Matthew 21:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.

NIV: Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.

NASB: Now in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry.

CSB: Early in the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry.

NLT: In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry,

KJV: Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.

NKJV: Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.

Mark's telling of these days in Jerusalem before Jesus' arrest falls in chronological order. Matthew, though, tends to group events from the week by topic and not in the order they occurred. He combines two events in this passage. Mark breaks them up, showing that Jesus cursed the fig tree on one day and the disciples noticed it on the next.

Jesus stayed outside the city during the week. It was crowded with travelers coming to Jerusalem for the Passover holiday. He stayed in Bethany, likely at the home of his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

Jesus is now making the two-mile walk back into the city, and He's hungry. Jesus existed, mysteriously, as both fully God and fully human. In His human form, He experienced all the normal appetites that humans do—without ever serving those appetites in a sinful way. The fact that Jesus experienced such appetites is why the writer of Hebrews could say, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

Matthew 21:18–22 describes a morning when Jesus, being hungry, discovers no figs on a leafy fig tree. He curses the tree never to bear fruit again, and the tree withers at once. The disciples notice the withered tree and ask Jesus how He did it. He tells them that if they have faith and do not doubt, they could do this, too. They could even tell a mountain to be thrown into the sea. In fact, anything they ask for in prayer they will receive if they have faith.

Jesus fulfills a prophecy from Zechariah about the coming of the king to Jerusalem by riding in on a donkey. The people celebrate and praise Him as the Messiah. Jesus drives the marketers and moneychangers out of the temple and heals some people. He curses a fig tree and tells the disciples nothing will be impossible for them with faith. Jesus forces cowardly and hypocritical religious leaders to back down with a question about John the Baptist. He then exposes their fraudulent spirituality with two parables about vineyards. Jesus applies to Himself a psalm about a rejected stone being made the cornerstone by the Lord.

Matthew 21 finds Jesus arriving near Jerusalem after leaving Jericho in the previous chapter. His triumphal entry is accomplished riding a donkey, and to raucous praise, fulfilling a prophecy about the Messiah. Jesus cleanses the marketplace from the temple, heals, and presents lessons about faith and Israel's failed leadership. This leads into further conversations which Matthew compiles from Jesus' interactions with the Pharisees.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.

Accessed 5/2/2024 2:50:35 PM