McNeil, William: Matthew Chapter Studies 09 ~ Matthew 20; 21; 22;

Introduction to lesson number nine, dealing with chapters twenty, twenty-one and twenty-two. Chapter twenty may be studied in four parts. First, the parable of the vineyard, then the prediction concerning the betrayal and death of Christ, followed by a plea for special position and preferential treatment in the kingdom and finally the power of Christ in giving sight to the blind men. It seems obvious that the opening parable lies between the statement in the closing verse of the previous chapter and verse sixteen of this chapter, which must be a key to the proper understanding of the lesson of the parable. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. In chapter nineteen we learned about the young man who was prepared to do something in order to get something. Then Peter said in effect, we have done something, so now what shall we get? Now it may be suggested that the main lesson of this parable is that God in his sovereignty will reward not according to justice or the amount of work performed, but according to the principle of grace. While God will infallibly own every service and loss for the sake of Christ, yet he maintains his own title to do as he will. God reserves in his own power the right to do as he pleases, and he never makes a mistake. It is then of the greatest importance for our souls that we hold to the rights of God in everything, and this should govern us in all our service. and be the controlling motive. It should be specially noted that many of the workers receive much more than they deserved or expected, and no one received less than what was promised. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Our service then should be a service of love for the glory of God without any ulterior motive. Following this parable there is the short section in which the Lord again predicts his sufferings and death at Jerusalem. There is no doubt whatever in the mind of the Lord as to the outcome of his going up to Jerusalem, because he knew exactly the end from the beginning. Note the minute details that he predicts at this time. He tells that he would be betrayed. He states the people to whom he would be betrayed. Then that they would condemn him to death. Then he would be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. He would then be mocked, scourged, and crucified. Then on the third day he would rise again from the dead. Here is displayed the definite knowledge of the will and counsel of God, and the quiet determination to finish the work his father had put into his hands. For the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. lies in the readiness to serve. But unfortunately, this is a hard lesson to learn, and two of his disciples, along with their mother, make the strange request that in the kingdom they should be granted the chiefs. It is important to note that natural desire should not intrude into the prerogatives of God, but if we do allow the natural ambitions to overrule what is revealed, we can expect a divine rebuke. and we may also experience strife among our fellow believers because of jealousy. The power of Christ is now manifested in giving sight to the two blind men at Jericho. One might study the curious multitude and wonder why they were treading around him as he moves onward to Jerusalem. Are they expecting him to start a political revolution in order to overthrow the Roman oppressor then set up his kingdom? And are they ready to give their support? If so, then they are as much in spiritual darkness as the two blind men are in physical darkness. The two men may not see with their eyes, but the confession of their lips is worth noting. They confess him as Lord and son of David. And while this produced his criticism and rebuked from the multitude, It brings compassion from Noah. In the previous section when the mother of James and John came to him, he said unto her, What wilt thou? And now with the blind men he is again saying, What will ye that I shall do unto you? If the request for a prominent place was denied, then the request for sight is granted. And they followed him. In their movements they would follow him from Jericho, the city of the curse, to Jerusalem, the city of the cross. At chapter twenty-one we move into the final part of the life of Christ and we begin to study the events of the last week culminating in the cross. Chapter twenty-one records the public presentation of the king to the nation, followed by the purging of the temple and the praise of the children. then follows the principle of judgment and the power of prayer. Then the closing section with a number of parables spoken in answer to the chief priests and the elders in order to convict them of their unbelief. The public presentation of the king is most interesting. First, there is the deliberate preparation for this event which shows that the Lord had absolute control of the situation and commanded two of his disciples to go and bring the court. He also had perfect knowledge of the prophecies concerning his official entry into the city, and acted in accordance with what was foretold, so that there could be no question as to his identity, if at the time of his birth very few people knew about the event, this would be different. because now the time would come for a public presentation to be followed by a public denial and rejection. The whole city is moved and the question is asked, who is this? The answer given by some of the people is not too intelligent, but the action of the Lord at this point speaks volumes. If he intended to set up a material kingdom at this time, Then he would have marched on the king's residence and demonstrated his power by overthrowing the prophet king. But instead, he showed that his kingdom was a spiritual thing. And he went to the spiritual palace, the temple. There he purged it of all the things that were corrupting it, and exposed the leaders for having turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves. This led to a further demonstration of his power to heal the needy. and resulted in the praise of the children with their hosanna to the son of David, and the chief priests and scribes were sore, displaced. The chapter continues with an incident regarding the fruitless fig tree and an encouragement to faith and prayer, and then an exposure of the false attitude of the leader. The blasting of the fruitless fig tree was so unique. and its severity so unusual that we are arrested by it and constrained to inquire into its significance. Some time before, Christ had likened the Jewish people to a fig tree planted in a vineyard, and perhaps this furnishes us with the key to this remarkable incident. His cursing of the fig tree was therefore a symbolic action, and if the tree represented Israel under the Old Covenant, Then all she had produced was leaves, giving an outward show. But when there should have been an abundance of fruit, there was nothing to be half of this. This should have a voice and a message to all people, for around us today we have a mass of hollow religious professions, with a tremendous amount of pretense that no fruit forgot. The disciples were astonished at this act of judgment, And what follows does not seem too obvious at first reading, but upon examination it will be found that the Lord is emphasizing the need for faith and faith in action to accomplish something through prayer, which indicates complete dependence upon God. If we are correct in assuming that the fig tree illustrates Israel under the Old Covenant, then it is obvious that it must be removed in judgment for God's righteous purposes to be fulfilled. In like manner, the power is given for his followers to remove all obstacles and move forward in the fulfilling of the will of God. Verse twenty-three brings us back into the temple where the hostility of the chief priests and elders is once again manifested. The opposition at this time ranges itself around the matter of authority. Christ had entered the temple and had stopped some of the corrupt practices. He proved that he had power to heal and meet the need of the people. And they were listening to his teachings. The leaders are upset and seek to discredit him. So they ask, what is the nature of your authority? And who gave you this authority? Certainly, he was not commissioned by the schools of the Pharisees, but had he received some political authority from Rome, or was he moving according to the popular demand of the people? The priests and the elders demand an answer. He answers them with a challenging question. Was John's authority from heaven or from men? The hollowness of their answer exposed their hypocrisy. And since John had called the people to repentance, the lesson is obvious. Not what a man says, but what he does is the crux of the matter. These leaders profess the religious piety that never repented at the preaching of John or the Lord Jesus Christ. But many of the despised publicans and sinners had changed their minds and turned to God. The parable of the husbandmen, though directed against the leaders, gives the whole history of Israel from the day that God began to bestow favors upon them. What more could God have done for this people? Yet nothing but the basis in gratitude was ever returned for all the blessings they received. Violence and slaughter were needed out to God's messengers, the prophets. And the climax was now being reached in that they were preparing to kill the sun and air and hoped to seize the inheritance. The Lord applies his message with a reference to the stone the builders rejected becoming the headstone of the corner. The leaders understood that this was an exposure of their hypocrisy and so decided that something should be done to silence them. Chapter twenty-two is another interesting chapter fraught with many remarkable subjects. One would find it helpful to study each reference to the Old Testament in this chapter, or take time to study each question. The parable at the opening of chapter twenty-two stands in contrast to the one at the end of the previous chapter. In the one, God demands returns as he was entitled to do, while in the other he invites to a feast. Taken together, the two parables show the utter failure of man in connection with both law and grace. If God asks for something under law, then man will not render it. And if God offers something under grace, man will not accept it. The remainder of the chapter centers around a number of questions. And there is another combination of enemies who try to trap the Lord in order to discredit him. The Pharisees in the determination to silence him go and seek the help of the Herodians. These were the royalists and supporters of Herod's government. And so they come with a political question. Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or no? The very wisdom of heaven is expressed in the answer. If you must pay tribute to Caesar, then what brought on this situation? Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar. but render to God the things that are his. If they had rendered to God the things he demanded, they would not have been under bondage to Caesar. The priority then in life is loyalty to God. The spies from among the royalists have been silenced. But now there comes the Sadducees, and they are the rationalists who display their ignorance by asking questions about something they didn't believe. If there is no resurrection, then why argue about the afterlife? If a man is an infidel, why does he want to argue about God? The Lord says, you do err not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. Then one of the ritualists, perhaps a clever young scribe, presents a question about the law. The Lord very quickly answers this question by tying the law together and showing the importance of all the law as setting forth man's responsibility to God and to his fellow man. Then the greatest question comes from the lips of the Lord himself as he turns the focus upon those who pretended to know and interpret the scriptures. What think of Christ? Whose son is he? Now this is a tremendous question and could keep a student busy for a long time. searching out all the references to his sonship. If he is David's son, then how could he be David's Lord? This takes us back to the opening of the book, The Son of David, the Son of Abraham, Emmanuel, the Son of God.