Matthew 21

 

 1 And (*) (1) when they drew near to Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of the Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

 

(*) Mark 11:1; Luke 19:29 .

(1) Christ by his humility triumphing over the pride of this world, ascendeth to true glory by ignominy of the cross.

 

 2 Saying to them, Go into the town that is over against you, and anon ye shall find an (*) ass bound, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto me.

 

(*) By this entry Christ would shew the state and condition of his kingdom, which is far contrary to the pomp and glory of the world.

 

 3 And if any man say ought unto you, say ye, that the Lord hath need of them, and straightway (a) he will let them go.

 

(a) He that shall say anything to you, shall let them go, to wit, the ass and the colt.

 

 4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Prophet, saying,

 

 5  ¶ (*) Tell ye the (b) (♣) daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a (♠) colt, the foal of an ass used to the yoke.

 

(*) Isaiah 62:11; Zechariah 9:9; John 12:15 .

(b) The city of Sion. An Hebrew kind of speech, common in the Lamentations of Jeremiah.

(♣) Or, Jerusalem.

(♠) It is a manner of speech called synecdoche, whereby two are taken for one.

 

 6 So the disciples went, and did as Jesus had commanded them,

 

 7 And brought the ass and the colt, and put on (*) them their (c) clothes, and set him  (d) thereon.

 

(*) He ride on the foal and dame went by.

(c) Their uppermost garments.
(d) Upon their garments, not upon the ass and the colt.

 

 8 And a great multitude spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

 

 9 Moreover, the people that went before, and they also that followed, cried, saying, (e) (*) Hosanna to the Son of David, (f) Blessed be he that cometh in the Name of the Lord, Hosanna thou which art in the (♣) highest heavens.

 

(e) This was an ancient kind of crying which they used in the feast of Tabernacles, when they carried boughs according as God command Leviticus 23:40 . And the word is corruptly made of two, for we should say, Hoshiang-na, which is as much to say, as Save I pray thee.

(*) Which is to say, Save I pray thee, desiring God to prosper and send good success to the Messiah.
(f) Well be it to him that cometh in the name of the Lord, that is to say, whom the Lord hath given us for our King.

(♣) For God which is in heaven, must only save.

 

 10  (*) And when he was come into Jerusalem, (g) all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

 

(*) Mark 11:11; Luke 19:45; John 2:13 .

(g) That is, all the men of Jerusalem were moved.

 

 11 And the people said, This is Jesus that Prophet of Nazareth in Galilee.

 

 12  ¶ And Jesus went into the Temple of God, and cast out all them (*) that sold and bought in the (♣) Temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

 

(*) Deuteronomy 14:25 .

(♣) In the porch or entry into the Temple.

 

 13 And said to them, It is written, (*) My house shall be called the house of prayer; (♠) but (♣) ye have made it a den of thieves.

 

(*) Isaiah 56:6 .

(♠) Under the pretence of the religion hypocrites seek their own gain, and spoil God of his true worship.

(♣) Jeremiah 7:11; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46 .

 

 14 Then the blind, and the halt came to him, in the Temple, and he healed them.

 

 15  (2) But when the chief Priests and Scribes saw the marvels that he did, and the children crying in the Temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, they disdained,

 

(2) Such as should be masters of godliness, are they that do most envy the glory of Christ; but in vain.

 

 16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus said unto them, Yea; read ye never, (*) By the (♣) mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast (h) (♠) made perfect the praise?

 

(*) Psalm 8:2 .

(♣) If God reveal his glory and might by babes, that cannot as yet speak, is it marvel, if they that can speak, do set forth, and magnify the same.

(h) Thou hast made most perfect. We read in David, Thou hast established or grounded, and if the matter be considered well, it is all one that the Evangelist saith, for that is stable and sure, which is most perfect.

(♠) In Hebrew it is, hast ordained or grounded the strength; which is all to one purpose, because God is then most praised when his strength is best known.

 

 17  ¶ (3) So he left them, and went out of the city unto Bethany, and lodged there.

 

(3) Christ doeth so forsake the wicked, that yet he hath a consideration and regard of his Church.

 

 18  (4) And (*) in the morning, as he returned into the city, he was hungry,

 

(4) Hypocrites shall at length have their masks discovered, and their vizards plucked from their faces.

(*) Mark 11:13 .

 

 19 And seeing a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said to it, Never fruit grow on thee henceforward. And anon the fig tree withered.

 

 20 And when his disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered?

 

 21  (5) And Jesus answered and said unto them, (*) Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith, and (i) doubt not, ye shall not only do that, which I have done to the fig tree, but also if ye say unto this mountain, (♣) Take thyself away, and cast thyself into the sea, it shall be done.

 

(5) How great the force of faith is.

(*) Matthew 17:20 .
(i) The Greek word signifieth a sticking or wavering of mind, so that we cannot tell which way to take.

(♣) Which thing seemeth to be impossible.

 

 22  (*) And whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, if ye believe, ye shall receive it.

 

(*) Matthew 7:7; John 15:7; 1 John 5:14 .

 

 23  ¶ (*) (6) And when he was come into the Temple, the chief Priests, and the Elders of the people came unto him, as he was teaching, and said, By what (k) authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?

 

(*) Mark 11:27-28; Luke 20:1-2 .

(6) Against them which over slipping the doctrine, blind the calling and vocation to an ordinary succession going about by that false pretext, to stop Christ's mouth.
(k) Or, by what power.

 

 24 Then Jesus answered, and said unto them, I also will ask of you (l) a certain thing, which if ye tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

 

(l) One word, that is to say, I will ask you in one word.

 

 25 The (m) baptism of John, whence was it? (*) From (n) heaven, or of men? Then they (o) reasoned among themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?

 

(m) John his preaching is called by a figure, Baptisine, because he preached the baptism of repentance, etc.; Mark 1:4 Acts 19:3 .

(*) Or, of God.
(n) From God, and so it is plainly seen how these are set one against another.
(o) Beat their heads about it, and mused, or laid their heads together.

 

 26 And if we say, Of men, we (♣) fear the (♠) multitude, (*) for all hold John as a Prophet.

 

(♣) The hypocrites fear man more than God, and malice never justifieth the truth.

(♠) A great number of persons collected or gathered together.

(*) Matthew 14:5; Mark 6:20 .

 

 27 Then they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

 

 28  ¶ (7) But what think ye? A certain man had two sons, and came to the elder, and said, Son, go and work today in my vineyard.

 

(7) It is no new thing to see them to be the worst of all men, which ought to shew the way of godliness to others.

 

 29 But he answered, and said, I will not; yet afterward he repented himself, and went.

 

 30 Then came he to the second, and said likewise. And he answered, and said, I will, Sir; yet he went not.

 

 31 Whether of them twain did the will of the father? They said unto him, The first. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the (*) Publicans and the harlots (p) go before you into the kingdom of God.

 

(*) So far it is impossible for them to repent & be saved, that stand in their own conceit, that the greatest sinners that are, shall more soon come to repentance.

(p) They make haste to the kingdom of God, and you stack so that at least wise you should have followed their example. Mark then that this word (go before) is improperly taken in this place, whereas no man followeth.

 

 32 For John came unto you in the (q) (*) way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the Publicans and the harlots believed him, and ye though ye saw it, were not moved with repentance afterward, that ye might believe him.

 

(q) Living upright, being of a good and honest conversation; For the Hebrews use this word, Way, for life and manners.

(*) God taught by John the way of righteousness, whose life was upright and perfect.

 

 33  ¶ (8) Hear another parable, There was a certain householder, (*) which planted a (♣) vineyard, and (♠) hedged it round about, and (♦) made a winepress therein, and (r) built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a strange country.

 

(8) Those men often times are the cruelest enemies of the Church, to whose fidelity it is committed; But the vocation of God is neither tied to time, place, nor person.

(*) Isaiah 5:1; Jeremiah 2:21; Mark 12:12; Luke 20:9 .

(♣) The vineyard is the people, whom he had elected.

(♠) Used all means to preserve it, and to make it fruitful.

(♦) Or, dug.
(r) Made the place strong; For a tower is the strongest place of a wall.

 

 34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to (*) the husbandmen to receive the fruits thereof.

 

(*) Which were the Priests and rulers.

 

 35 And the husbandmen took his (*) servants and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

 

(*) The Prophets.

 

 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the like unto them.

 

 37 But last of all he sent unto them his own (*) son, saying, They will reverence my son.

 

(*) Jesus Christ.

 

 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, (*) This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us (s) take his inheritance.

 

(*) Matthew 16:3-4; Matthew 27:1; John 11:53 .

(s) Word for word, let us hold it fast.

 

 39 So they took him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

 

 40 When therefore the Lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do to those husbandmen?

 

 41 They said unto him, He will (t) cruelly destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall deliver him the fruits in their seasons.

 

(t) A kind of proverb, shewing what end the wicked are worthy of.

 

 42 Jesus said unto them, Read ye never in the Scriptures, (*) The stone which the (u) builders (♣) refused, the same is (x) made the (y) (♠) head of the corner? (z) This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

 

(*) Psalm 118:22; Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:7 .

(u) Master builders, which are chief builders of the house, that is, of the Church.

(♣) As not meet or fit for their building.
(x) Began to be.
(y) The chiefest stone in the corner is called the head of the corner, which beareth up the couplings or joints of the whole building.

(♠) To fasten and join the building together, and to uphold the whole.
(z) That matter (in that the stone which was cast away, is made the head) is the Lord's doing which we behold and greatly marvel at.

 

 43 Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation, which shall bring forth the (a) fruits thereof.

 

(a) They bring forth the fruits of the kingdom of God, which bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, and not of the flesh, Galatians 5:16-26 .

 

 44  (*) And whosoever shall fall on this stone, he shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will (b) dash him in powder.

 

(*) Isaiah 8:14 .

(b) As chaff useth to be scattered with the wind, for he useth a word which signifieth properly, to separate the chaff from the corn with winnowing, to scatter it abroad.

 

 45 And when the chief Priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

 

 46 (9) And they seeking to lay hands on him, feared the people, because they took him as a Prophet.

 

(9) The wicked can do nothing, but what God will.

 

 

 

Steve

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