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The According to Matthew

Lesson #25 – Ch.21

The triumphal entry – Matthew 21:1-11 The – Matthew 21:12-22 The question of ’ authority – Matthew 21:23-27 The – Matthew 21:28-32 The parable of the landowner – Matthew 21:33-46

In Matthew Ch. 21, we are entering into the last few phases of Jesus’ life. His last week will be crammed full of historical events. After His entry into until His death on Friday, He will ride into Jerusalem on a donkey as King of the Jews - preach, teach, preside over the Supper, stand trial and be condemned to death, all in one week. Before we begin this lesson, let’s invite the Lord to show us the heart of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in a fresh way. Let’s pray that we will be more aware of the servant heart of Christ, the love Jesus has for mankind, and the great mercy He holds for sinful people like those in these gospel stories and people just like you and I. Let’s not pass quickly through this familiar story without seeing the merciful, patient heart of Jesus. Hopefully, we will end this study with a fresh awareness of His great sacrifice that perpetuated our relationship with God the Father and ushers us into our future life with Him.

Invite the Holy Spirit to guide you through these historical events. The Holy Spirit is said to be our spiritual teacher, don’t forget to ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the heart of Jesus as He responds to different people groups in this chapter. Pray that He would speak something reassuring and thought provoking to your heart that would apply to your life situations today. –

Pray with me won’t you? Quiet your mind before the King of Kings. He waits to speak to you, He longs for you to know His thoughts towards you. Lord, without You I am a lonely soul. It doesn’t take long, as I live my days in my own self-sufficiency before I sense myself needing more than this world can offer. My soul is dry, empty. There isn’t much here on earth that really that gets me super excited any more. Only the love of people seems to move my heart these days. The adult toys, the vacations to exotic places, the new beautiful homes, all are sought after by most but my heart doesn’t even desire those recently. I have experienced the failed expectation of promise of contentment by those materialistic things. I understand they fail to fill my soul. So Lord – You are my portion. You are the well that joy, peace and contentment flow from. I sit here this morning and I wish to drink from your holy well, Lord. Fill me to overflowing with your peace that passes understanding. Fill my heart with joy as I count your blessings one by one. Make contentment a characteristic that is a part of who I 2 am in You. May I pursue to put all others above myself, to look for ways I can make another’s life more blessed today than before they spent time with me. Fill me so I can fill them. Adorn me so I can adorn another. May others see Jesus in me and not me. Let me give others some of YOU, so that their life is filled with hope. Amen

Now, let’s see how Jesus our Jewish King, entered into Jerusalem, the Holy City.

The triumphal entry – Matthew 21:1-11 (:1-10; :29-38; :12-15)

Read Matthew 21:1-11 We find Jesus and the disciples in , at the Mt. of Olives.

Look once again at your map of the Holy Land. You won’t see the city of Bethphage on it, but you will see . Bethphage is northwest of Bethany. It’s a little village near the .

1. Jesus called two of His disciples to Him and asked them to run an errand for Him. What were they to do? V.2 ______2. What does Mark tell us about the colt in his account of this story that Matthew didn’t mention? Mark 11:2 ______

It’s just a small notation in scripture, but isn’t it cool that it mentions that the colt had never been ridden? It was as if it were reserved just for our Lord. Most Kings would arrive in great pomp and circumstance with hundreds of uniformed soldiers marching before them. They would have arrived on a trained white stallion fitted with a splendid gold inlaid saddle and the finest riding equipment. Our Lord did not come as an earthly King. His kingdom is spiritual. Everything He did while here on earth pointed to that fact. He was a King that was about the hearts of people. Their souls are His treasures. He would never be an earthly King for the Jews. Their hopes of Him rising up as their new Jewish King and overthrowing the Roman Government would never materialize. He was a spiritual King, ushering in a spiritual kingdom. He came on a colt, not a stallion, a colt whose mother tagged along behind, but the colt had been reserved for our Lord Jesus Christ, and no one else!

3. What were the disciples to tell anyone who asked questions about what they were doing with the donkey and colt? V.3 ______

This shows that Jesus must have gained some authority among the people there.

4. How do you think Jesus knew the donkey and colt were there? 3

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We serve a God who is “omniscient”. Omniscience is the attribute by which God perfectly and eternally knows all things, past, present, and future. He knows everything about people, animals, insects, mammals - everything that has breath on this planet, all their beginnings and endings and everything in between! He knows all and knows best how to attain His desired end with everything breathing being in mind! Who else can make that claim? That is incredible – only the God of heaven knows the beginning to the end of all living things.

Moses was a man who was able to see God through various trials in his life and because he was the kind of believer that “saw through”, he experienced God’s omniscience. God provided for Moses and the children of Israel all 40 years that they were trudging through the wilderness. He knew their physical needs and planned a way to care for His people even before they set foot in the wilderness. God knew, planned and prepared for their every need. The omniscient God had already been where they were going. He knew they would need food, so He provided “manna”, He knew they would need light and direction, so He provided the “pillar of fire”. He sees what you and I need in our future also – and is providing out ahead of you this very moment so that when you arrive, a sufficient resource is there to meet that need. He is Wonderful, sweet provider of all we need!

What did the Lord do for Moses while he was in the wilderness those 40 years that proves God’s “omniscience” and His care for all His loved ones? a. Deuteronomy 2:7 - ______b. God knows of your hardship through the great wilderness times in your life, too. Not one person experiences His divine care over another. Do you believe that God plays favorites with people? ______There are no favorites with kingdom children! He loves and provides for each one of them with the same divine care and attention. Ask God to help you “see through” the heartache and pain and see the provision of God, the faithfulness of God, and the wisdom of God in your situation.

God is closest to His people when they are in a trial.

He understood this wilderness trial was not easy, and because of this; He made Himself known to them. Over and over in miraculous ways He showed up. He came with miracles of reassurance that He would provide and never leave them or forsake them. Israel made the mistake of complaining about God’s provision at times. They weren’t particularly fond of “manna”. Because of their ingratitude – they became grumblers and lost focus on the divine. 4

Ask the Lord in trying times to help you see the fullness of your life – and meditate on fullness. Turn your eyes to God, not on the unfulfilled desires, or scarcity of provision. God will provide enough to be sufficient for the day – His manna just works that way.

Can you describe something God recently did as a way to provide for you that was one of those small miracles that you knew definitely came by God’s hand? Bam! MANNA! ______c. Just as God loved Moses, He loves you. He will sustain you while you are trudging through your great wilderness and in the end… you will be able to say with conviction, “I lack nothing!” Write out Deuteronomy 1: 30-31 inserting your name every place it says “you” in these passages. ______

Jesus knew He would need a donkey and a colt for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It was one of the most important moments in the history of the church and it needed to be perfect and true to Old Testament prophecy, so He omnisciently planned for the right animal to be there! A donkey was God’s perfect choice. This was just another way Jesus proved He was God. He had dominion over every beast of the field, and so the obedient donkey was there waiting just at the precise time Jesus would need it.

5. All of this was done to fulfill prophecy and point to Jesus’ Lordship. What had the prophet of old said? Matt. 21:5 ______a. Matthew was quoting the prophecy in :9. The prophet Zechariah mentions two attributes about the Messiah that weren’t mentioned in Matthew. What are they? ______

This prophecy in Zechariah came 500 years earlier. “Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem (Israel), your King is coming to you!” They had been waiting for this for 500 years! There should have been no mistake, that this was the Messiah. Jesus’ life had proven every prophecy ever written about Him. The multitudes watched as He had performed hundreds maybe even thousands of supernatural miracles; He came in the form of a servant King not a tyrannical King. He was the Son of David, and He came humbly, riding a donkey into Jerusalem, bringing salvation to every Jew and that would claim Him as Lord.

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Even with scripture from the Old Testament, the Jews just wanted to believe their Messiah would come to rule on this earth and end the Roman occupation and Jerusalem would again be a Jewish city. They continued to look for a lion but their Savior instead came as a lamb – and many missed Him.

In 1838 Queen Victoria of England was crowned with a brilliant crown of giant rubies and sapphires surrounding a 309 carat diamond! Yep! That wasn’t a “type-o”! Her scepter was capped with an even a larger diamond. It weighed a total of 516 ½ carats! Now ladies, look at the diamonds on your hand… can you imagine a 516 ½ carat diamond ring? Wow – mind blowing right? Queen Victoria was crowned with the most costly jewels – diamonds the ordinary man or woman would never seen in this lifetime – this is what the Jews expected their Messiah to be cultured with. Jesus – the King of the Jews chose a donkey for His arrival. What a stark contrast.

Our Savior was different and even his very own best friends, the disciples who ministered with Him for three years, and saw crazy miracles performed by Him, sometimes doubted His Kingship. They often didn’t understand His ways. A lowly king and humble servant of the people was just the opposite of what they expected.

At this point in time, Jesus had a great following. I guess you could call it a following. Scripture calls them the “multitude”; at times it might have seemed more like a “mob”. Every form and type of person imaginable was in the crowd, everyone from the poor beggar, to the elite on horseback with their entourage, came into Jerusalem. The people were many, the streets were hot and dusty, gossip about this Jewish teacher was stirring and stuff was happening on every corner.

It has been estimated that at the time of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, there might have been as many as several hundred thousand people lining the streets observing His arrival.

It was the beginning of the week of Passover. Passover was celebrated once a year, and commemorated the time when God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage. Jewish pilgrims came from all over the known world to celebrate. It was a law that every adult male who lived within 20 miles of Jerusalem must come to Passover.

So the scene is set, the time is right, and King Jesus arrives triumphantly into town on His never ridden colt followed by a donkey. He comes bringing salvation in lowly attire as King of the Jews. In just a week or so, He will perform His duty of death on a Roman cross for our salvation. There will be another day – at His second coming when Jesus will come in all His majesty to set up His eternal Kingdom here on earth! But this is not that day.

6. Read Revelation 5:8-14. This describes the second coming of Christ. It is so very different than what is described here in Matthew. a. How many people were singing His praises here? Can you imagine the power of the sound of that many voices just by the amount of sheer volume? 6

______b. How many nations of people will sing His praises then? Rev. 5:13 ______c. What will every being alive sing? ______

Praise the Lord! We will all be in that crowd!!!

7. Why did the Jews have such a hard time believing in this lowly King? John 18:36 ______

God’s plan for the Messiah to come just didn’t arrive in the way everyone had expected. Because they had their own idea of the way it should be, many missed out on God’s plan and couldn’t receive through faith, His will for their life.

8. Have you ever had a scenario played out in your mind of how God is going to do something in your life and He turned a corner, maybe without your permission, and did something you had never planned for? ______Were you able to shake free from your failed expectations and follow Him? ______Share with your group.

Failed expectations are often hard to recover from. When that happens, it’s most important to have a correct and biblical foundation on God’s character. If we see God as a God who only works out what is best for us, then we can receive these disappointments, pray through them and go on, knowing God is going to do something of greater eternal value through it. We can stand on our foundation of trust. The question then becomes, “What do we believe about God?” If we doubt God’s goodness and love, we will have a harder time accepting circumstances that God allows but something we wouldn’t have chosen for ourselves. If, on the other hand, we believe God at His Word, that “All things work together for good, to those that love God and are called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28) then, we will be able to continue on in faith, believing He will honor that promise to us. There will be good out of that trial – something of eternal value that is priceless.

Let’s review some scriptures about the goodness of God. Remember these when you are tempted to doubt and question, “Why?” in your life’s trials and difficult circumstances.

7 a. David was able to experience the goodness of God. God delivered him out of the hands enemies like . God forgave him of the sins of murder and adultery and allowed him to continue to serve as King. God also He restored his kingdom when it was taken from him by his own son. Even though David had seasons of great failure, David saw the hand of God over and over in his life. At times, when I’m sure he believed it was the end, God became his rescuer. Remember when David’s son Absalom hated him so much he turned the people away from David and took over his own father’s kingdom? David trusting in God – let it all go. (2 Sam. Ch.15) I’m sure that was a very emotional, painful time in David’s life. (v.30) He didn’t fight for the Kingdom. He allowed God to take it and trust God would give it back if it was God’s plan. God did return the Kingdom to David in time. It was all in God’s timing and after it was all over – David’s faith had grown and the people loved David even more than they had before. David wrote a Psalm of Thanksdgiving to the Lord after that season of his life came to an end.

Read through it please… Think of yourself in David’s place. 2 Samuel Ch.22

Write out more words of David’s encouragement. Psalm 31:19-20 -

Psalm 34:8 –

What does “the tempter” want you to believe when things don’t go the way you thought they should have? Psalm 31:22

And then what is David’s plea to all Christians? Psalm 31:23 -24

How do we become convinced that God is good? By going through our own tough stuff with God and seeing Him prove Himself faithful in our own, personal lives!

Nahum 1:7 –

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9. Do you feel cut-off from the Lord? Do you feel a little out of sync with Him? Do you need Him to increase your faith, trusting that He is working on your behalf, and that He has heard your heart’s cry? Ask the Lord to make His goodness pass before you. When I doubt God that is what I do. I ask the Lord to increase my faith by reminding me of all the times He has been faithful and good to me in the past. I take a look back in my storybook of life and review! Stand on the memorials of past faithfulness for your future hope!

Moses did the same thing. He was frustrated with the people of Israel. They were still living in the wilderness where God had given them everything they needed for strength and health; food, water and divine guidance by miraculous means. But, as soon as Moses left them to go up on the mountain to pray, they rebelled and made false gods to worship. Moses disciplines Israel but begs God to have mercy on them. I’m sure as a leader, Moses was exhausted and frustrated. He was stuck out in the desert with a cantankerous bunch of rebellious, whiney, disobedient Jews! He did what we should do in that time, he asked God to please show him His goodness (glory)!! a. Read Exodus 33:18-19

God said, “I will proclaim ______before you.” (The “Living” translation reads, “I will cause all My goodness to pass before your face.”)

If you have forgotten how good He is through a very difficult season of life, come to Him in boldness and ask Him for a “pass”. Ask Him to recall His years of faithfulness to you - to pass before you. Reminders of all He has done to sustain you and your family, to provide for you, to protect you and to care graciously for you. Those memories will restore your soul and refresh your spirit.

Many Jews missed the coming of the Messiah because they were looking for something the Lord was not bringing. We may be doing the same in our life today. They had a preconceived idea of how the Deliverer would deliver them! Because they refused to acknowledge God and His ways, they were left without salvation. Don’t miss a God ordained deliverance in your life because you have a mindset that says there is only one way to fix a problem. Many times God’s answers are nothing like we expected. But God sees all and His answers are always what we would choose in the end if we could “see all” too.

Have you ever felt like you missed God and His will for your life back there somewhere and wondered, “Can I ever recover from making that poor decision when I knew I shouldn’t have done that.” Or “Why didn’t I follow God in that way when I knew He was leading me?” “Is it too late now to recover from what I have broken?” “Can I ever get where God would want me now? Please know friend – God is bigger than your failures. He is completely able to accomplish what He pleases in your life and if you have taken a detour with a past decision, He is able to get you back on track towards the destination and purpose He had 9 for you all along. He is bigger than your bad decisions. No one or no bad decision can stop a holy God in pursuit of his holy plans! God’s ways are not our ways. God may very well be doing something in your life that was not at all what you were expecting. Will you acknowledge God’s hand in it? You see, in acceptance… lies peace.

Let’s get back to Matthew.

10. I love this scene! I don’t know why I didn’t notice this before. What did the people give from what they had, in honor of the Lord? Matt.21:8 ______

That is a sweet scene isn’t it? Can you imagine Grandpa laying his coat alongside the road and the lame man and the toddler, the young mother, etc., one coat on top of another, making a carpet of coats all a variety of sizes and colors, for Jesus and His colt to walk on? Many talk about the palm branches because it’s Palm Sunday, but these followers were giving the clothes off their backs to honor the name of the Jesus! It was an ancient custom showing honor for citizens to throw their garments on the road for Monarchs to ride over.

11. The people came crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” and “Hosanna in the highest!” What do you think “Hosanna” means? Can you look it up? ______

12. Matthew says that the whole city was moved and there was so much commotion that all were asking, “Who is this?” v.10 What was the answer of most of the people in the multitude? Matt. 21:11 ______

Not everyone in the multitude was ignorant of the fact that this man was more than just a prophet from Nazareth. There were many who understood that He was the Messiah but the majority still looked upon Him as just a great teacher and prophet – nothing more. Isn’t it interesting that most other religions still look at Jesus Christ the same way today?

He was so much more.

13. One day the whole world will recognize Jesus for who He is. Who will bow at the name of Jesus one day? Philippians 2:9-11 ______

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The stage was set - the Messiah had arrived!

The cleansing of the temple – Matthew 21:12-17 (Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45, 16)

Read Matthew 21:12-17

We need to understand why Jesus was so angry with the moneychangers in the temple. So, here’s the deal - Jews and would come to the temple to offer sacrifices and worship. There was a courtyard outside of the Holy of Holies that was made available for anyone to come and change money into suitable currency to purchase animals for sacrifice; this was called “The Court of the Gentiles.” The Court of the Gentiles, located on the outer perimeter of the temple, is where all the business transactions for worship would take place. If a non-Jew went any further into the temple, they would be executed on the spot. The selling of animals for sacrifice inside the temple walls began as a means of making it possible for simple people to come and worship God. It was convenient to be able to purchase your animal for sacrifice right there inside the walls of the temple. Over time, the selling of animals became a lucrative business for some working in the temple. The animals purchased outside the temple for less money could be labeled “blemished” by the temple stewards and a blemished animal was exempt from being used as an animal sacrifice for worship. They would then direct them to buy their animals inside the temple for ten times the amount that the animals outside the temple were selling for. It had become a ‘money grab” on worship day and Jesus hated it. It began to be a burden on ordinary folk just to come and worship the Lord. These men were exploiting their fellow men in the name of religion! The temple was no longer a place to come and worship and pray, but for some, it was their place of business, it was their place to get rich at the expense of others. Because of this, Jesus begins to clean house!

14. How did Jesus know for sure what was going on in the temple? Luke 19:47 ______

15. Who did Jesus drive out of that place of worship? Matthew 21:12 ______

16. Who would you assume were allowed to stay? Hint: v.14 ______

17. It’s important to know what God wants to be happening in His church. What did He say that His church should be called? What should be happening in the church? V.13 ______11

I know our churches are to be places where we receive good teaching out of God’s Word. It’s true we come to be fed spiritually. Our church should be a place where we come to worship with our fellow saints, but God said, “His house should be a house of prayer”. And since He didn’t mention any other of the spiritual disciplines, it makes me believe that this discipline of prayer might be the most important.

18. Jesus cleared the temple twice in His ministry. He had already done this once three years earlier at the opening of His ministry. See :13-25 How did Jesus drive out the money changers the first time? John 2:15, 16 ______19. What challenge did Jesus give the Jewish leaders at this time? John 2:19 ______

Jesus was speaking of the resurrection which is about to happen shortly. It will be described here in the .

20. The blind and the lame came to Jesus in the temple to be healed. Matt.21:14 It’s interesting that part of the multitude that had ushered Jesus into Jerusalem singing “Hosanna in the highest”, were around Jesus before and were witnesses to a great miracle. What did they witness Jesus do earlier? John 12:17-19 ______a. Do you think this gave them faith for their own healing? ______

21. As the people sang their praises to Jesus in the temple, the Chief Priests and were outraged! For about the last three years they would follow Jesus and the multitudes around trying everything they could to discredit Jesus. Nothing they came up with worked. He was gaining popularity fast and now the people were singing His praises in the temple of God! What was the reaction of the Pharisees? Matt. 21:15 ______

Jesus leaves the Chief Priests and Scribes who wouldn’t receive Him in Jerusalem and goes to a familiar place in Bethany. I believe He probably went to His good friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus’ house and stayed there for a while.

The cursing of the fig tree – Matthew 21:18-22 (Mark 11:11-14; 20-24)

Read Matthew 21:18-22

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Jesus had an encounter with this fig tree on two different days. Jesus cursed the fig tree on the way into Jerusalem to cleanse the temple. On the following day, the disciples noticed that it was withered. (Mark 11:14, 20) Matthew condensed the story into one account.

The cleansing of the temple was Jesus’ wrath upon Israel’s worship, and the fig tree was a symbol of God’s wrath upon Israel, as a nation of people, that rejected the Messiah.

Jesus’ authority is questioned – Matthew 21:23-27 (Mark 11:27-33; :1-18) Read Matthew 21:23-27 Jesus was back again teaching in the temple, as He did daily at that time. The difference was that there was a little bit of tension in the place because of what He had done in the temple the day before. I’m sure the gentile courtyard was pretty bare. I mean most people were probably afraid to come back and sell their goods. There was now room for those who genuinely wanted to come and worship God.

22. The religious leaders cornered Jesus and asked Him who gave Him the authority to do things like cast people out of this place of worship. In those days, much like today, you had to be ordained to be declared a teacher or a rabbi in the synagogue. The Pharisees knew they hadn’t ordained Jesus to do anything. They recognized that He had healed more people than any one else ever had and that the miracles He performed were supernatural, and they knew that He claimed that His power was from God. I believe that they were hoping that He would claim, once again, that He worked under the power and authority of God so that they could accuse Him of blasphemy. a. What was considered blasphemy according the Jewish tradition? John 5:18 ______

For further information see: John 10:31-38

Parable of the two sons – Matthew 21:28-32

Read Matthew 21:28-32

This story sounds like a typical work day at home! What’s the point? One son argues with the Father and refuses to work in the fields, but then, soon afterwards, feels guilty and goes to do his father’s will. The second son says right away he will go, he says everything his father wants to hear, but has no intention of going to work in the field. His heart was deceitful. He leaves and does as he pleases.

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The question Jesus had was, “Which one did the will of the Father?” The answer was, the first son. Even though he was rebellious at first, he repented and then did what was right.

23. Jesus was contrasting the two different responses people have to the gospel. Some people say they want to follow Jesus, but have no real intention of giving up their own desires to follow His. They want the “happy gospel”, they’re unwilling to pick up their cross and truly follow Jesus. a. What happens to those who only want a part of Jesus? I heard someone say one time it’s like asking for 20% of Jesus please! If you are a true follower of Christ, you give Him your whole life and you take all that He is. He becomes your MASTER! You are a SLAVE to Him.

Do you struggle with allowing the Lord to take full control of your life? ______How is it going with you in ultimate control? ______What area do you have a hard time of letting go of? ______What part of your life can you better control than God Himself? ______

 “In reality – the problem is – you were not designed for control, but surrender.”

When you choose surrender – you choose peace over anxiety. When you want to gain life – you lose it. When you want freedom – hand it all over to Jesus and let Him decide.

Parable of the Landowner – Matthew 21:33-46 (:1-12; Luke 20:9-19)

Read Matthew 21:33-46

The last parable in this chapter that Jesus uses to speak to the religious leaders and to fallen Israel about their rejection of the Messiah was this one.

There was a landowner in the parable. He represented Father God. He owned a vineyard, which represented the world. He released the work of fruit bearing to the vinedressers, they would do the work of cultivating and pruning the fruit. When the landowner sent the servants to the vinedressers to gather the fruit, the vinedressers killed the servants, one by one. This represents the false religious system that the Pharisees and the Chief Priests pushed as the authority of God and the hypocritical wicked hearts that the religious leaders had. The landowner sends his very own son, trying to convince the wicked vinedressers of their wrongdoings and they kill his own son, who represents Jesus the Son of God.

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As they hear the terrible story, the Pharisees perceive that Jesus was speaking about them. Right then and there they wanted to seize Jesus and kill Him. Jesus explained in the parable that He would take away their authority and establish His kingdom with others that would honor Him. They knew that He threatened to take away their spiritual authority as the representatives of the church. This infuriated them. a. Israel will one day return to God and accept Jesus as the Messiah and bear fruit in His name, but until then, God will use others to bring salvation to the world. What does Romans 9:25-26 have to say about this? ______

The leaders were afraid of what the multitude would do if they arrested Jesus. They waited to do anything because of their fear of the people. It wouldn’t be too long from now when they would succeed in turning the people against Jesus. The people would finally succumb to their insecurities of who Jesus was and with this “Servant King” that would not be their kind of Lord. A few days from now they would be the ones standing in a crowd of many crying out, “Crucify Him, crucify Him”!

This parable reflects the longsuffering, patient heart of Christ. He provides for mankind, even though they continually reject Him. Even when He sent His only Son to save them, they reject the most precious gift He could offer. I hope this story is successful in doing what we prayed for in the opening prayer of this lesson. I pray it reminds us of the great love and sacrifice our Lord has for us. How many times did we reject Jesus before we decided to relinquish our life to Him? How many times do we reject Him still, as we run our own lives out of our own self-sufficiency and pride rather than a complete dependence on His power? We continue to act like we have no need of Him every time we start our day without seeking Him first.

Wrapping it up and making it personal

“Lord, thank you for the reminder that we need You continually in our lives. One day Your divine patience will run out and You will return to judge the world. Thank you, thank you, Lord, that we (those who have claimed You as Savior) will not be a part of that judgment. Help us, Lord, to be that son (daughter) that is willing to work in Your vineyard. Help us to do that willingly, without complaint. Help me choose surrender, Lord.”

“You said to the two sons in the parable in Matthew, “Son, go work today in My vineyard”. What work in the vineyard is God asking of you today? Will you be the son (daughter) that says, “I will go”, but never really get to the work He has called you to do?”

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Close this lesson with a prayer of “willingness and obedience”. What I mean by that is that after you sense what it is that God is calling you to do, ask Him for a willing heart, and then, ask Him to give you the power to be obedient. He has said, “Be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.”

Live today as if you will not have tomorrow to make up for it! - Amen