Verse by Verse Matthew 21:1-32

[0:00] and open up to the Gospel of Matthew, and we'll begin chapter 21 this morning. We've closed out chapter 20 two weeks ago. I talked to Pastor Louis Pena this week, and I always enjoy talking to him.

[0:22] And he said something about some things in his church, some things going on and some changes maybe, and he mentioned this. He said he's praying about something today, and he's considering preaching for the first time in Spanish.

[0:36] And he's a fluent Spanish speaker, obviously. That's his native tongue, but he also, as you all know, speaks very, very, very good English. And he's considering doing that because of some circumstances and some things, and he just asked me to pray about it with him.

[0:50] And he's thinking on doing it maybe even this evening. He's not setting stone on it, so I don't know what he's going to do. But it's just something that he feels the Lord may have him do, and he's got some interest along those lines, as you can imagine.

[1:01] And so we talked a while about that, and I just enjoyed that. It's something to put before you. You know him well, and I hope you care for him and care for what the Lord has for himself, his family, and his ministry.

[1:12] So be in prayer about that. Even today, they're going to have, I believe, a normal morning and then a dinner on the grounds kind of thing, and then stick around for an afternoon, and that's where he's considering breaking out the Espanol.

[1:25] So we'll see. I'm kind of anxious to call him tomorrow and say how to go. But I would say it in Spanish, but I don't know how to speak Spanish. What does that mean?

[1:39] Someone interpret, please, quickly. We've got to be scriptural here. All right, Matthew 21. And let's begin this chapter here. Let's pray. Father, please bless our time in your words.

[1:52] Lord, may we not overlook this time. May we take it serious and seek to learn truth and believe truth. And Lord, may you apply these truths to us today, where we sit, where we are, what we need.

[2:05] And God, just help even the kids to get something today from the Word of God and to grow them and grow us as well. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Verse number one. And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem and were come to Bethphage unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her.

[2:28] Loose them and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them. And straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold thy king cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

[2:47] And his disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. Now we'll continue on in a moment, but this is, it's really a kind of a strange mission, wouldn't you think, to send some disciples on as they're nearing Jerusalem.

[3:02] He says to these guys, Go over here into this other little village, and here's what you're going to do. And, just in case somebody says something to you, kind of like tying up the loose ends, the thought be, like telling you to go, go over there to the next neighborhood, and you'll see a car sitting in a driveway, get in it, take it, and bring it over here.

[3:22] Of course you're going to say, What are you talking, how can I do that? What if they yell at me? Well, just tell them that the Lord needs it. So, so that's what they do. And, quite an interesting thing, it's a fulfillment of scripture.

[3:33] I want to remind you that when we began this study of Matthew, I pointed out that Matthew, it's been a while since we've seen this, but he's very careful to point out every time Christ fulfills an Old Testament prophecy.

[3:45] His, his goal and his angle and aim in this gospel is to show you that Christ is the Messiah, that he's the one that fulfills the prophecies of the Messiah, that he is God come in the flesh, but that he's the King of Israel, the King of the Jews.

[4:00] And so he points that out again in verse number four, that all this was done, that it might be fulfilled. And he didn't have to say that. He could have kept going on because the disciples didn't even understand at all what was going on here.

[4:11] Matter of fact, hold your place, but look at John chapter 12. John tells us about this. John 12, and this passage starts in verse number 12.

[4:29] And, we'll just read, verse 14 says, And Jesus, when he had found a young ass sat thereon, as it is written, fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh, sitting upon an ass's colt.

[4:46] These things understood not his disciples at the first. So, while they saw it happen, while they heard it happen, they never put it together, that this was what Zachariah said was going to happen of the Messiah.

[5:00] So, in verse 16, but when Jesus was glorified, that'd be after the resurrection, we can read about it in Luke 24, when he expounds the scriptures to them, all things pertaining to himself from Moses and the Psalms.

[5:13] In verse 16, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him. So, there's hindsight, but that's a little bit farther down the road. All right, Matthew 21, when this is taking place, and this fulfillment of the prophecy, but, you know what, mind you, come back to Zachariah while we're talking on this.

[5:33] I want you to see something. This is only a partial fulfillment of a prophecy. This is not all that Zachariah said would take place with the king coming unto them.

[5:46] Look at Zachariah 9. In the first coming of Jesus Christ, he partially fulfills the prophet's statement about the Messiah.

[5:59] But the rest of it's yet to be fulfilled, and that will be fulfilled in the second coming. And so, you can see how there's confusion, or it's hard to piece together which portions of the scriptures the Messiah is fulfilling this time.

[6:14] You can see how it would be confusing. Verse number 9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just, and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.

[6:29] Verse 10, And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace unto the heathen and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea and from river even to the ends of the earth.

[6:44] Well, that's the prophecy continued. This king's going to come and he's going to take over the whole world. Well, that part didn't get fulfilled. So you can see the confusion. Is he the one? Is he not the one?

[6:55] Are you the one that they said would come? He fulfills portions of it here and there. Now, they're ignorant of this whole thing as it's taking place, as I showed you from John.

[7:06] But there's more to come and there's still more to come for the Lord Jesus Christ. All that's written of him will be fulfilled. And that's why this Bible runs the world because it's said some things that has not yet happened and they will happen.

[7:20] And just because Christ only fulfilled a certain number of them doesn't mean that that negates other things. They're coming to pass. You can count on it. Now, there's a few things I'd like to point out about this passage here.

[7:32] It just gives a great opportunity to teach something else that's necessary. It's helpful in that I've showed you this elsewhere that there's three applications of Scripture.

[7:44] Three different ways Scripture can be applied. And that's what makes... This sets this book apart from anything else. This is God's book. This is God's words. When he's writing, when he decides that I'm going to record something and keep it forever, some historical event, there's a reason for it.

[8:01] It's not just, I need to fill some space. And so what he puts in this book is holy, it's pure, it's something worthy of our attention and our study. And in this case, yes, Jesus, this man, this Jesus of Nazareth, as they call him.

[8:16] Look at verse 11. The multitude said, this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee. Yes, that's true. That's who he was. And yes, he did exactly as this passage says.

[8:27] This historically took place. And so there's a historical application. This is truth. It's not made up. It's not a fairy tale. But there's more to it than that. He's fulfilling prophecy.

[8:39] So there's this doctrinal application of this passage showing us that he is the Messiah. He's not just Jesus of Nazareth. He's the one that God sent that came from above.

[8:50] I mean, all of that becomes true of him being the one that fulfills the prophets. And so there's a doctrinal application. He is the king coming to Jerusalem. He's the king of the Jews.

[9:01] And he's the one that should take the throne of David and eventually rule the world as is promised. But there's a third application and the one that we today can kind of harness in on or try to get something out of.

[9:15] And we'll call that the spiritual application. Maybe you call it a devotional application where you can read these historical truths and even understand their doctrinal relevance, relevance, but then still get something out of it.

[9:27] And in this case, you're the ass. Sorry. But that's what you are in this case. In verse number two, he said, go into the village over against you and straightway you shall find an ass tied and a colt with her.

[9:42] Loose them and bring them unto me. And they do that. And in the scripture, if we, I don't want to take the time this morning, but if we ran some references on the ass in the word of God, that beast is a stubborn beast and it's likened to a sinner, an unregenerate, lost sinner, unsaved.

[10:00] This beast here, I don't, well, in Luke chapter 19, it says that we're never man rode or I think that's the term that is, it's an unbroken animal. And that animal is picturing for us, it's in Job 11 where it describes it being born wild and describes man being like a wild ass's colt.

[10:19] That it's just wild, can't be tamed, he's full of sin. And in Exodus 13, that animal is said that he either has to be redeemed with money or it's got to be destroyed, break the neck.

[10:30] So that's you. You either get redeemed or you get destroyed. And that picture carries through the scripture and so it's worthy of pulling that out and then seeing something that we can apply about this ass or this colt, the foal of an ass and understand something about it.

[10:46] Number one, it's unbroken, it's tied up. In verse number two, you shall find an ass tied and a colt with her, loose them. And so this beast is tied up and it's bound.

[10:59] And that sure does sound like a sinner. The Bible describes the sinner being holden with the cords of his sins. There's other places and we won't go there but this picture is strong in the word of God.

[11:12] But you know what? This beast got loosed and it got loosed for a purpose. It got freed from being bound and taken away from where it was and it got tamed awful quick by the Lord Jesus Christ.

[11:27] And this unbroken, untamed animal, the Lord doesn't have any trouble. Look at verse number seven. Verse six says, The disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them and brought the ass and the colt and put on them their clothes and they set him thereon.

[11:44] So this beast that was unbroken and tied up is now loosed and it's got new garments on it. And then it's doing something. They set him, the Lord Jesus Christ, thereon.

[11:58] You know what that beast now is doing? It's lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ. Wearing its new garments. It's such a beautiful picture in here. In verse number eight, A very great multitude spread their garments in the way.

[12:10] Others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before and that followed cried saying, Hosanna to the son of David.

[12:21] Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And he's come into Jerusalem. All this city was moved saying, Who is this?

[12:32] And the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Galilee. There's one more thing to point out about this beast is that he's not just exalting or lifting up Jesus Christ.

[12:42] He's carrying him to other people. He's carrying Christ, showing him to the city, to their countrymen, to everybody they know.

[12:54] And what a picture of a beast that's just, nobody knows what it is, tied up, doing nothing, gets loosed, and has an opportunity to carry Jesus Christ around and exalt him and see people glorify him.

[13:06] Nobody's praising the beast. It's about Jesus Christ, isn't it? It's lifting him up. And so there's a little, there's another application in there, another spiritual look into that passage.

[13:17] And that's you. Sorry for being crude if you feel that way. But that's who you are. And you can think back and think, yeah, apart from Jesus Christ, I'm just tied up.

[13:31] And I'm wild. And I don't have anything in me that can tame me and hold me down and keep me subdued to glorify him and to lift him up. And what a blessing that is just to see that in that passage.

[13:42] So moving on. And this is a moving thing. This scene is big. I don't want to just overlook it, but I mean, the whole city was moved. People were stopping what they're doing. They're coming out of their places of businesses or homes because there's a big to-do, a tumult, and they're shouting from the beginning to the end.

[14:01] And he's just moving right through. The crowd's moving with him. It's like a parade coming through town, throwing these things down in front of him, lauding him and glorifying him. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

[14:13] We're going to say that again, too, in the future if we maybe get to that today. But they said that that day and the whole city came out to receive this king. But in Jesus' mind, there's this dark cloud, I'd say, because he knows in one week's time, these people are going to turn on me and they're going to say, crucify him.

[14:34] They're going to say, these people are going to say, his blood be on us and on our children. The same people can turn just like that. What a telling thing about man.

[14:46] Even those that see Jesus Christ and praise him with their mouth can turn on him just like that. In verse number 12, when Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that dwelt or that sold and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves and said unto them, it is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.

[15:14] Now that's a, that's not the first time that he did this. Back in John's gospel, early in John's gospel, chapter 2, three years prior, he did the same thing.

[15:25] So he does this at the beginning of his ministry, he does this at the end of his ministry, he goes into that temple of God and sure thing, there it is again. They're in there making money, they're in there being deceitful, their lust and greed using this place as a place to make money off of travelers that need to, need a pure sacrifice and don't want to travel with it or whatever the case would be, exchanging, their money and their things to offer their sacrifices according to the law to God and somebody's taking advantage of it and so Christ sees it, that's wickedness and he casts them out and this is such a, I just, I don't know, I just like this side that the scripture reveals of Jesus Christ that he cast them all out, he overthrew the tables and the seats of them, I mean that's with his hands or with his feet, he's clearing the house, he's kicking them, throwing them, pushing them, shoving them, he's not just walking around like this and mumbling things or some words in Latin, he's just terrorizing the men that are guilty of violating and profaning a holy place and this is a man and it's good to see his indignation toward things that are wrong and help you to understand that he's not passive when it comes to sins and things that are wrong and that's the Lord Jesus Christ, there's a side of him that you don't hear much of, it's not brought out in too many thoughts about our Savior, the shepherd, the one that heals the sick and takes care of the kids and bring them unto me, suffer the little children, he didn't put up with sinners and grown men that were violating his father's house and he says this in verse 13, it is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer, that's my house, the scripture is referring to God's house, now look at, let's see, what chapter is that, do I have it written down, yeah, 23, chapter 23 and just a little bit later, a few days later, that's the last time he's going to refer to the temple as God's house, notice this, in verse 37, he's in Jerusalem now, he's in the city where they're going to kill him and in verse 37, he's lamenting, he's saying, oh Jerusalem,

[18:02] Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not, now verse 38, behold, your house is left unto you desolate, I'm gone, God's gone and when Christ dies, that veil is rent from top to bottom, there's no more presence of God anywhere in the, nearby, verse 39, but it'll be back, for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, now they just said that but they're going to say that in the future when he returns the second coming and so their house now, it's not God's house anymore, it's their house because God's done with them and it's moving all things forward to the crucifixion and they're going to pay, so verse, back in Matthew 21, verse 13, he calls it

[19:04] God's house still and then he does something in verse 14 and verse 15, it says that and the blind and the lame came to him in the temple and he healed them, naturally, it's what he's been doing for years and when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did and notice this, the children crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were sore displeased, now let me say this first, where'd the children get the idea to cry out Hosanna to the son of David, you think they knew the scriptures, you think they understood the fulfillment, no, they didn't understand anything, you know where they got it?

[19:44] From their parents, they saw it from the adults and they're mimicking them, this is good, praising the Lord is good, praising glorify this man's good, you know what that means? Parents, your kids need to see you doing that, they need to hear you praising the Lord and lifting him up and they'll learn how to do it themselves and the Pharisees didn't like that for a minute, these men, the chief priests and scribes heard the kids like, what?

[20:11] These kids? They need to keep their mouth shut, they don't know what they're talking about, they learned this from these people, look how this is indoctrinating them, well they were right, in verse 16, they said unto him, hearest thou what these say?

[20:26] Implying that this is wrong, do you realize that they're worshipping you as the anointed one, the king of Israel, the one that the prophets wrote about, do you hear that?

[20:37] You're going to let this, they're implying that you're not the one and you know you're not, you're just the carpenter's son and you've deceived the common people and you're guilty and you're going to let this go but Christ says his response is yay, yeah, I hear what they say and they're right and it's not a problem at all, so what?

[20:59] Here's what he says in verse 16, yay, have you never read? Is that the first time he said that to these men? Not in this study of Matthew, it's not.

[21:11] It's at least the third time I feel that we've hit this. Have you never read? He takes them to the scripture and says, don't you know what the Bible says about this? No, they don't.

[21:22] Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise. That's a question to them. Haven't you ever read that? Psalm chapter 8, verse 2, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise.

[21:35] These kids are shouting out. They're perfecting the praises of the Messiah and you folks, you chief priests have no idea what's going on.

[21:46] It's a slap in the face to them because they think that these common people are ignorant. They think they're the scribes. They're the teachers of the scriptures and Christ is like, they're fulfilling the scriptures.

[21:59] They're obeying the scriptures and you don't even know what's going on. What a slap in the face it was to them. Verse 17, and he left them and went out of the city into Bethany and he lodged there.

[22:10] So that's roughly, I think, about two miles outside of Jerusalem to the east. And so he gets out of town a little bit and gets away from the tumult.

[22:21] And in verse 18, now in the morning as he returned in the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it and found nothing thereon but leaves only and said unto it, let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever.

[22:36] Presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled saying, how soon is a fig tree withered away? Now Christ is hungry, verse 18. He sees what should be a source of food for him.

[22:50] It's got leaves. So it looks like it's a mature tree. It ought to have fruit, boasting itself of its leaves and its fullness as so much so that he goes out of his way to it.

[23:04] He saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it. So he's hungry and he wants to get a bite and he found nothing thereon but leaves only. And so he curses the thing.

[23:16] The picture here is it's easy to find in the word of God that a fig tree represents the nation of Israel. And if you want, I'm not going to turn you there but it's in Hosea 9, it's in Jeremiah 24, it's in Luke 13.

[23:31] Here's one verse that's close by. Look at Matthew 24. Matthew 24, verse 32. It's a parable of the fig tree.

[23:48] And in Matthew 24, he's foretelling the events surrounding the tribulation and his second coming and in the middle of this, he tells a parable about a fig tree.

[23:59] It's not random. It's not just like, oh, by the way, there's an apple tree over there, let me talk about it. He's telling a tale about the nation. In verse 32, now learn a parable of the fig tree when his branch is young and tender and put forth leaves.

[24:13] You know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, that's written about earlier in the passage, all these things, know that it is near even at the doors.

[24:25] Verily I say unto you, this generation, that's Israel, shall not pass to all these things be fulfilled. And so this fig tree is connected to and represents in many cases Israel and then putting forth their leaves of their self-righteousness.

[24:40] But when God comes looking for fruit, there is none. And in Luke 13, it's where he comes looking and he comes looking and he comes looking and he says, cast it down. And the three times represent the three years of Christ's ministry.

[24:53] And he says, let me dig about it and dung it and we'll try to get something out of it. And so he lets it go one more time, picturing that next phase and into the early book of Acts where he tries to see some fruit out of Israel and he finds none.

[25:07] So, the fig tree, a picture there of the nation of Israel not bringing forth fruit and you want some spiritual application. It's pretty easy.

[25:19] Man is likened to tree all through this book. From cover to cover, man is likened to a tree. And the good one is the one that's, he shall be like a tree planted by the river and he's going to bring forth his fruit in his season.

[25:33] That's what God wants to see, not leaves. God's never interested in just the show of I'm big and I'm strong and I'm mature. God wants to see fruit.

[25:44] He wants to see the fruit of the spirit coming out of one of his. And if not, in this case, he curses it saying, let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And so the fig tree withers away so much so that the disciples see it and they're just like, whoa.

[26:01] I mean, I guess everything surprises them because they're men and they walk by sight and they lack faith. But they've seen a lot of stuff up to this point, right? They've seen blind men receive sight.

[26:13] They've even had their hands do miraculous things by the power of God themselves. But for them to be just, their jaws drop every time Christ does something, it's kind of cool.

[26:23] So in verse 21, Jesus answered and said unto them, in reference to their awe of his power and what happened right there in front of them, this miracle, he answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done.

[26:50] And all things whatsoever ye shall ask and pray are believing, ye shall receive. Now we have to notice this. Your Bible helps us with this. Verse number 21, Verily I say unto you, if ye, who is he talking to?

[27:07] Who is the antecedent, or the, is that right? The antecedent of those pronouns. Verse 20, And when the disciples saw it, they marveled.

[27:17] And Jesus said unto them, So the promise of being able to do these things in faith, these miraculous feats, and whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive, is to the disciples.

[27:32] Of verse 20. Look back at chapter 10, and let's have a quick reminder about the disciples. It's so common for people to love these verses and these words and try to apply them to themselves and say, I can have anything I want if I'll claim it in faith.

[27:50] Well, these disciples are some special men that have been handpicked by Christ. And they were picked for a purpose, and they have a future with Jesus Christ as well.

[28:01] In verse number 1, when he had called unto him his 12 disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sicknesses and manner of disease.

[28:16] And then found in verse number 8, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. So those are the men that he empowered with literal physical power over diseases to overcome them, to with their own hands or words or whatever the case in prayer asking God perhaps with their hand on that diseased person, that blind person, that person with the devil, raise the dead?

[28:45] Is that what he told them to do when he sent them out? Hey, raise the dead. Really? I don't see anybody doing that today. I don't see anybody claiming to do that today. That's one they just kind of omitted while they're having their healing services.

[29:00] If they really got the power of God and they really have the signs and gifts and wonders of God and the ability to do this and that this promise in chapter 21 is for them to call on today, why aren't they raising the dead?

[29:13] Because they can't. That's why. You know that. But understand that this promise is to the disciples of Jesus Christ, the Jewish disciples, and it's always in connection with this kingdom of heaven.

[29:26] And the signs accompany the kingdom. They accompany the preaching. In chapter 10, we could have seen it again. They accompany the preaching that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so that's a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophets.

[29:39] All right, verse 23. And when he was coming to the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching. And they just interrupt him and said, By what authority doest thou these things?

[29:54] And who gave thee this authority? Now these men, as always, they're not concerned with the truth. They're not concerned with the evidence and with the proof that he is doing what he's doing, that it's real.

[30:08] Elsewhere, they accused him of being of the devil and that by Beelzebub, you're casting out devils, by the prince of the devils. And they refused to believe on him. And he's already spoken plainly about this very topic.

[30:22] Already dealt with this. But here they come again, by what authority? And so he answers a fool according to their folly. And in verse 24, Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I will likewise, or I in likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

[30:42] And so here comes this question. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will say unto us, why did ye not then believe on him?

[30:55] But if we say of men, we fear the people, for I'll hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

[31:10] Now this is, he puts them in a catch-22 here. He evades their question and sets a trap for them and kind of puts the, you know, the spotlight on them, really puts them to sign.

[31:21] He outwits them again. It was a great thing, but it shows you something about these men is that they're always concerned about how it looks for them.

[31:32] That's the bottom line with them. They sound like a politician today. The motivation for everything that they do and say is what's the public opinion going to be?

[31:43] How is this going to affect my image? If we say it's a heaven, well, they're going to get mad. But if we say it's a, oh man, what are we going to do? He got us.

[31:53] I can't tell you. So they just back out. And it's a good thing they did because for their sake. But they're concerned about their position, their prestige, and just protecting themselves.

[32:09] But if you want the truth from God, then the way to do it is to come with an open heart and transparency and take what he gives you. And if you're guilty, you're guilty.

[32:20] If you're not, you're not. And just let God be true. And these men, they had something, they put themselves above God. And so God put them, Christ put them in their place there.

[32:31] And that's a pretty cool thing. Now he's not done with them here. And we'll finish with this here in verse, neither, in verse 27, he ends by saying, neither I tell I you by what authority I do these things.

[32:41] He says, but what think ye? He's not going to let them go. He's like, let's talk about something for a minute. What do you think about this? And he says, what think ye? A certain man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, son, go work today in my vineyard.

[32:55] And he answered and said, I will not. But afterward, he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir. And went not. Whether the twain did the will of his father, they said unto him, the first, obviously the first.

[33:11] Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you, who? Chief priests, scribes, verily I say unto you, I lost my place, that publicans, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

[33:30] For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not. So he goes back to John. He was from heaven. You believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him.

[33:42] And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterwards, that ye might believe him. And they are guilty. And he's not done.

[33:52] We're going to stop. But he goes on, hear another parable. And this second parable is going to be adding insult to injury above. Because now this one's going to say, you're the ones guilty of eventually murdering me.

[34:07] But you're the ones guilty of rejecting everything that God does toward this nation. You have no interest in it. And they think they're the right ones. They're so deceived about themselves.

[34:19] And Christ just doesn't have a problem just putting it right in their face, putting it right back on them, letting them know you're the ones that are the problems. And so there's some sinners in this parable that repented and they received the word of God.

[34:33] But those Jewish leaders, those ones that have been around for a long time and have made their way up and they're established and they've got the leaves because they look to be the mature ones and the ones that could stand and know the truth, they're the ones that got the problem.

[34:50] They're the ones that aren't receiving the Lord. But these pitiful publicans, these dirty harlots, they'll repent. They'll get right.

[35:01] They'll recognize the work of God and they want it. And so the Jewish leaders are hypocrites and they make this profession saying, I go, but they're not obedient and they're guilty and it's going to come down on their heads in the future.

[35:16] We'll have to pick it up next week in verse 33 and seeing that another parable aimed at Israel and it's a very telling one of that nation and of their guilt and he's dealing with a nation.

[35:28] Again, you can see that in verse 43. And so we'll come into that next week, Lord willing, and continue moving through the book. So let's take a break. da t do t t T