1-46 CHAPTER 21 _And when they were come nigh_, &c. Mark has (Mark 11:1), "And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, He sendeth forth two of His disciples," and Luke adds (Luke 19:29), "And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Betha... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?_ Who with so great honour, applause, congratulation, as it were the King of Israel, enters into Jerusalem, whilst the Scribes and Pharisees are looking on yea, the Roman soldiers of Tiberius Caesar, who would not suff... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the blind and the lame came to Him, and He healed them_, that by these miracles He might show Himself to be Messiah, yea God; and so that He had been rightly honoured by the acclamations of the people and the pomp. For Isaiah had foretold (Isa 35:5) that Messiah would work such miracles. And th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying in the Temple, and saying Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased_. Both because they were envious of this glory of Christ, as because they were displeased at their gains and marketin... [ Continue Reading ]
_And said unto Him, hearest Thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise_? (Psalms 8:3.) The Hebrew is ימדת עז _iissadta oz_, i.e., _hast founded strength._ Aquila, _hast laid foundations, power_; Sixtine... [ Continue Reading ]
_And He left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and He lodged there._ Syriac and Arabic, _He passed the night at Bethany._ See here the ingratitude and fickleness of the people: for those who that very morning had cried to Christ _Hosanna_, on the evening of the same day forsake Christ for... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now in the morning as He returned into the city, he hungered._ This, therefore, took place on the day after Palm Sunday, on Monday, the eleventh day of Nisan, the first month; which is, according to our reckoning, the twenty-first of March. For three days afterwards (namely, on Friday in the Pascha... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when He saw a fig tree in, the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it Let no fruit grow on thee hencefoward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away._ Christ cursed the fig tree, and dried it up, that He might manifest His power, by which He w... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away_! The Vulg. omits _fig tree_, which is found in the Greek and Syriac. This took place on the following day, for Christ on the Monday returning from Bethany to Jerusalem cursed the fig tree: after that He c... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith_ (that excellent and efficacious faith, like a grain of mustard seed, of which, Matthew 17:19) _and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree_ (that which ye see has been done by Me, as is plain from... [ Continue Reading ]
_And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Believing_, i.e., if ye shall believe and be confident that ye shall obtain those things from God, according to James 1:6. "Let him ask in faith, nothing doubting." See what is there said. Well speaks S. Bernard (Serm.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto Him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority? By what power_ ... [ Continue Reading ]