Matthew: Counterintuitive Kingdom

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Listen along as we continue through Matthew's gospel.

Text: Matthew 21:1-22
Title: Counterintuitive Kingdom
Reading: Matthew 21:1-22

“Jesus is consciously making preparations to enter Jerusalem after the fashion of Zech 9:9, with echoes of Isa 62:11. Zechariah’s prophecy was widely interpreted in rabbinic literature as messianic” 
- Craig Blomberg

“One who sees a donkey in a dream should anticipate salvation, as it is said: “Behold, your king comes unto you; he is triumphant, and victorious, lowly, and riding upon a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).” - Berakhot 56 b

“it is a triumphal entry, but one that parodies the entry of kings and their armies. This is the entry of the one who has come to serve, but that he has come to serve makes him no less a king….Jesus identifies himself as the Lord, but one that will ride on an ass, a creature not normally associated with what it means to be a king. Victors in battle do not ride into their capital cities riding on asses, but rather they ride on fearsome horses. But this king does not and will not triumph through forces of arms.” - Stanley Hauerwas

“The crowds acclaim Jesus as Messiah with regal, Davidic terminology. “Son of David” also echoes the blind men’s cry in the previous chapter. “Hosanna” originally meant God save us but by the first century was probably just a cry of praise to Yahweh. The “He who comes in the name of the Lord,” like the “coming one” of whom John the Baptist spoke, refers to the Messiah, and the entire beatitude echoes Ps 118:26. 
- Craig Blomberg

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” - Luke 19:41-44

“Jesus is the great high priest who has come to restore to Israel the right worship of Israel's God. The chief priests and scribes understand that this is about power. They will soon ask him where he gets the authority to do what he has done. They do not understand that the son of David can do what he does: cleanse the temple by making it the place where the blind, lame, poor, and children can praise God. If Jesus is not the Messiah he's certainly acting like He is.” - Stanley Hauerwas

“In Jeremiah 8:13, the Lord had said to Jeremiah that he wanted to gather the nations but he had found no "figs on the fig tree," and even the leaves had withered. Jesus, fresh from his confrontation with the chief priests and scribes, curses the fig tree, declaring that no fruit would ever come from it again. The tree withered, just as the scribes and chief priests withered the temple.” - Stanley Hauerwas

“Our personal lives can look like “in leaf.” Our leaves may look like those of a supermom, a winner, a perfect family, an A-team Christian with an overstuffed schedule of ministry activities. But the root may be withered. There may be no fruit of holiness and no intimacy with God. What’s worse—our leaves may even fool us. And our churches can do the same. A church’s leaves may look impressive: booming attendance, capital campaigns, clever pastors, impressive music. But what will the Lord find upon close inspection? Will he find only leaves? Or will he find figs, too?”
- Greg Lanier

Questions:
1. Are we celebrating, in awe, moved to tears over this or are we just disappointed that He is not bringing the reforms of our personal agendas?
2. What do we really mean when we sing hosanna?
3. Are we all leaves and no fruit?