Matthew 21

The Explanation

Jesus is walking toward Jerusalem with His disciples. This is the big city, the place where the temple stands. Just before they arrive, Jesus does something strange. He sends two disciples to a village to fetch a donkey with her colt. "If anyone asks anything," He says, "just say: The Lord needs them." And that is exactly how it goes.

Jesus climbs onto the young donkey and rides into the city. Everywhere people come running. They lay their coats on the road. They pull branches from the trees and wave them. They shout, "Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" The whole city gets stirred up. People ask each other: who is this?

Then Jesus goes to the temple. And there something happens you would not expect from Him. He knocks over tables. He drives out the sellers and the money changers. "My house shall be called a house of prayer," He says, "but you have made it a den of robbers." Right afterward, He heals blind and lame people in that same temple. Children keep shouting hosanna. The chief priests grow angry, but Jesus says: even little children understand who I am.

The next morning He is hungry. He sees a fig tree full of leaves, but with no figs on it. Jesus says: never again will you bear fruit. And the tree withers.

Back in the temple, the leaders come to Him. They ask: who gave You permission to do all this? Jesus asks a question back about John the Baptist. They do not dare answer. Then Jesus tells two stories. One about two sons: one says no but goes anyway, the other says yes but does not go. Which one really did what his father wanted? The first one, of course. Then a story about wicked farmers who beat the owner's servants and finally kill his son. Jesus is talking about Himself. The leaders understand, and they want to arrest Him, but they are afraid of the crowd.

What Does This Mean?

Jesus arrives as King. But not on a war horse with a sword. He comes on a donkey, calm and humble. That was written long ago by the prophet Zechariah. Jesus is a King who does not want to conquer people, but to save them.

And yet He is not soft. In the temple He becomes angry, because God's house has become a market. Jesus can be gentle and strong at the same time. He loves the sick and the children, and He is furious at injustice. That belongs together.

The stories He tells are sharp. He is saying to the leaders: you say yes to God, but you do not really do His will. Meanwhile people you look down on are entering God's Kingdom. That must have stung.

The Common Thread

The fig tree with leaves but no fruit is a picture of the temple, and of people who look good on the outside but bring forth nothing on the inside. God searches for real fruit, not just pretty leaves.

And that son in the last parable, thrown out of the vineyard and killed? That is Jesus Himself. He knows what is coming. A few days after this Palm Sunday, He will hang on the cross. The stone that the builders rejected becomes the cornerstone. What people throw away, God makes the most important piece.

For You

Sometimes you say yes to something, at home or at school, and later you do not do it after all. Or the other way around: you grumble first, but then you do help. Jesus makes it clear that what you actually do counts, not just your words.

And that thing about fruit and leaves. You can look really Christian on the outside, sing along, know the answers, and still on the inside not really live with Jesus. God does not want a show. He wants your real heart. That sounds scary, but it is actually freeing. You do not have to pretend with Him. You may come as you are, like those blind and lame in the temple, and let Him heal you.

Talk About It

Why do you think Jesus chose a donkey and not a horse? What does that say about the kind of King He is?

Can you think of a time when your words and your actions did not match? What helps to change that?

Praying Together

Lord Jesus, You are King, but You came humbly. Thank You that You see through us and still love us. Help us not to be like a tree with only leaves. Give us a real heart, that says yes and also does yes. Amen.