Crowds, Chaos, and a Question: Who Is Jesus?
Before we dive into this week's passage, it helps to know the background of the whole situation...
We are standing in the most crowded, tense, and holy place in the world. This is during the most crowded, tense, and holy week of the year.
It is Passover in Jerusalem. The city has swelled with pilgrims, maybe several times its normal size. Families have traveled for days to remember how God rescued Israel from Egypt. Roman soldiers are on high alert, because big crowds celebrating freedom from a foreign empire tend to make empires in charge nervous.
Into all of this, Jesus rides in on a donkey. The crowds shout "Hosanna," which is a Hebrew cry meaning something like "Save us now!" Palm branches, cloaks on the road, the whole city is stirred up. Then Jesus goes straight into the temple and turns over the tables of the money changers. Matthew tells us the blind and the lame come to him there, and he heals them, while children run around shouting praises. The religious leaders are, to put it mildly, not amused.
The next morning, Jesus curses a fig tree on the way back into town. Then he walks right back into the temple courts and starts teaching. That is where our passage begins.
The temple itself is worth a moment. Herod the Great had spent decades expanding it into one of the wonders of the ancient world. White stone, gold trim, massive courtyards. It was the center of Israel's worship, economy, and national identity. For centuries the temple was understood as the place where heaven and earth overlap, where God's presence dwells among the people. So, when someone causes a scene, it is not a small incident. It is like causing trouble in Gods’ living room.
Waiting for Jesus are the chief priests and the elders. The chief priests were the top of the temple leadership, mostly from wealthy, powerful families who managed the temple and kept the peace with Rome. The elders, presbyteroi in Greek, were respected leaders from Israel's leading families. Together they held most of the power. And they want to know one thing: "By what authority are you doing these things?"
That word authority is exousia. It combines ex (out of) and ousia (being). It is the idea of power that comes out of who you are. In a world where authority came from your family, your title, or your approval from Rome, a traveling teacher from Galilee with none of those was a genuine puzzle.
Jesus responds by bringing up his cousin John the Baptist.
John had been a sensation. Thousands went out to the Jordan River to hear him, and people from every corner of society showed up, including tax collectors and prostitutes. Tax collectors were Jewish men who worked for Rome and often skimmed extra for themselves, which made them about as popular as a pothole. These were the people respectable folks kept at arm's length. By this point, John had been executed by Herod Antipas, but the people still considered him a prophet. The leaders know it, and that makes Jesus' question very uncomfortable for them.
Then Jesus tells a short story about a father, two sons, and a vineyard. For anyone who knew the Hebrew Scriptures, a vineyard was never just a vineyard. In Isaiah 5 and elsewhere, the vineyard is a picture of God's people. Jesus is drawing on a very old image in a very charged setting.
And here is one more piece of context to keep in mind. This story is the first of three parables Jesus tells in a row to these same leaders. Matthew is building something, and this week is only the first brick.
So, this week, try reading Matthew 21 from the beginning. Picture the crowds, the tables, the stone courtyards, and the leaders waiting with their arms crossed. Then we will step into the story together on Sunday.
We are standing in the most crowded, tense, and holy place in the world. This is during the most crowded, tense, and holy week of the year.
It is Passover in Jerusalem. The city has swelled with pilgrims, maybe several times its normal size. Families have traveled for days to remember how God rescued Israel from Egypt. Roman soldiers are on high alert, because big crowds celebrating freedom from a foreign empire tend to make empires in charge nervous.
Into all of this, Jesus rides in on a donkey. The crowds shout "Hosanna," which is a Hebrew cry meaning something like "Save us now!" Palm branches, cloaks on the road, the whole city is stirred up. Then Jesus goes straight into the temple and turns over the tables of the money changers. Matthew tells us the blind and the lame come to him there, and he heals them, while children run around shouting praises. The religious leaders are, to put it mildly, not amused.
The next morning, Jesus curses a fig tree on the way back into town. Then he walks right back into the temple courts and starts teaching. That is where our passage begins.
The temple itself is worth a moment. Herod the Great had spent decades expanding it into one of the wonders of the ancient world. White stone, gold trim, massive courtyards. It was the center of Israel's worship, economy, and national identity. For centuries the temple was understood as the place where heaven and earth overlap, where God's presence dwells among the people. So, when someone causes a scene, it is not a small incident. It is like causing trouble in Gods’ living room.
Waiting for Jesus are the chief priests and the elders. The chief priests were the top of the temple leadership, mostly from wealthy, powerful families who managed the temple and kept the peace with Rome. The elders, presbyteroi in Greek, were respected leaders from Israel's leading families. Together they held most of the power. And they want to know one thing: "By what authority are you doing these things?"
That word authority is exousia. It combines ex (out of) and ousia (being). It is the idea of power that comes out of who you are. In a world where authority came from your family, your title, or your approval from Rome, a traveling teacher from Galilee with none of those was a genuine puzzle.
Jesus responds by bringing up his cousin John the Baptist.
John had been a sensation. Thousands went out to the Jordan River to hear him, and people from every corner of society showed up, including tax collectors and prostitutes. Tax collectors were Jewish men who worked for Rome and often skimmed extra for themselves, which made them about as popular as a pothole. These were the people respectable folks kept at arm's length. By this point, John had been executed by Herod Antipas, but the people still considered him a prophet. The leaders know it, and that makes Jesus' question very uncomfortable for them.
Then Jesus tells a short story about a father, two sons, and a vineyard. For anyone who knew the Hebrew Scriptures, a vineyard was never just a vineyard. In Isaiah 5 and elsewhere, the vineyard is a picture of God's people. Jesus is drawing on a very old image in a very charged setting.
And here is one more piece of context to keep in mind. This story is the first of three parables Jesus tells in a row to these same leaders. Matthew is building something, and this week is only the first brick.
So, this week, try reading Matthew 21 from the beginning. Picture the crowds, the tables, the stone courtyards, and the leaders waiting with their arms crossed. Then we will step into the story together on Sunday.
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