விரிவுரை தற்போது ஆங்கிலத்தில் மட்டுமே கிடைக்கிறது. தமிழ் மொழிபெயர்ப்பு நடைபெறுகிறது.
Matthew 21 — My House Shall Be Called the House of Prayer
Jesus enters Jerusalem on an ass, fulfilling Zechariah. The crowds — Hosanna to the Son of David. He cleanses the temple — My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. He curses the fig tree. The chief priests challenge His authority; He counters with John's baptism. The two sons. The wicked husbandmen — the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. The kingdom shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
“Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?”
— Matthew 21:42
- v.1-11 Triumphal entry
- v.12-17 The temple cleansed
- v.18-22 The fig tree cursed
- v.23-27 Authority questioned
- v.28-32 The two sons
- v.33-46 The wicked husbandmen
Two prophets quoted in one sentence — Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. The temple was meant for prayer; it had become commerce. The Court of the Gentiles, where outsiders would have prayed, had been turned into a market.
House of prayer. The church's identity rests here too. Where prayer is replaced by traffic of any kind — entertainment, performance, commerce — the temple's sin is repeated.
A great promise, often misapplied. Read with the surrounding chapter — the asking is by those rooted in Christ, aligned with His will. The believing concerns His character, not our wishes.
Believing. Prayer's posture toward God. To pray without believing He hears, cares, and answers is to perform a religious motion the verse does not honor.
Psalm 118:22 applied. The chief priests are the builders. The stone they discard is the cornerstone of God's building. Their rejection does not unseat Him; it sets Him in place.
This is the Lord's doing. What looked like injustice was God's plan. The cross is the rejecting hands of Israel's leaders accomplishing the saving work of Israel's God.
Verse 13 measures the gatherings you attend. Is the place a house of prayer? Is your own life one? Where the temple of God in you has been turned to other traffic — entertainment, anxiety, ambition — the chapter's cleansing applies. Let the same Christ overturn the tables.
Christ enters His city as King and immediately judges it — cleansing the temple, cursing the fruitless fig tree, challenging the chief priests. He is the rejected cornerstone, the parable's slain son, the meek King who will be killed by His own. The week that will end at the cross begins here.
Zechariah 9:9 fulfilled. The King comes — but on a donkey, not a war horse. His meekness is the signature of His coming. The reign is real; the means are humble.
The crowd cried Hosanna expecting political deliverance. Christ rode in to give a deeper one. By Friday many of the same voices will turn.