Matthew 21 Background Information with Maps and Images (Picture Study Bible - Matthew) Free Bible Online

Matthew 21

1 - When they came near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,

"Tell the daughter of Zion,behold, your King comes to you,humble, and riding on a donkey,on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The disciples went, and did just as Jesus commanded them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them. A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees, and spread them on the road. The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"

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2 - saying to them,"Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them, and bring them to me.

saying to them,"Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them, and bring them to me.

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3 - If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and immediately he will send them."

4 - All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,

5 - "Tell the daughter of Zion,behold, your King comes to you,humble, and riding on a donkey,on a colt, the foal of a donkey."Zechariah 9:9

6 - The disciples went, and did just as Jesus commanded them,

7 - and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them.

8 - A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees, and spread them on the road.

9 - The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"Psalm 118:26

10 - When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?"

11 - The multitudes said, "This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."

12 - Jesus entered into the temple of God, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers' tables and the seats of those who sold the doves.

Jesus entered into the temple of God, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers' tables and the seats of those who sold the doves.

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13 - He said to them,"It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,'Isaiah 56:7but you have made it a den of robbers!"Jeremiah 7:11

14 - The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

15 - But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the son of David!" they were indignant,

16 - and said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?"Jesus said to them,"Yes. Did you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing babies you have perfected praise?'"Psalm 8:2

17 - He left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, and camped there.

18 - Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry.

19 - Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it, and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it,"Let there be no fruit from you forever!"Immediately the fig tree withered away.

20 - When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree immediately wither away?"

21 - Jesus answered them,"Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith, and don't doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it would be done.

22 - All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

23 - When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?"

24 - Jesus answered them,"I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.

25 - The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?"They reasoned with themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'

26 - But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet."

27 - They answered Jesus, and said, "We don't know."He also said to them,"Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

28 - But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.'

29 - He answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind, and went.

30 - He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, 'I go, sir,' but he didn't go.

31 - Which of the two did the will of his father?"They said to him, "The first."Jesus said to them,"Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God's Kingdom before you.

32 - For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn't believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn't even repent afterward, that you might believe him.

33 - "Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household, who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country.

34 - When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit.

35 - The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

36 - Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they treated them the same way.

37 - But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

38 - But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and seize his inheritance.'

39 - So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

40 - When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?"

41 - They told him, "He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season."

42 - Jesus said to them,"Did you never read in the Scriptures,'The stone which the builders rejected,the same was made the head of the corner.This was from the Lord.It is marvelous in our eyes?'Psalm 118:22-23

43 - "Therefore I tell you, God's Kingdom will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing its fruit.

44 - He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust."

45 - When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them.

46 - When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.

The Book of Matthew

Matthew 2:2 - Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Matthew 18:3 - And Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew in The New Testament - A Brief Overview

Painting of St. Matthew with Angel by Rembrandt

The Word Gospel. The first book of the English Bible that most of us read from is the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew is the first of the four gospel writings, yet there is only one gospel about Jesus Christ and there are four different writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The word "Gospel" means "good news", and the good news is about Jesus Christ dying on the cross and then 3 days later conquering death and rising from the dead, offering salvation to all mankind, this is the Gospel.

Summary of the Book of Matthew

Brief Summary. Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the long awaited Messiah King of he Jews as foretold by the ancient Jewish prophets. He came to reveal how to enter the "Kingdom of Heaven."

Purpose. It is very obvious that the Gospel of Matthew was written for the purpose of revealing that the man Jesus of Nazareth was actually the King of the Jews, the long awaited Messiah, the sovereign Lord Jehovah who came from heaven to this world revealing to mankind the "kingdom of heaven". The King of the Jews, the Messiah Jesus fulfilled every prophecy that was spoken about Him in the ancient Jewish Scriptures, in the Old Testament. The prophecies that spoke of the "Kingdom" that the Messiah would bring would be a spiritual Kingdom that would never be destroyed.

Audience. When reading the book of Matthew it becomes clear that the writer was speaking to a Jewish audience. One of the obvious reasons is that the "Kingdom of Heaven" is mentioned over 30 times and never the Kingdom of God. This is because the Jews do not speak the name of God and this could be the very reason that Matthew used this phrase. There are many times while reading the book that an event happens and a prophecy is cited. The event is mentioned as the direct fulfillment of a promise made to the Jews by one of their Jewish prophets, and the fulfillment of the prophecy was happening before their very eyes. It is clear that the audience of people are the Jews, they were awaiting their King, and Matthew records that the King had come and they rejected their King.

Authorship. Early Christian writings and traditions have attributed the authorship of the Gospel of Matthew to the apostle Matthew. Many scholars question whether or not Matthew was the true author of the first Gospel, but there is no way at this current time to be absolutely positive based on historical evidence. Most agree that Matthew was the author. The Bible reveals that Matthew, or Levi, as he was sometimes called, collected taxes for the Romans. One day Jesus passed by and called Matthew to come and follow him, and Matthew did so. The Bible also records that Matthew held a banquet at his house with several of his tax collector friends and Jesus being invited to the banquet was the guest of honor (Mark 2:14-15). The Bible also provides a list of the 12 apostles and Matthew was named among them.

Date. There is no way to determine with absolute certainty the date that the book of Matthew was written. Most scholars agree that the book of Matthew was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., this is because Jesus spoke of many events as though they had not happened yet. A large number of scholars do not believe in the miracle of prophecy and therefore insist that the Gospel of Matthew was written after the fall of Jerusalem because of the accuracy of the predicted events.

Language. There are many references among the books in the history of the early church that state that the Gospel of Matthew was originally written by Matthew in the biblical Hebrew language, and he was writing to an audience of  Jews throughout the world who had become followers of Jesus. Unfortunately there is no evidence whatsoever of a Hebrew or Aramaic manuscript, so many scholars have agreed that the Gospel of Matthew is not actually a translation from Hebrew into Greek, but was actually written in Greek. The whole subject of the Gospel of Matthew being written in Hebrew must remain speculation rather than fact.

Outline of the Book of Matthew

The King Comes and His Kingdom is Rejected - Matthew 1-12
The Rejection of the King's Teaching and Ministry - Matthew 13-25
The King's Trial and Crucifixion - Matthew 26-27
The King's Victory and Resurrection - Matthew 28
The King's Commissioning of His Apostles - Matthew 28

Matthew - Interesting Notes

Matthew mentions four women in his genealogy which is not typical for Jewish genealogical records: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheeba who were all associated with some sort of immorality. Tamar (incest), Rahab (harlotry), Ruth (a descendant of Moab who committed incest) and Bathsheba (adultery). Christ's greatness was in Himself not his genealogy.

There are many intimations for the word "King" in Matthew if one takes the time to look. For example in chapter one there is a royal genealogy mentioning king David at the start. Chapter two reveals the kingly gifts of the Magi. Chapter three calls John the Baptist a "herald" which is a cultural term that represents a herald for a king. Etc. 

There are similarities with the number four. The four colors in the veil of the Temple were purple, scarlet, white, and blue. The four faces of the cherubim are the lion, ox, man, eagle. The four Gospel accounts are Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. 

Quick Reference Maps - Matthew

Israel in New Testament Times

The Kingdom of Herod the Great

The Divisions of Herod's Kingdom

The Flight into Egypt

The Baptism of Jesus

The Beginning of Christ's Ministry

Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee

Jesus Ministers in Galilee

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem

Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus

Jesus Journeys from Nazareth to Jerusalem

The Final Journey of Jesus to Jerusalem

The Name Jesus In Ancient Hebrew Text
"Yeshua" in First Century Hebrew Text. This is how the name "Jesus" would have been written in ancient Hebrew documents. The four letters or consonants from right to left are Yod, Shin, Vav, Ayin (Y, SH, OO, A). Jesus is the Greek name for the Hebrew name Joshua or Y'shua which means "The LORD or Yahweh is Salvation".

Matthew Resources

Outline of the Life of Jesus in Harmony
Simple Map of First Century Israel
Topographical Map of First Century Israel
Map of the Ministry of Jesus
Map of the Roads in Ancient Israel
Map of the Roman Empire