Matthew 21 - Withered at the Root!

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 for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus 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. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew 21: 19-22.

As Jesus prepared to enter the city of Jerusalem again, He did something very strange - He cursed a fig tree beside the road. The Bible says that He was hungry and desired to eat some of the fruit resting under the green leaves, and yet when He lifted the leaves, there was nothing there. And so He cursed the tree, declaring "No man eat from you ever again!" The tree dried up from its roots and died, astonishing the disciples.

Why would Jesus do this? It was another metaphorical, spiritual teaching that revealed a profound truth. The fig tree represented Israel, God's holy people who were to shine forth His truth to the whole world; they were the ones charged with spiritually feeding the nations around them. But sadly, like this tree, they had the green leaves, but underneath all the artifice and religious rituals, there was no fruit. None of their law keeping and religion could save people and set them free from the bondage of sin.

Jesus, acting as God, cursed that system at its root, because it bore no fruit and it never would. Sure, the system would linger for a time, just as a tree or plant will do when its root dies, but eventually destruction came. The temple system lingered from 30 AD to 70 AD, a full 40 years, before it was destroyed by the Roman armies. God judged it for its unfruitfulness and ushered in the New Covenant.

Jesus told His disciples that the things that are impossible with man are possible with God. He told them that they, likewise, could be able to speak to the mountain of persecution, oppression, and hindrance IN FAITH, and tell it to be removed, and it would come to pass as they believed. This entire teaching of the fig tree was a prophecy that the cursed temple system would be destroyed, but that before its final removal, the world/religious system would be vehemently opposed to the Gospel message. We know this is true historically, as many in Jesus' generation were martyred for their faith and suffered terrible persecutions from their fellow Jewish kinsmen and the Roman government (the Antichrist, Nero) before 70 AD.

Today, there are many Christians who suffer terribly for their faith in Jesus. But praise God, we can speak to those mountains that stand in the way of the kingdom, tell them to be removed, and they will be removed. It may take some time, but that mountain must go. All of us must stand firm and believe! Our heavenly father will show us exactly how to pray and reveal to us exactly what we are to do. He has not left us as orphans - we have His wonderful spirit living inside of us!

Matthew 21 - The Triumphal Entry

And 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. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; 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: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. Matthew 21:6-9

When Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He announced Himself as Messiah in a way that may seem very strange to us Americans living in our day and time. Instead of making some huge proclamation and stating, "I am Messiah, I am the Son of David, etc." He announced Himself in the proper Jewish way, in that He entered in fulfillment of prophecy. Israel had always been told that the true Messiah (and there were many false ones!) would come in fulfillment of what God had told the prophets of old. God always delivered His Word through the prophets and then manifestation of that Word would come later - sometimes thousands of years later, as is the case with the prophecies speaking of Jesus.

And so, as Jesus entered the city gates, He did so riding a donkey (a sign of peace), in fulfillment of Old Testament scripture. He was also proclaiming Himself as the promised Anointed One who the prophets of old said would be rejected by His people. Acting on behalf of God, He then did something that might seem strange at first, but it makes perfect sense - He went to God's house and examined what was going on there. Instead of finding a house of prayer, He saw sin, corruption, thievery, that the leaders of Israel had turned His house into a nasty, evil business! As any of us would do in seeing filth in our houses, He set out to clean His house - and if we would react with violence in seeing corruption in our houses, how much more a holy God!

Jesus took the spiritual authority He had as God in the flesh and declared judgment against that wicked generation who had forsaken their obligation to be God's representatives on the earth. They turned a blind eye to God's truth, hardened their hearts, stiffened their necks, and stopped up their ears, ignoring God's pleas for them to repent. Finally, His great patience ran out, and all was destroyed in 70AD!

Matthew 20 - The Last Shall be First!

And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. Matthew 20:11-16

Jesus' parable of the goodman of the house hiring workers to work the field at various times during the harvest period is a great explanation of how the kingdom of God is NOT like the hierarchical system we know here on earth. In this spiritual kingdom, anyone who desires to be great must be a servant to all. That flies in the face of what we are accustomed to here on this planet. Many people, even professing Christians, claim that their greatness requires others to serve and dote on them, to offer them money, gifts, special treatment and the like. There can be nothing further from the truth when it comes to God's kingdom.

Jesus is the prime example of the master, king, son, and heir being servant to all. Regardless of when one comes into the kingdom, he or she becomes a child of God with the FULL rights and authorities that come with that status - immediately! Those who have labored and done good works in this world under religious systems are upset when they hear this, because they believe their righteousness is a reward for all of their goodness. The reality is that there is no reward for goodness - only a reward for BELIEVING in the goodness that was done by Jesus on the cross.  This is a total paradigm shift from the norm under the Mosaic temple system of the Old Covenant!

Matthew 19 - The Rich Young Ruler

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19: 23-26. 

The rich, young ruler is one of my favorite Biblical characters, mainly because I so relate to his plight to DO all the "right things" in order to be righteous before God. All of us who are Type A, first-born, high achievers can relate to this fleshly desire to complete our checklist of "to dos" in order to feel good about ourselves. Many times, we look over all our accomplishments and accolades and pat ourselves on the back, convinced that God must be equally pleased with us. While it may be true that God is pleased, it certainly will NOT be because we have kept the law. On the contrary, it will be because we have BELIEVED with our hearts that Jesus was raised from the dead and CONFESSED that He is lord!

Jesus, in His compassion, did not turn this ruler away when he refused to humble himself and own up to his shortcomings. I believe this ruler was sincere in his belief that he had kept the law as best as one could keep it, and that his riches and prestige were proof of such obedience. And yet, he came to Jesus, calling Him the Good Master, inquiring as to what more must be done to gain eternal life. Jesus did not rebuke him but, instead, led him down the path of revelation - that it was his riches and worldly accolades that were the hindrance in receiving truth. By selling all of his stuff and giving away the proceeds to the poor, this man could rid himself of those worldly things that weighed him down and kept him tied to the yoke of the Law and from ACCEPTing BY FAITH the grace Jesus offered. But unfortunately, this was too much to ask, and the man went away sad.

In that wicked generation of Jesus' day, there were many like this young ruler who viewed what Jesus was offering as too great of an obstacle to overcome. Can you now see how God, through the prophet of old, defined Jesus as the capstone upon whom men stumble? There are those today who cannot accept what the Gospel offers; they, too, are unable to throw away their religion, with all of its rules, laws, and traditions, and accept the Truth of salvation solely and completely BY GRACE!

Matthew 19 - Marriage, a Picture of the Church!

And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Matthew 19:4-6

By the time we reach Matthew 19, we see a continual pattern of Jesus healing and delivering the multitudes who throng Him, the disciples being amazed at His miracles and teachings, and then the Pharisees trying to trick Him with the Law. I'm sure Jesus experienced frustration in having to deal with these stubborn, nonbelieving, religious zealots who refused to open their spiritual eyes. I know I suffer from this frustration today from the modern-day Pharisees who cross my path!

In this chapter, we see the Pharisees come to quiz Jesus on the issue of marriage and divorce. Moses allowed the Jews to divorce, but Jesus explained that God's best from the beginning of time was for marriage to be forever --  male and female would leave the families of their youth and be joined together as one unit to procreate and fill up the earth with God's holy people. Paul explains to us in his many letters that this institution of marriage is a picture of the wedding between the bridegroom, Jesus, and His bride, the church. As a wife becomes one with her husband, the church becomes one with Jesus Christ, with all the rights, privileges, power and authority of her husband. That is very good news!

Those who desire to redefine marriage are in direct contradiction to God's Word and the Gospel message. Yes, people may feel love with the opposite (or same) sex and/or experience fleshly desires that mimic love, but the divine, marital love between husband and wife is very different. It is a union that is firstly spiritual, being God ordained, and then manifested in the physical through intimate consummation and procreation.

We need to look at the Word and the Gospel message with spiritual eyes and put away the thinking of the flesh. After all, we are born again, spirit-filled children of the Most High!

Matthew 18 - The Blessing of Forgiveness!

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Matthew 18:21-22.

Jesus described this new kingdom as one where man would be forgiven by God and then he, in turn, would be able to share that same power of mercy and forgiveness to his brethren. Peter, still with an Old Covenant mindset, wondered how many times one would be required to forgive his brethren under this new paradigm, and Jesus answered 70 times 7, which was the exact number of years in Daniel's prophecy that God would deal with His people (490 years) before everlasting righteousness was ushered in. This was a spiritual clue that the end times of that old world/temple system were upon them; forgiveness in this new kingdom would be ongoing, never ending, eternal.

Forgiveness is a blessing that is available to us as new creations in Christ Jesus. With the Holy Spirit living inside us, we now have the power and authority to do that which most of us could never do in our own flesh -- forgive those who have hurt us deeply. But in this new kingdom, with the Spirit of God living in us, we now have the privilege and joy of releasing OURSELVES from the bondage of anger, bitterness, and hatred toward others. We now become truly free, which is exactly what God did with us. While we were His enemies, He obtained forgiveness for us so that there is now NOTHING separating us from His love. He holds no record of wrong against us, He does not count our sins against us, He does not want us to be even conscious of sins but to be conscious of our righteousness IN Christ. This is one of the wonderful beauties of the Gospel! Such good news!

Matthew 18 - Don't Cause the Little Ones to Stumble!

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Matthew 18:4-7

Jesus explained to His disciples that this new spiritual kingdom was one that had to be received as a little child. We as parents understand how a little child believes anything a parent will tell them. The kingdom works in like fashion - one must believe what God says about His plan for righteousness; it is a plan that comes by believing and resting in the finished work on the cross, and NOT on the works of man under the Old Covenant/temple system.

Jesus also has harsh words for those during His day who would put obstacles before God's little children who had come to believe. The Bible and history tell us that many Jewish people who came to believe in Jesus were subject to great pressure from their families, community, and the rulers of the synagogues to fall away from their faith and go back to the sacrificial system. 'Woe unto that man by whom the offenses come,' is what the Lord said. Judgment was waiting for these people in 70AD.

Today there are many who put obstacles before believers to give up on their faith and go back to religion and the world's way of doing things. All of us must stand firm under opposition and hold fast to the truth, no matter the cost!