Mateus 21
Theophylact of Ohrid
Mateus 21:1-5
He sat upon an ass for no other reason than to fulfill the prophecy and to show us that our means of conveyance should be humble, for He was mounted not on a horse but on a lowly ass. He fulfills the prophecy (Zech. 9:9) both literally, and in a spiritual sense. He fulfills it literally by sitting as He did in view of all. He fulfills it in a spiritual sense by sitting upon the ass, the burdened Jews, and also upon the foal, the Gentiles who were coltish, untamed and unruly (Gen. 49:10-11). For the ass and the colt had been tethered by the reins of their own sins. Two were sent to loose them, Paul to the Gentiles, and Peter to the circumcised, that is, to the Jews. And even now, there are two that loose us from our sins, the Epistles and the Gospel. Christ comes meekly, for He did not come to judge the world at the first coming, but to save. The other kings of the Hebrews were pillagers and wrongdoers, but Christ is a meek king. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:6-7
Luke and Mark mention only one beast of burden, but Matthew mentions both ass and foal; yet they do not contradict. The mother followed the foal which was led. "He sat thereon," not on the two beasts, but on the clothes. Or, first He sat on the ass and later on the foal, since He first took His rest in the synagogue of the Jews and later among the people of the Gentiles. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:8-9
In the literal account, laying down of clothing is a sign of great reverence, and the cutting of branches is a sign of festivity. But in the spiritual sense, learn that the apostles first laid down their garments, which are their virtues, and then the Lord sat upon them. For God is not conveyed by a soul that has not been adorned with apostolic virtues. Those that went before are the prophets who lived before Christ's incarnation, while those who followed are the martyrs and teachers who lived after these events. They laid down their garments for Christ, that is, they subjected the flesh to the spirit, for the body is a garment and covering for the soul. They laid them down in the way, that is, in Christ Who said, "I am the Way." For unless a man lays down his garment in the way, that is, unless he humbles his flesh, abiding in the Way which is Christ, and not turning to heresy, the Lord will not be carried by him. Some say that "Hosanna" means "hymn" or "psalm"; others say, more accurately, that it means "Save now." "He that cometh" means the Lord Whose coming was long awaited by the Hebrews. Thus John the Forerunner and Baptist also says, "Thou art He that cometh," meaning "He Whose coming has been long awaited." In another sense, "He that cometh" means "He Whose second coming is awaited day by day." For each of us should always be in hopeful expectation of the end of the world and the coming of the Lord, and should be ready. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:10-11
The multitude, being simple and guileless, were not spiteful towards Christ, but neither did they have the proper understanding of Who He was. Therefore they call Him "prophet." Yet since they said it with the article, "the prophet," it could be understood as "the long awaited Prophet," of whom Moses said, "God will raise them up a Prophet" (Deut. 18:18). For they did not say, "This is a prophet," but "the Prophet," that is, He Who is awaited with hope. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:12-13
As Master of the house, which is the temple, He cast out the sellers, showing that the things of the Father are also His own. He did this out of concern for the good order of the temple, but also to show the transformation that would take place in the sacrifices. He cast out the cattle and the doves and thus foretold that there would no longer be any need of animal sacrifice and slaughter, but rather, of prayer. For My house, He says, is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves, in which there is slaughter and bloodletting. But He also called the temple a den of thieves because of the hawkers and the buyers and sellers, for the love of profit is a thieving passion. The "money changers" [in Greek, kollybistai] take their name from the kollybos, a coin of small denomination. Those who sell doves are also those who sell the ranks of ordination in the churches, for they are selling the gift of the Holy Spirit, which once appeared in the form of a dove (Mt. 3:16); as a result they are cast out not only from the temple below, but from the one above, for they are unworthy to serve at the altar. But you too, O reader, look and see whether perhaps you have made God's temple, that is, your mind, a den of thieves, that is, the demons' lair. It will be such a den if we have thoughts full of the desire for material things, of buying and selling, and of a love of money that would even compel us to collect these small coins, the kollyba. And if we buy and sell the doves, that is, if we should mix spiritual teaching with thoughts of material gain, we have made ourselves a den of thieves. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:14
By healing the infirm He shows that He is God and that rightly does He use His authority to cast out the unworthy from His house. It is also made clear that when the Jews who were attached to the law and to animal slaughter had been cast out, then the blind and the lame of the Gentiles were accepted as His friends and healed by Him. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:15-16
When the Pharisees saw the children offering to Christ the hymn of David which the prophet seems to offer to God (Ps. 117:26), they exploded with spite and reviled Him for allowing things of God to be said of Him. But He confirmed this by saying "Yea." For, He says, I am so disinclined to stop the mouths of those who are saying these things to Me, that I will even bring forward the prophet as a witness, and show you up as either ignorant or spiteful. For have you not read, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise?" (Ps. 8:2). "Thou hast perfected" means "Thou hast shown a perfect and fitting hymn" even if "the babes and sucklings" seem imperfect, or immature, in age. For it was not they who were speaking what they spoke, but they only gave their mouth to the Spirit and became His instruments. This is why He says, "Out of the mouth of babes," implying that the words were not of their own intellect, but only of their mouth which was moved by divine grace. He also showed that He would be blessed by the childish and foolish Gentiles. This was also a consolation to the apostles, that speech would be granted to them as well though they were simple. And you also, O reader, if you are as a babe innocent of any guile and sucking the milk of the Spirit, the divine words, then you will become worthy to hymn God's praise. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:17
He departs from those who were unworthy and goes to Bethany, which means "house of obedience." He goes from those who are disobedient to those who are obedient to Him, and among them He lodges. For He says, "I will dwell and walk among them" (II Cor. 6:16). — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:18-20
Of the many miracles which the Lord performed, all were done to do good, for He performed no miracles of chastisement. Therefore, lest anyone think that He is unable to chastise, here He shows this power as well, not applied to men but to a tree, as He loves mankind. He also did the same on a previous occasion to the swine. He withers the tree, then, in order to chasten men. The disciples marvel, and with good reason. For the fig tree contains a great amount of sap, and so the fact that it withered immediately serves all the more to indicate the miracle. The fig tree means the synagogue of the Jews, which has only leaves, that is, the visible letter of the law, but not the fruit of the Spirit. But also every man who gives himself over to the sweetness of the present life is likened to a fig tree, who has no spiritual fruit to give to Jesus who is hungry for such fruit, but only leaves, that is, temporal appearances which fall away and are gone. This man, then, hears himself cursed. For Christ says, Go, ye accursed, into the fire (Mt. 25:41). But he is also dried up; for as he roasts in the flame, his tongue is parched and withered like that of the rich man of the parable, who in his life had ignored Lazarus. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:21-22
Great is the promise which Christ makes to His disciples, the ability to move mountains, if only we are not ambiguous in faith, that is, we do not hesitate. Whatever we ask, unhesitantly believing in God's power, we shall receive. One might ask, "And if I ask for something unprofitable, and foolishly believe that God will give me this, will I indeed receive this unprofitable thing? How is it that God is said to love mankind if He would fulfill my unprofitable request?" Listen then. First, when you hear "faith," you should understand that it means not "foolish faith" but "true faith"; and when you hear "prayer," understand it to mean that prayer which asks for things profitable, such as the Lord gave to us when He said, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one," and petitions of similar nature. Then consider the words "doubt not," [literally, "be ye not divided," me diakrithete]. For how could a man who is united with God as one and not divided or separated from Him, how could that man ask for something unprofitable? So if you are undivided and inseparable from God, then you will ask for and receive things which are profitable for you. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:23-27
Full of spite that He had expelled the peddlers from the temple, the teachers of the law approached and asked Him such things as these: "Who are you to cast out from the temple those who do business there? As a priest do you do this? But you have no priestly office. As a king, then? But neither are you a king, and even if you were, you would not have the authority to do such things. For it is not permitted for kings to do these things in the temple." They were questioning the Lord in this manner so that if He should say, "By My own authority I do them," they could accuse Him of insurrection because He said that He had His own authority. But if He said, "I do these things by divine authority," they would draw away from Him the multitudes who were praising Him as God, telling them, "Look, he is not God, but he does these things by God's authority, as a servant." How then does Christ, Who is Himself Wisdom, respond? He seizes the sophists in their cunning, and asks them the same questions concerning John; so that if they said the teaching of John was from heaven, their rejection of John's teachings would mark them as enemies of God; but if they said that the teaching of John was of men, they would be in danger from the multitudes, for they all considered John a prophet. The Lord shows us here that we ought not to answer those who ask a question with malicious intent. For He Himself did not reply to those Jews who questioned Him with cunning, although He was not at a loss for an answer. At the same time we learn that it is not Christ's nature to extol Himself. Behold, then, the Lord Who is able to say by what authority He does these things, but does not say, lest He appear to extol Himself. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:28-32
He introduces two types of men. One type are those who promised from the beginning: such were the Jews who said, "All which God spoke, we will do and we will obey" (Ex. 24:3). The other type are those who disobeyed: such are the publicans and the harlots, but also the people of the Gentiles, who from the beginning were not obedient to the will of God, but later they repented and obeyed. Behold, then, the wisdom of Christ. He did not at once from the start say to them, "The publicans and the harlots are better than you," but first He got the upper hand over them and they confessed that of the two sons, he who did the will of the father was the obedient one. And when they had so confessed He led them on and said, "John came in the way of righteousness," that is, with a blameless life, and you are not able to say that his life was reprehensible, yet the harlots obeyed him while you did not. Therefore they precede you, that is, enter before you into the kingdom. So you also should struggle to believe, so that you might at least enter in after the harlots, for if you do not believe, you will by no means enter. There are many to this very day who have promised to God their Father to become monks or priests, but afterwards were negligent in their promise. But there are others who did not promise to lead a monastic or priestly life, but now they are monks and priests. So the obedient sons are those who act, although they promised nothing. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:33
Yet another parable He brings to them, showing that though they were deemed worthy to receive an immeasurable degree of care for their condition, they did not get better. The "man, a householder" is the Lord Who in His love for man calls Himself a man. The vineyard is the Jewish people, planted by God in the land of promise. For He says, "Bring them in and plant them in Thy holy mountain" (Ex. 15:17). The hedge is the law which prevented them from mixing with the Gentiles; or, it is the holy angels who guarded Israel. The wine-press is the altar; the tower, the temple. The husbandmen are the teachers of the people, the Pharisees and the scribes. The householder, God, went into a far country when He no longer spoke to them in a pillar of cloud. Or, the departure of God into a far country is His long-suffering; for when He is long-suffering and not in hot pursuit of wrongdoers, demanding an account, He appears to be asleep or absent on a far journey. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:34-36
"The time of the fruit drew near" during the years of the prophets. For the servants who were sent are the prophets who were abused in various ways by the husbandmen, that is, the false prophets and false teachers of those times. One they beat, as they did to Micah when Sedek struck him on the jaw (III Kings, or I Kings, 22:24); another they killed, as they did to Zechariah [the father of John the Forerunner] between the temple and the altar; another they stoned, as they did Zechariah, the son of Jodae the high priest (II Chron. 24:21). — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:37
Later the Son of God was sent and He appeared in the flesh. He said, "They will reverence My Son," not unaware that they would kill Him, but signifying what ought to be. For, He says, they ought to honor the dignity of the Son even if they had killed the servants. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:38-39
But the husbandmen saw Him and said, "This is the heir; come, let us kill Him." The Jews, too, said, "This is the Christ," and they crucified Him. They cast Him out of the vineyard, for the Lord was slain outside of the city. But since we would also say that the vineyard is the people, Christ was slain by the Pharisees, the evil husbandmen, outside the vineyard, that is, outside and apart from the will of the guileless people. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:40-41
"When He cometh." When? At the second coming? It seems to have this meaning, but a better meaning is this: the lord of the vineyard is God the Father Who sent His Son Who was slain by them. When He comes, that is, when He looks down on the lawlessness which the Jews committed, then He will miserably destroy them by sending the Roman army. And His vineyard, that is, His people, He will give to other husbandmen, that is, to apostles and teachers. Understand the vineyard to mean also the Divine Scriptures, in which the hedge is the letter, and the wine-press that is dug is the depth of the Spirit; the tower is theology, lofty and exalted. These Scriptures, then, were first possessed by bad husbandmen, the Pharisees; but God has let them out to us who cultivate them well. But they slew the Lord outside the vineyard, that is, outside those things of which Scripture spoke. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:42
The stone means Christ Himself; the builders are the teachers of the Jews who rejected Him as if He were useless, saying, "Thou art a Samaritan and hast a demon." But when He rose from the dead, He was set in place as the head of the corner, that is, He became the head of the Church, joining Jews and Gentiles in one faith. For as the stone which forms the corner of a building makes continuous the walls leading to it and from it, so Christ has bound all together in one faith. This corner is marvelous, and is the Lord's doing (Ps. 117:22-23). For the Church which connects us and makes us one in faith is the Lord's doing, and is worthy of all wonder, so well is it built. And in another sense is it marvelous, because the Word of Christ has been confirmed and substantiated by marvels, that is, miracles, so that the composition of the Church is marvelous. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:43
The kingdom of God, that is, closeness with God, has been taken from the Jews and given to those who believed. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:44
Those who stumble against the Rock of Christ and take offence at Him will not only be crushed at the second coming, but already here in this life they have been scattered like powder by Christ. They have been scattered over all the earth, as we now see the pitiable Jews to be. Understand that he who is "crushed to powder to be scattered" is dispersed abroad and scattered in diaspora. — Commentary on Matthew
Mateus 21:45-46
See once again that the multitude, which is simple and guileless, follows the truth, while the teachers of the law work evil. But even today there are Jews who seek to lay hands on Christ, but they neither grasp nor understand Him. For they shall grasp the Antichrist and shall bow down and worship him, while Christ will not be grasped, that is, understood, by them. — Commentary on Matthew