   

THREE PARABLES CONCERNING ISRAEL -- 21:23 22:14

From 21:23 to 23:39, Christ is in the temple contending with leaders. In 24:1 He departs from the temple, AND NEVER AGAIN ENTERED IT. "ICHABOD" was now written over the temple: " The glory hath departed" (1 Sam. 4:19-22). The Jews questioned His authority, and He forced them back to John the Baptist. WHY? Because they knew John told the truth, yet they rejected him. God will never reveal new truth until we obey what He has already revealed, and having rejected John, the Jews did not deserve an answer from Jesus.

1. The two sons -- 21:28-32 Here we see Israel as a son disobedient to his father. The vineyard always speaks of Israel (Isa. 5:1-7 and Psalm 80:8-16). By rejecting John the Baptist, the Jews had disobeyed the Father. The sinner, however, heeded John and entered into the kingdom of God.
2. The vineyard and husbandmen -- 21:33-46 God did much for Israel, expecting the nation to bear fruit for His glory; but the nation rebelled against God and refused to bear fruit. God sent prophets and servants to deal with them, but Israel mistreated them and even killed them. Then God sent His son -- and they killed Him. They even "cast Him out of the vineyard" (Heb. 13:11-13). The Jews themselves spoke their own sentence in verse 41 - and this is exactly what God did. He took the spiritual privileges away from Israel, destroyed Jerusalem, and took these blessings to the Gentiles.
   Christ quoted Psalm 118:22-23, calling Himself "the stone which the builders rejected." Peter calls the leaders of Israel "ye builders" in Acts 4:11; and 
   Romans 9:33, and 1 Peter 2:4-8 all point to Christ as the stumbling stone to Israel, but the foundation stone to the church. The sinner who "falls on the stone" in humility will be broken, but saved; but the rebel who resists Christ will be crushed by the stone in judgment.
   In these two parables, we have seen Israel disobeying the Father and crucifying the Son. In the next parable (22:1-14) we see them resisting the Spirit (God's messenger) as He invites them to the feast.
3. The marriage feast -- 22:1-14 Do not read into this parable the blessed truth of the church, the bride of Christ, which is later revealed. The idea is simply that the Father invites the guest (Israel) to enjoy blessings because of His Son. Yet, the nation spurned the invitations given. NOTICE there are several invitations given: verse 3 probably indicates the invitation from the apostles during the Gospel period, and verse 4-6 the invitation during the early chapters of the book of Acts, when the kingdom was again offered to the Jews. Israel resisted the Spirit (Acts 7:51-52) and this brought national doom, including the ruin of Jerusalem (verse 7). Then, the King turned to the Gentiles, as was done in Acts when the nation of Israel had sealed its decision by killing Stephen and persecuting the church. 
   The closing verses of the parable (11-14) emphasize the fact that the guests must receive a covering from the King to be accepted. The King called "both bad and good" (verse 10), but provided a garment to make them acceptable. This speaks of the gift of righteousness that God provides through Christ for all who will believe (2 Cor. 5:20). Keep in mind that the parable pictures "the kingdom of heaven" (verse 21), which is a mixture of true and false. Do not put this scene in heaven; for certainly no one will enter heaven without Christ's righteousness, and no one will be cast out of heaven. These verses warn man to avoid false profession, to respond to the invitation without receiving the Lord.

These three parables show the spiritual history of Israel. She was called and chosen of God to be fruitful (the vineyard and the fig tree), and she failed to bear fruit. She disobeyed the Father (parable of the two sons), crucified the Son (parable of the vineyard), and resisted the Spirit (parable of the marriage feast). She is today set aside and the blessings of Christ have been given to the Gentiles until the fullness of the Gentiles "be come in" READ Romans 11:25.