1740 | Matthew 20:24
24 When the ten heard about this, they were in dig nant t with the two broth ers. 25 Jesus called them to gether and said,“ You know that the rul ers of the Gen tiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. In stead, who ever wants to be come great among you must be your ser vant, u 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man v did not come to be served, but to serve, w and to give his life as a ran som x for many.”
Two Blind Men Receive Sight
20:29-34pp— Mk 10:46-52; Lk 18:35-43
29 As Jesus and his dis ci ples were leav ing Jer i cho, a large crowd fol lowed him. 30 Two blind men were sit ting by the road side, and when they heard that Jesus was go ing by, they shouted,“ Lord, Son of Da vid, y have mercy on us!”
31 The crowd re buked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder,
“ Lord, Son of Da vid, have mercy on us!” 32 Jesus stopped and called them.“ What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. 33“ Lord,” they an swered,“ we want our sight.” 34 Jesus had com pas sion on them and touched their eyes. Im me di ately they re ceived their sight and followed him.
20:24 t Lk 22:24, 25
20:26 u Mt 23:11; Mk 9:35
20:28 v Mt 8:20 w Lk 22:27; Jn 13:13-16;
2Co 8:9; Php 2:7 x Isa 53:10; Mt 26:28;
1Ti 2:6; Titus 2:14; Heb 9:28; 1Pe 1:18, 19
20:30 y Mt 9:27
21:1 z Mt 24:3; 26:30; Mk 14:26; Lk 19:37; 21:37; 22:39; Jn 8:1; Ac 1:12
21:5 a Isa 62:11; Zec 9:9
21:8 b 2Ki 9:13
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
21:1-9pp— Mk 11:1-10; Lk 19:29-38 21:4-9pp— Jn 12:12-15
21 As they ap proached Je ru sa lem and came to Beth phage on the Mount of Ol ives, z Jesus
sent two disciples, 2 say ing to them,“ Go to the vil lage ahead of you, and at once you will find a don key tied there, with her colt by her. Un tie them and bring them to me. 3 If any one says any thing to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to ful fill what was spo ken through the prophet:
5“ Say to Daughter Zion,‘ See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” a a
6 The dis ci ples went and did as Jesus had in structed them. 7 They brought the don key and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks b on the road, while oth ers cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that fol lowed shouted,
a 5 Zech. 9:9
20:24 indignant. The response of the other ten disciples, not because they are more virtuous, but because they would just as much like to hold such supposed places of honor. 20:25 – 27 Jesus’ reign, however, is an upsidedown kingdom. Self-serving rule characterizes pagan kingdoms, but God’ s people should exemplify“ servant”— even“ slave”— leadership. To follow Christ means to die to self. 20:28 Jesus’ own mission was self-giving, not self-serving, as he came to die for the sins of humanity. ransom. The price paid to secure a slave’ s freedom. At the Passover( Exod 11 – 13) a ransom was paid to rescue the firstborn Israelites. for many. Probably alludes to Isa 53:12. for. Greek anti is a comparatively rare preposition that means“ in the place of” or“ in exchange for.” This succinctly articulates the doctrine of the representative, substitutionary, atoning death of Jesus. 20:29 – 34 Matthew mentions two blind men, but Mark mentions only one blind man: Bartimaeus( Mark 10:46). But see note on Matt 8:28 – 34. This is the last miracle of healing Jesus performs during his earthly life. It closely resembles 9:27 – 31. 20:29 Jericho. Near the Jordan River, east of Jerusalem, just slightly removed from the site of the OT town with the same name. From there Jesus and his disciples would make their ascent to the holy city as the last leg of the journey begun in 19:1. 20:30,31 Lord, Son of David. See note on 15:22. 20:33 we want our sight. The kind of“ mercy”( v. 31) the blind men desire is now specified. Many might have asked just for money( cf. Acts 3:3). Matthew does not normally state explicitly that“ Jesus had compassion”( v. 34) for a sick person’ s malady; perhaps these men were in very dire need.
21:1— 22:46 The so-called Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem( 21:1 – 11) takes Jesus to the political, economic, and religious heart of first-century Judaism: the temple, where his protest( 21:12 – 13), just like his subsequent curse on the fig tree( 21:18 – 22), symbolizes the building’ s coming destruction. The temple authorities naturally ask Jesus by what authority he can cause such a disruption in its precincts( 21:23 – 27). Although he does not answer directly, the subsequent triad of parables presents God’ s indictment on Israel’ s current leaders( 21:28 – 32), followed by their sentence( 21:33 – 46) and execution( 22:1 – 14). Jesus then avoids a series of questions designed to trap him( 22:15 – 40), after which he poses a question that his audience cannot answer( 22:41 – 46).
21:1 – 11 To show he is the Messiah, Jesus deliberately fulfills the direct, predictive prophecy of Zech 9:9 by commandeering a donkey to ride as he enters the holy city. 21:1 Bethphage. A small village close to Bethany on the slopes of the Mount of Olives east / southeast of Jerusalem by perhaps less than a mile. 21:2 – 3 Jesus’ instructions could reflect his special insight into people’ s thoughts or be a prearranged signal with a friend to avoid premature attention to his behavior. 21:5 gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Some have thought that Matthew misread the parallelism of the prophecy and therefore invented an absurd scene in which Jesus straddles two animals( v. 7). But verses 2 and 7 say there were two animals. A previously unridden“ colt”( Mark 11:2) would not be ridden easily without its mother present, making Matthew think of the prophecy of Zech 9:9. 21:7 cloaks. Were draped on both animals, but Jesus probably sat only on the colt. 21:8 – 11 The entire scene recalls the welcoming of Israelite kings in earlier days, especially with the strewing of palm branches( John 12:13). The accolades come from Ps 118:25 – 26. Hosanna. Means“ God, save [ us ].” But those