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Matthew 21 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00Matthew chapter 21 [music]
0:01verse 1.
0:03When they had approached Jerusalem and
0:06had come to [music] Bethage at the Mount
0:08of Olives, then Jesus sent two [music]
0:11disciples, saying to them, "Go into the
0:14village opposite you, and immediately
0:16you will find a donkey tied there and a
0:19colt with her. Untie them and [music]
0:21bring them to me. If anyone says
0:24anything to you, you shall say,"The Lord
0:27has need of them." and immediately
0:30[music] he will send them. This took
0:33place to fulfill what was spoken through
0:35the prophet. Say to the daughter of
0:37Zion, "Behold, your king is coming to
0:40you, gentle and mounted on a donkey,
0:44even a colt, the full of a beast of
0:47burden."
0:48The disciples went and did just as Jesus
0:51had [music] instructed them and brought
0:53the donkey and the colt and laid their
0:56coats on them. And he sat on the coats.
1:00Most of the crowd spread their coats in
1:03the road and others were cutting
1:05branches from the trees and spreading
1:07them in the road. The crowds going ahead
1:10of him and those who followed were
1:12shouting, "Hosana to the son of David.
1:17Blessed is he who comes in the name of
1:19the Lord.
1:21Hosana in the highest. When he had
1:24entered Jerusalem, all the city was
1:26stirred saying, "Who is this?"
1:29And the crowds were saying, "This is the
1:32prophet Jesus from Nazareth in [music]
1:35Galilee."
1:36The scene here is full of symbolism.
1:40This is [music] the moment that people
1:42have been waiting for where Jesus is
1:44going to come into Jerusalem and take
1:45his place as the conqueror, as the hero,
1:48as the Messiah, but they're expecting
1:51the political savior. And instead of
1:54coming in on a white horse with all the
1:57heroism and bravado, he comes in the
2:00most humble, abased manner possible. He
2:03rides in on the f of a donkey and they
2:07lay their cloaks before him. But he's
2:10coming in meek and lowly and gentle.
2:12[music]
2:14So it's very different than what they
2:16would have been hoping for. It does not
2:18feel like a threat to Rome. But they're
2:21crying out, "Hosana to the son of David.
2:26Blessed is he who comes in the name of
2:28the Lord. Hosana in the highest." And
2:32hosana means save. Now it's a plea. It's
2:37a prayer. You've come at the right time.
2:40This is the moment. Save now. And this
2:43is Jerusalem's
2:45um temperature. This is Jerusalem's
2:47environment in this moment. We need
2:50help. We need salvation. And this is the
2:53one who comes in the name of the Lord.
2:55And Jesus entered the temple and drove
2:58out all those who were buying and
3:01selling in the temple and overturn the
3:04tables of the money changers and the
3:06seats of those who were selling doves.
3:09So they expect him to come as a
3:12conqueror and drive out Rome. Instead he
3:16comes and goes into the temple and
3:18drives out sin. He drives out
3:21worldliness. He drives out economic
3:25pursuit that has taken the place of
3:27worship. And he said to them, "It is
3:30written, my [clears throat] house shall
3:32be called a house of prayer, but you are
3:35making it a robber's den."
3:38And the blind and the lame came to him
3:40in the temple, and he healed them. But
3:43when the chief priests and scribes saw
3:45the wonderful things that he had done,
3:48and the children who were shouting in
3:50the temple, hosana to the son of David,
3:53they became indignant and said to him,
3:57"Do you hear what these children are
4:00saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes,
4:04have you never read? Out of the mouths
4:06of infants and nursing babies, you have
4:08perfected praise for yourself.
4:14And he left them and went out of the
4:15city to Bethany and spent the night
4:18there.
4:19Matthew tells us that he goes into the
4:21temple, turns over tables, chases out
4:25the money changers, and is cleansing the
4:28temple. But he says that when the chief
4:31priest came and saw the wonderful things
4:33that he had done, they were not happy.
4:36Matthew thought it was wonderful. The
4:38chief priests, we can safely say, did
4:40not agree. And so they're offended and
4:44they are specifically offended that
4:47these children would be shouting, "Save
4:50now, son of David. Hosanna, save now."
4:54And Jesus says, "This is God perfecting
4:56or preparing praise for himself.
5:00Now in the morning the next day, when he
5:03was returning to the city, he became
5:05hungry.
5:07Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he
5:11came to it and found nothing on it
5:13except leaves only. And he said to it,
5:17"No longer shall there ever be any fruit
5:20from you." And at once the fig tree
5:22withered.
5:24Seeing this, the disciples were amazed
5:26and asked, "How did the fig tree wither
5:30all at once?"
5:32And Jesus answered and said to them,
5:34"Truly I say to you, if you have faith
5:37and do not doubt, you will not only do
5:40what was done to the fig tree, but even
5:43if you say to this mountain, "Be taken
5:46up and cast into the sea," it will
5:48happen. And all things you ask in
5:51prayer, believing, you will receive.
5:55So Jesus is going into the temple on the
5:58first day and he's cleansing it. And the
6:02chief priests are offended. They are
6:04rejecting his authority. He goes and
6:06sleeps at at Bethany. And then he comes
6:11back the next morning. And on his way in
6:14to confront the religious system a
6:17second time, he encounters a fig tree.
6:21And this whole miracle with the fig tree
6:24is a parable of what is going on with
6:28the religious community of his day. The
6:31religious Jews were typified by Isaiah
6:36as the fig tree. So it's very meaningful
6:40that he encounters a fig tree, not an
6:43olive tree, a fig tree on his way into
6:46the temple. and he comes to it trying to
6:51see if it has any fruit.
6:54Matthew says it does not have fruit, but
6:56it's covered with leaves.
6:59So, it's a showy tree. It's a tree full
7:02of appearances.
7:04It's a tree that looks good and draws
7:06you close to it, but it has no life.
7:10Nobody is going to eat from it and find
7:12energy and life and strength for the
7:15day. So, it is a bad tree that is not
7:19bearing good fruit. And so, he curses
7:23it. He does not curse it because he's in
7:28a bad mood without breakfast that
7:30morning. He curses it because he's it's
7:34representing He curses it because it
7:37represents the Jewish system that is
7:39[clears throat] rejecting him that is
7:41full of appearances, full of externals
7:44but has no life. Life from God. Okay?
7:50And he says, "No one will ever eat fruit
7:52from you again." And that's a statement
7:54that applies to the Jewish community,
7:57the religious community that is about to
7:59reject him. You are never going to be
8:01the source of God's lifegiving grace to
8:05the nations again. God is changing that.
8:08It's going to be something else. And let
8:11me just say, he tells the disciples that
8:15if they have faith in God, they will be
8:17able to speak to this fig tree and this
8:21mountain. He doesn't say to any old
8:23mountain that you don't like, but this
8:26mountain. And the only mountain right in
8:28front of them was the Temple Mount. That
8:31was the mount they were climbing up on.
8:34And he was saying to them, "You look at
8:36this religious system today and it looks
8:40it looks permanent. It looks thousands
8:42of years old. It looks like it's going
8:45to persecute you and cause you to be put
8:47to death." And it is. But you're going
8:50to speak words to this fig tree of dead
8:54religiosity. And you're going to speak
8:56words to this mountain of rebellion
8:58against God. And you're going to move it
9:00into the sea. It's going to be taken
9:03away. You're going to speak words that
9:05are going to set in motion the very
9:08removal of this whole system that
9:11started as the work of God, but has now
9:14become its opposition
9:17when he entered the temple. So now we're
9:19going to see him interacting again with
9:22the same religious system that the tree
9:24and the mountain represent. When he
9:27entered the temple, the chief priests
9:29and the elders of the people came to him
9:31while he was teaching and said, "By what
9:34authority are you doing these things?
9:37And who gave you this authority?"
9:40There are two questions here. We don't
9:43know what kind of authority this is
9:46because we are used to the authority of
9:48compulsion. We threaten people with
9:51violence.
9:52But you have this incredible impact on
9:55the people and yet you don't have any
9:57violent authority. So what by what
9:59authority do you do these things? And
10:02who gave it to you? Where did it come
10:03from?
10:06Jesus answered and said to them, "I will
10:09ask you one thing, which if you tell me,
10:12I will also tell you by what authority I
10:14do these things."
10:17The baptism of John was from what
10:19source? From heaven or from men?
10:25And they began reasoning among
10:26themselves, saying, "If we say from
10:28heaven, he will say to us, then why did
10:31you not believe him?" [clears throat]
10:34If we say from men, we fear the people,
10:38for they all regard John as a prophet.
10:41And answering Jesus, they said, "We do
10:43not know."
10:45He also said to them, "Neither will I
10:48tell you by what authority I do these
10:50things." So it is not a coincidence
10:54that when they begin to reject his
10:57authority, he asks them about John.
11:00Because you remember that in Matthew's
11:03telling,
11:05all of Judea was going out to be
11:07baptized by John and they were repenting
11:10and confessing their sins. But Matthew
11:14records that when the Pharisees and the
11:17religious came out to be baptized by
11:19John, John said something very specific
11:21to them. Remember what he said? He said,
11:25"You brood of vipers,
11:27who warned you to flee the wrath to
11:30come?
11:31You go, listen to this, bear fruits in
11:36keeping with repentance." Why? Because
11:40the axe is laid at the root of the tree.
11:43And every tree that does not bear fruit
11:45is cut down and thrown into the fire and
11:48burned.
11:49So John told them using the metaphor of
11:53a tree, you better get rid of your
11:56appearances and you better start bearing
11:59fruit of repentance
12:02because there's an axe that's about to
12:04go through the root of your whole
12:06system.
12:07Now Jesus on that same morning, the
12:11first time he ever brings up John in the
12:13temple,
12:15he asks them, "Was John's ministry of
12:18God or of man?" Because if it had been
12:20of God, you would have gone and borne
12:22fruits of repentance. And that
12:25repentance would have removed you from
12:28the center and throne of your authority.
12:31And you would recognize the authority
12:33that I am coming in. you would be the
12:36sheep who hear God's voice and follow
12:38him because he's not a stranger to you.
12:42But the fact that you don't recognize my
12:44authority, he's saying, is evidence that
12:46you haven't come to repentance. That the
12:49only authority you recognize is your
12:51own. And that is the essence of
12:53repentance is to take self and self-will
12:57off the throne of our lives. So when
12:59they can't recognize the work of God, he
13:02asks them about John's baptism,
13:06about John's message, because that
13:08message would have put fruit on the fig
13:10tree,
13:12the fruit of repentance.
13:14And they they say to they say to
13:16themselves, if we say this, he'll say,
13:19why didn't you obey? If we say this, the
13:23people may stone us, so we'll lie. It
13:26never occurs to them to speak the truth.
13:29It's all just manipulation.
13:31It's all just appearances. It's all just
13:34a fig tree covered with leaves and no
13:37life and no fruit in it. And that's
13:40what's being cursed.
13:42Jesus is the axe. Jesus is the word of
13:46truth that is cutting through a system
13:49that has replaced God with appearances.
13:54And he doesn't play their game. He tells
13:56them neither will I tell you. He doesn't
13:59say neither do I remember or neither do
14:01I know. He says neither will I tell you.
14:04Is in other words, you do know. You do
14:07have an opinion about whether John was
14:08from man or from God. But you won't own
14:11it. And that's repentance.
14:14To be able to recognize
14:16the difference between authority that is
14:18from man and authority that is from God.
14:22And if you can't do that, it's because
14:24you haven't removed the authority of
14:26self-will from the throne of your life.
14:28And the authority of man is a fig tree
14:31without fruit. Its appearances and it's
14:34going to be cut down. It's going to be
14:36cursed and thrown into the fire. But the
14:38authority that is from God, you can do
14:41nothing against it.
14:44So then Jesus begins to minister to this
14:48sin
14:50in the Pharisees and the rulers of the
14:52temple.
14:54He says, "But what do you think? A man
14:57had two sons. And he came to the first
15:00and said, son, go work today in the
15:04vineyard." And he answered, "I will
15:08not."
15:11But afterwards he regretted it and went.
15:18The man came to the second and said the
15:21same thing and he answered, "I will,
15:25sir."
15:26But he did not go.
15:29Which of the two did the will of his
15:32father?
15:34They said, "The first." Jesus said to
15:36them, "Truly I say to you that the tax
15:39collectors and prostitutes will get into
15:42the kingdom of God before you.
15:45For John came to you in the way of
15:48righteousness, and you did not believe
15:51him." But the tax collectors and
15:54prostitutes did believe him. And you
15:57seeing this did not even feel remorse
16:00afterward so as to believe him.
16:03[clears throat]
16:04So in this parable we have two kinds of
16:07people. One starts off with bad
16:11appearances
16:13but acts in obedient faith and does the
16:17will of the father. The other is really
16:20big on appearances. I will sir. He's
16:24there. He's very mannerly. He's
16:26externally very polite.
16:29And yet he does not do the will of his
16:32father. And Jesus is saying that the
16:35prostitutes and tax collectors are the
16:38coarse disrespectful son who at first
16:41say no to God and have bad appearances
16:44but in the end they walk in the steps of
16:47obedient faith. But the Pharisees are
16:50those who have the perfect words. I will
16:52go sir. And yet they don't actually act
16:56on the word of God. And he tells them
16:59that they should have had conviction and
17:03remorse when they saw the change that
17:06God had worked in prostitutes and tax
17:08collectors. They should have had remorse
17:10afterward and come to repentance, but
17:13they didn't. So this is what it would
17:15have looked like for them to bear the
17:17fruits of repentance. And because this
17:19didn't happen, they are the tree that is
17:23being cursed.
17:25Listen to another parable. There was a
17:27landowner who planted a vineyard and put
17:30a wall around it and dug a wine press in
17:33it and built a tower and rented it out
17:36to vine growers and went on a journey.
17:41When the harvest time approached, he
17:43sent his slaves to the vine growers to
17:45receive his produce. The vine growers
17:48took his slaves and beat one and killed
17:51another and stoned a third.
17:54Again he sent another group of slaves
17:56larger than the first and they did the
17:59same thing to them. But afterward he
18:02sent his son to them saying they will
18:05respect my son.
18:08But when the vine growers saw the son,
18:10they said amongst themselves, "This is
18:13the heir. Come, let us kill him and
18:17seize his inheritance."
18:20They took him and threw him out of the
18:22vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when
18:25the owner of the vineyard comes, what
18:28will he do to those vine growers? They
18:31said to him, "He will bring those
18:33wretches to a wretched end and will rent
18:36out the vineyard to other vine growers
18:39who will pay him the proceeds at the
18:41proper season."
18:44In this equation,
18:46the vineyard is the people of God.
18:49Israel is the vineyard of God. That's
18:52what Isaiah tells us.
18:55And the vine growers, the people
18:59watching out for it are the chief
19:01priests. They are the the the scribes.
19:04They are the Pharisees. They are the
19:06religious elite who are running the
19:09system.
19:10And the servants who are sent are the
19:13prophets.
19:15And down through the ages, God would
19:17send prophets to the priests to his
19:21religious community.
19:23But they were not willing to yield the
19:27kind of honor and the kind of acceptance
19:30and the kind of grace to the servants of
19:32God. Instead, they were jealous. Their
19:36envy for authority kept them from
19:38receiving the ones sent by God. So they
19:41would kill them. They would stone the
19:43prophets and kill those who were sent to
19:45them. So at last, John the Baptist is
19:49the last prophet who is sent to them.
19:52And then God sends his son Jesus.
19:55And this is an opportunity for them to
19:59make right what is wrong and stop doing
20:02what their fathers have done. But
20:05instead, they are jealous over Jesus's
20:08inheritance.
20:11Jesus says that the vineyard keepers
20:13kill the son because they want his
20:16inheritance.
20:19They want
20:21the people to look at them the way the
20:23people look at Jesus. They want the
20:25people to feel about them the way they
20:28feel about Jesus, but they're not
20:30willing to humble themselves and come in
20:33the grace of God and the humility of
20:35Jesus.
20:37Jesus said to them, "Did you never read
20:39the scriptures?" The stone which the
20:43builders rejected.
20:45This became the chief cornerstone.
20:48This came about from the Lord, and it is
20:50marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I say
20:54to you, the kingdom of God will be taken
20:57away from you and given to a people
21:00producing the fruit of it. Do you hear
21:03that? We're still talking about the
21:04metaphor of the fig tree and the
21:07metaphor of of repentance that John gave
21:11as a tree.
21:13And he who falls on this stone will be
21:15broken to pieces, but on whomever it
21:17falls, it will scatter him like dust.
21:22This is speaking of the diaspora. This
21:24is speaking of the scattering of Israel.
21:27When the temple is destroyed and and
21:30they are cast into the sea of the
21:32gentile nations, they are scattered like
21:35dust.
21:37When the chief priests and Pharisees
21:38heard these parables, they understood
21:41that he was speaking about them. When
21:44they sought to seize him, they feared
21:46the people because they considered him
21:49to be a prophet.
21:52He tells them, "Did you not read the
21:54scriptures?"
21:56And he quotes the scripture that says
21:58the stone that the builders rejected
22:04this became the chief cornerstone.
22:07This came about from the Lord and it is
22:10marvelous in our eyes.
22:13Okay. So this refers to the fact that
22:17when they were making a foundation in
22:19ancient times, they would build it on
22:22massive stones. But of all the
22:25foundation stones [music]
22:27there the most important was the
22:29cornerstone.
22:30It was the stone that they laid first
22:33and that all the other stones were
22:36measured against and made plum against.
22:39So there was all the stones in the
22:41foundation were critical but the chief
22:44cornerstone
22:45it was the founding stone. It was the
22:48beginning stone and it was the stone
22:49that had to be so perfect that all other
22:53measurements of the foundation and the
22:55building would be aligned and plumbed to
22:58that cornerstone. And the scripture is
23:00saying that there were architects, there
23:03were builders involved in a great
23:05project and they were looking at the
23:08stones that they could use for a
23:10foundation and they looked at one stone
23:12and said, "Oh, get rid of that. Let's
23:15reject that. that that stone's
23:16worthless.
23:18And that stone that they wanted out of
23:21the whole project that they wanted off
23:23on the side, that stone that they
23:26rejected was the one God used as the
23:29chief cornerstone, as the most important
23:32stone in the entire building. And that
23:35stone is Jesus. He has come to build a
23:39whole new house and temple. And this
23:42this house that the Pharisees are
23:44running, not one stone is going to be
23:46left upon another that will not be torn
23:48down. [music]
23:49It's over. It's rejected. It's going to
23:51be taken up and cast into the sea of the
23:54gentile nations by 70 AD because it does
23:58not know the voice of God. It does not
24:00recognize [music] the authority of the
24:03one whom the Lord sends. But that stone
24:06that they rejected, kill that stone
24:08called Jesus. That Jesus stone is going
24:11to be the first cornerstone of a whole
24:13new building. And everything that is
24:15ever done in God is going to be measured
24:18against the rock of ages, Jesus Christ.
24:23[music]

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