Matthew 21 reminds me of seeing a big limousine at a special event. We peer into the dark windows thinking, “I wonder who’s in there?” The more luxurious the vehicle, the more curious we get. We imagine it is a VIP, maybe the star of the show preparing to make a grand entrance. In today’s chapter we see the King arrive completely unhidden from the people. “Jesus sent two disciples… to the village… ‘you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt… Untie them and bring them to me’”. Zechariah 9:9 prophesied, “Your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey”. This was the transportation of the commoner. Five days before Passover, and Jerusalem was full of people. How did the crowd react? “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road… cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road… shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’” Palm branches symbolized resistance to the Roman rule and Hosanna was a prayer of salvation. On the Sabbath before Passover; the very day the Passover Lamb was selected according to Exodus 12:3, He was being hailed as Messiah, the hope of the people. “The whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’” Perhaps you are asking the same thing?
As was His custom, Jesus first went to the Temple, but just inside the courtyard He saw the Money Changers buying and selling and generally cheating the people trying to present an offering. “He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves”, and He said to them, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers”. We see corruption crumble when met with righteous authority. The men who were supposed to inspect sacrifices for defects were rejected by Jesus.
This was not some wild-eyed tirade. We know because immediately after, “The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them” and the children in the courtyard continued shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David”. The chief priests “were indignant” that He did not reject the title. The next day while Jesus was teaching in the Temple Courts they again confronted Him, “By what authority are you doing these things?” This was apparently very public. Jesus asked them a series of questions in response, each pointing out their hypocrisy. In contrast, those that knew they were sinners had repented and believed, “the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you”. The chapter ends with a parable for all of us too stubborn to accept the authority of the Savior. A landowner planted a vineyard, “Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers… When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit”. Rather than pay the owner what was due, they beat, abused and killed the servants. Finally the owner sent his son to collect. The farmers conspired, “let’s kill him and take his inheritance”. Jesus asked them, “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” Those entrusted with teaching and sharing God’s truth had killed and rejected the prophets, and here was the Son before them. “I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit”. Quoting from Psalm 118, He concludes, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”. My friend, are you too much of a big shot to accept God’s authority? Where do you place your hope? Remember, sometimes dark windows just hide empty vehicles.