Verses 7-10, “Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: 'Hosanna! "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord !" Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!' ” Jesus determined to ride into Jerusalem in a humble way, on a donkey's colt, coming in peace. Probably the Jews were expecting their Messiah to come in power, which is why they didn't recognize Him as such. Here we also see Jesus accepting public praise, when previously He would discourage that. In Luke 19:39-40, we learn that the Pharisees did not like Him being praised, “And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, 'Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.' But He answered and said to them, 'I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.' ” Jesus did not fear man's reaction, even though He was aware that they wanted Him dead and were plotting to kill Him. When we know God is on our side, we do not need to fear either. Hebrews 13:5-6, “...For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we may boldly say: 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?' ”
Verses 12-14, “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, 'Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.' And His disciples heard it.” This tree was a picture of hypocrisy, because it was not supposed to have leaves without figs. Leaves were the indication of fruit. Just like as Christians, we aren't supposed to have faith (or say we have faith) without works or fruit in our lives. We can see from the fact that He cursed the tree, that God is not pleased with false pretenses. The presence of leaves announced to anyone who saw it that it would have fruit...but it did not. You may know people that fall into this category. Rather than making excuses for them, call them what they are. They are not abiding in Christ or they would be bearing fruit, and are in danger of being cast out altogether. John 15:5-6, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
Verses 27-30, “Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. And they said to Him, 'By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?' But Jesus answered and said to them, 'I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.' ” You can tell that these guys don't know who Jesus is, because they are way outsmarted and caught in their own trap. Proverbs 11:5, “The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.” The leaders were not seeking understanding by their question, and their answer makes them look foolish because they were supposed to be the authorities of the day. Verses 31-33, “And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'If we say, "From heaven," He will say, “Why then did you not believe him?” But if we say, "From men" '—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. So they answered and said to Jesus, 'We do not know.' And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.' ” The problem was that men put them in their positions in the first place, so they had to please men in order to remain in them. Shepherding responsibility should be a God appointment, and He is the only one a leader should fear. If you see signs of your pastor pleasing man, then he is divided in loyalty and should not be followed. You can only have one master. Galatians 1:10, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”
John 10:11-13, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.”
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