The Triumphal Entry
11:1-11
Jesus travelled from Jericho, on the road to Jerusalem, and stopped at the village of Bethany. This was a village about 2 miles east of Jerusalem, on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives. It was also the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha.
Jesus sent two unnamed disciples into the village to acquire a donkey colt for him to ride into Jerusalem. Interestingly, he referred to himself as “Lord” and told them to tell the colt’s owner that the Lord needed it. It was Jesus exhibiting divine authority. The owner responded by letting them have it. Jesus may have prepared for this in advance.
Jesus was fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Jesus was signaling that he was the Messiah. He was showing the Jewish people of Jerusalem “your king is coming to you”. He was righteous, having perfect obedience and without sin. He brought salvation to those who believe in him. And he was humble. Many Jews had forgotten this part, though, expecting a messiah who would exalt himself through military victories.
Jesus’ followers understood that he was going to Jerusalem as the messiah and David king. They put their cloaks on the donkey so Jesus would not touch it as he sat. They covered the ground with cloaks and branches so his feet would not touch the dirt. It was a symbol of being too great to touch common things.
They also shouted “Hosanna”, who means “save”,. (9) But they did not mean save us from our sins, but save us from our enemies, including the Romans. They said “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”, citing Psalm 118:25, 26. This Psalm was speaking of the coming of the Messianic kingdom.
Jesus arrived at the beginning of Passover week. Passover celebrated Israel’s liberation from Egypt. So, their thinking was naturally on their liberation from Rome at the hand of the Messiah who entered Jerusalem in triumph.
Jesus did enter the city, but did not go to the palace. He went to the temple and observed all that was going on. What he saw would not have pleased him. Instead of worship and prayer, he saw commerce. He then retired for the night back in Bethany.
Cursing the Fig Tree
11:12-14
The next morning, on the way back to Jerusalem from Bethany, Jesus looked at a fig tree for fruit since he was hungry. Although it was too early in the year for fully ripe figs, there were buds that could be eatn. But, though the tree was fully leafed out, there was no fruit. Jesus then cursed the tree in the hearing of the disciples.
Judging the Temple
11:15-19
Returning to the temple, Jesus took action. He overturned the tables of the money changers. They were changing money for those who lived outside of Judea so they would have the required coins to pay the temple tax.
He drove out the vendors. They sold animals for the sacrifices, since it was hard to carry animals for a long distance to use for the required sacrifices. Both groups did these things for a profit. They were also paying the priests for the privilege of doing so in the temple.
Jesus also would not let anyone carry animals or other goods through the temple. You can imagine how disruptive all of this would have been to anyone who actually came there to pray.
Jesus gave his reason for doing all this. He said “is it not written ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers”. (18)
By saying “is it not written”, Jesus was referring them to Scripture. Jesus combined two scriptures for this saying, as he often did. First, he cited Isaiah 56:7. Isaiah 56 spoke of foreigners coming and joining themselves to the Lord, who would come to the temple as a house of prayer and offer sacrifices to God. That was the ideal.
The second verse is Jeremiah 7:11. God pointed out Israel’s idolatry and breaking of the commandments while they pointed to the temple as the source of their deliverance from Babylon. God said “has this house, called by my name, become a den or robbers in your eyes?”. That was the reality.
Looking one verse forward to Jeremiah 7:12, we see God referring to the destruction of Shiloh, the first residence of the tabernacle in Israel, due to the corruption of worship there.
Instead of using the Court of the Gentiles to encourage Gentiles to come and pray, the priests and the vendors were hindering the coming of the Gentiles, who they did not want anyway.
Jesus was not cleansing the temple in a restorative way; he was showing that he judged it and condemned it for the way it was used.
The chief priests and scribes heard and understood Jesus’ words as a condemnation of their running of the temple. So, they sought a way to destroy him. They actually feared Jesus because his teaching astonished the people. (18)
The Withered Tree
11:20-26
This is the second part of the sandwich concerning the fig tree.
The next morning, Jesus and the disciples again left Bethany for Jerusalem. They saw the fig tree Jesus cursed. It had withered away. (21)
The fig tree is a symbol for Israel, with its religious establishment. It did not bear fruit for God, it will be destroyed. It was an enacted parable that came true about 40 years later. The use of the temple as the way to approach God would be destroyed and replaced by Jesus himself.
Jesus concluded this section with a teaching that is a call to faith. Instead of looking to the temple, the disciples should look to God in prayer, believing in the faithfulness of God to answer prayers. When we pray according to God’s will in faith, he will give us what we need.
Prayer brings us into God’s presence. We are able to be in his presence because we are forgiven. Since we are forgiven, we must forgive those who have wronged us. Jesus said the same thing in the model prayer. (Matthew 6:12)
Confrontation With The Authorities
11:27-33
Jesus was confronted by the religious authorities, including the chief priests, scribes, and elders. They demanded to know what authority he had to disrupt the temple. This was likely a trap, seeking grounds to arrest him.
Jesus again avoided the trap by asking them if the baptism of John the Baptist was from heaven or from man. Jesus avoided the trap by setting a trap. These men did not want to vouch for John’s authority, because the they believed only they had religious authority. But they knew the people did believe in John as a prophet and did not want to look bad to them.
The authorities refused to answer Jesus, so he refused to answer them. That had to be a frustrating experience for the religious leaders.
We know, however, that Jesus as God’s Son, had the authority in himself to take charge of God’s house.
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