The Parable Series – Rebellion in the Vineyard
Yeshua's Triumphal Entry and the Disciples' Expectations
Matthew Vander Els from Founded in Truth Fellowship begins a teaching on Matthew chapter 21, focusing on Yeshua's final entry into Jerusalem. This event occurred during Passover, a significant festival celebrating freedom from slavery. The speaker notes that many of Yeshua's disciples held the expectation that he would initiate a literal rebellion against the Roman authorities and re-establish the Kingdom of God in Jerusalem at this opportune time. Their understanding was that Yeshua would lead a revolt, gathering weapons to overthrow the Roman guards and reclaim Jerusalem. However, this perspective revealed a misunderstanding of Yeshua's true mission.
The arrival of Yeshua in Jerusalem was marked by a jubilant crowd who greeted him by spreading palm branches and shouting praises. There are varying interpretations of Yeshua's choice to ride on a donkey. One view suggests it symbolized his humble nature, indicating he was not yet coming as a conquering king. Another opinion posits that riding on a donkey, similar to Solomon's entry on a mule, signified his role as the conquering King. This interpretation aligns with Zechariah 9:9, which speaks of a king coming humbly yet victoriously on a donkey. A third, more provocative interpretation suggests Yeshua's entry was a deliberate mockery of the Roman triumphal processions. The speaker leans towards the second interpretation, believing Yeshua indeed came as a conquering King, but one who conquered sin and death.
The Temple Cleansing: Confronting Injustice
Following his entry, Yeshua went directly to the temple and took decisive action against the commercial activities taking place there. He drove out those who were buying and selling, overturned the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of those selling pigeons. Yeshua condemned their actions, quoting Isaiah and Jeremiah by saying, "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers."
The speaker explains that while there might have been logistical reasons for the market setup on the Temple Mount, facilitated by Caiaphas, the core issue was the exploitation of worshippers, particularly the poor. Moneychangers charged fees to exchange currency for temple offerings, and the price of sacrificial animals, especially pigeons offered by the poor, was inflated. Yeshua's anger was directed at this injustice and the transformation of his Father's house into a place of extortion rather than worship. This act demonstrated Yeshua's passionate love for his people and the sanctity of God's house. Immediately after this forceful cleansing, the blind and lame came to Yeshua in the temple, and he healed them. This juxtaposition of judgment and mercy highlights the multifaceted nature of Yeshua's ministry.
The Barren Fig Tree: A Symbol of Unfruitfulness
The next morning, as Yeshua returned to the city, he encountered a fig tree by the roadside. Finding it full of leaves but without fruit, Matthew's Gospel records that Yeshua cursed the tree, causing it to wither. The disciples were astonished by this act. The speaker clarifies that the image of a fruitless fig tree or vine is a common metaphor in the Old Testament, often used to represent Israel and Jerusalem's spiritual barrenness and God's impending judgment. Prophets like Micah, Jeremiah, and Hosea used similar imagery to critique Israel's lack of spiritual fruit despite having God's law. The Pharisees, despite their meticulous adherence to the Torah, had turned the temple into an idol and their religious practices into a checklist, missing the intended intimacy with God. Their pursuit was the Law and the Temple themselves, rather than the relationship they were meant to foster.
The Parable of the Two Sons: Hypocrisy Exposed
Upon his return to the temple, Yeshua was confronted by the chief priests and elders who questioned his authority. In response, Yeshua presented a series of parables, the first being the parable of the two sons. A father asked his two sons to work in his vineyard. The first son initially refused but later went, while the second son readily agreed but did not go. When asked which son did the father's will, the religious leaders correctly answered, "the first." Yeshua then delivered a sharp rebuke, stating that tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the Kingdom of God before them. This was because, despite their outward piety and knowledge of the Law, the religious leaders had rejected John the Baptist's message of righteousness, while those considered outcasts had believed. Even after witnessing the faith of the marginalized, the religious leaders remained unchanged. This parable served as a direct indictment of their hypocrisy, highlighting that true obedience lies in action and a change of heart, not mere words or outward appearances.
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Application for Everyday Life:
- Examine your motivations for religious practices: Are you following God for genuine love and relationship, or out of a sense of obligation or to appear righteous to others?
- Beware of hypocrisy: Ensure your actions align with your words and beliefs. Don't just say you will follow God; actively do so.
- Recognize true spiritual fruit: Focus on bearing fruit that reflects God's character, such as love, justice, and righteousness, rather than relying on outward displays of religiosity.
- Don't turn the means of grace into an idol: The Bible and church are meant to facilitate intimacy with God, not become replacements for God himself.
- Be open to God's new work: God is always doing new things. Avoid becoming so rigid in your traditions that you miss what God is doing in the present.
- Understand Jesus as the cornerstone: Recognize that Jesus is the foundation upon which everything rests. Rejecting him leads to stumbling and brokenness.
- Focus on genuine transformation: God desires a change of heart and a life that reflects His will, not just external conformity to rules.
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Read the transcript (1,158 words)
Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.
Do you ever find yourself searching for something bigger than you? For a community to be a part of? A place founded on truth and love. A place to worship the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Son of God. Welcome to Founded in Truth, where we're more than just a fellowship. We're a family. So welcome home.
The Parable Series: Kingdom of Heaven
So we are continuing the parable series. Has this series been edifying to you guys? It's been edifying to me because some of this information I've known, some of it I haven't known. And Yeshua's parables in the Synoptic Gospels were a way that he communicated with not only his own disciples, but with everybody else he came into contact with. And sometimes we see the parables, and we're like, oh, he's just telling this weird narrative, and it's metaphorical in some way or allegory. And this was how he chose to relay the point of his ministry, which was proclaiming what? The kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God coming and birthing this new birth into our world.
And if you, BYOB, brought your own Bibles, please turn with me to Matthew chapter 21. I know last week we kind of jumped into Matthew 24 in order to have a background for the beginning of chapter 25. And hopefully that was edifying. And now we're going to go back a little bit to Matthew 21. And I hope that this message won't be so controversial that you miss what Yeshua was actually saying and what he was attempting to impress on the people.
The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
So everybody have Matthew 21, right? Okay, so we're not going to read the whole chapter. I might skip through a little bit. But the chapter starts off with Yeshua coming into Jerusalem. And this is the last time he will be in Jerusalem. He's coming to Jerusalem and he's riding on a what? Right? Donkey. And the crowd is going nuts. All of his disciples know he's coming to Jerusalem and they're following him here. And in their minds, many of them, like the two that were on the road to Emmaus, they thought that he was going to proclaim the kingdom of God in a very literal way. In a way that would rebel and revolt against the Romans.
And Jerusalem would be the time to do it. And Passover would be the time to do it because it's the festival of freedom. When slavery and taskmasters are overtaken. And this is when we celebrate it. And they're in Jerusalem and they're just ready for Yeshua to say the word. And what are they going to do first? They're going to run to the armory, get some weapons, get some slings and some bows and some arrows and some swords, and then they're going to take out the guards at Fort Antonia, and then they're going to go up there and take that out and proclaim victory in Jerusalem again. And these are disciples that obviously did not listen to anything that Yeshua has been saying up until this point.
And so the crowd's going nuts, and there's several different opinions about this scene. And I'd like to go over them with you to show you how it's okay to think differently about different things in the Bible. So here's a good picture I found. And there's Yeshua, good Jewish-looking Yeshua. And he's riding this donkey going through the crowds. And there's everyone cheering. They've got the palm branches and such. And there's several opinions out there about what this represented.
Three Interpretations of the Donkey
And the first big opinion that I've seen more recently is that he came riding lowly or humbly on a donkey, representing that he wasn't coming as a king yet. He wasn't coming as this conquering king. He was coming as this very humble servant, if you will. And that's one opinion. That's a good one. Others say he came in riding the mule or the donkey to represent exactly that he was the conquering king. Because in 1 Kings -33, Solomon is depicted in his kingship being proclaimed on a mule. He rides in on a mule and everyone's cheering, "Long live the king." And so we have the same type of imagery when Yeshua rides in on a donkey and everybody, "Hosanna," and just cheering and uplifting him.
You know, Zechariah 9:9 speaks specifically. It says, "Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. Shout, daughter Jerusalem. See your king, your what? Comes to you righteous and victorious." So he has victory. He is conquering. "Lowly, humbly riding on a donkey on the colt, the foal of a donkey." And then there's a third opinion that is very interesting that asserts that Yeshua came riding in this manner to intentionally insult the Roman triumph that takes place after battle where the Caesar or the general would ride in on his horse wearing chariot face paint and everybody would cheer him this victorious, you know, when Yeshua came in on a donkey to kind of mock that.
I seem to lean towards opinion number two, just because I believe it's scripturally sound. And I do believe Yeshua did come as the king that conquers. He comes as the king that conquered sin and death and the dominions and the powers and all kingdoms on earth kneel before his. And he did this by riding a donkey. And the crowds proclaimed his kingship in Jerusalem. But it is what it is.
The Bible as a Facilitator, Not a Checklist
I was talking to Jason about this, and it's fascinating how the Bible at times, we want the Bible to be a checklist, don't we, instinctively? We want to open the Bible up and say, "Okay. Check, check, check, check, check. Here are the things I need to do, do, do, do, do. And I don't need to do, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. And as long as I fulfill this checklist, everything will be hunky-dory and I will be a righteous child of God." Anybody else wish it was that easy? That would be fantastic. And it's fascinating because I'm going to assert that that's not what the Bible was made for. It wasn't made to be a checklist.
It was made to facilitate intimacy with God. And through our struggles in life and through the times when we don't know what to do and we can't find any clear guidance anywhere, it is supposed to help facilitate us to remain faithful despite what is going on in our lives, despite that we don't know where the answers are. We're flipping through the pages of the Bible and we can't find a resolution for the one problem that we're having in our life that is ripping us apart. And it's there to facilitate a comfort to us that God is still with us, even when we don't know what to do—for the sake, I would assert, to gain wisdom in our walk.
