The King entering Jerusalem The last eight chapters offer us a live picture of the last week in the life of the Lord Jesus on earth. He has given us himself a Passover to cross with us from the dark kingdom to his eternal one. The evangelists were careful to record to us a detailed record of this week which has transformed the flow of the stream of mankind. 1. His Entering Jerusalem 1 – 11 2. Purifying the Temple 12 – 14 3. The Children’s Praise 15 – 16 4. In Bethany 17 5. The Barren Fig Tree 18 – 22 6. The Chiefs Arguing with Him 23 – 26 7. The Parable of the Two Sons and the Vineyard 27 – 32 8. The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers 33 – 44 9. The Chiefs Understand His Parables 45 – 46 + + + 1. His Entering Jerusalem: (Matt 21:1-3) “Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethanage at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent tow disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.’” Jerusalem was overcrowded by the millions at that time. They had come to buy sheep to offer as a Passover for them. But the Lord Jesus ___ the Lamb of God ___ came forward himself towards Jerusalem to offer himself willingly a Passover for all mankind. He is not as the other sheep, slaughtered so as to be eaten and consumed up. He rather offers his body a sacrifice of love, able to raise from the dead, and grant eternal life to be who wishes to be blessed with it. He is the priest and the sacrifice at the same time. He comes forth to the cross and to the alter simultaneously, to exalt the believing humanity to the new life in him, and hence carry them to his heavens. They ‘have come to Bethanage’, which is a small village on the east of Mount Olives, where the priests lived to be close to the temple in Jerusalem. Some think ‘Bethanage’ in Hebrew means the ‘house of the figs.’ We have previously seen how the fig tree is a symbol of the church regarding its unity, since in contains a lot of seeds inside the cover of the sweet Holy Spirit, by means of which a sweet taste makes it delicious food, and without which the seeds are valueless and can never be eater. This is the one church filled with sweetness by means of which the Lord sends his disciples to https://coptic-treasures.com/ loosen those who are bonded, and can enter the higher Jerusalem with their hearts, that is, to see peace. The Scholar Oreganus thinks Bethanage as to mean ‘the house of the one cheek.’ It reminds us of the right cheek beaten upon by the real believer, and he turns the other cheek to the one who strikes it, offering him love so as to break down his wickedness. It also reminds us of the cheek by which Samson struck the enemies and he destroyed then, and it flowed with water that refreshed him in his thirst (Judges 15:19). Therefore, we cannot encounter the Messiah the saviour as the one top open our inward Jerusalem, unless we offer our right cheek, and also our left one, in love to those who oppress us. We are to bear their evil in real tolerance and patience. This is the door to obtain our Christ, our true Passover, who has overflowed us with the spring of the living water just as with Samson. He is the source of his Holy Spirit who quenches the heart to transform the barren wilderness into God’s fruitful paradise. The evangelist says, “Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethanage, at the Mount of Olives! What is this Mount of Olives that the Lord came to before entering Jerusalem, and that was full of olive trees, other than the Lord Jesus himself? For he is the ‘way’, the beginning and the end gift by this way he comes to us and he dwells in it! As St. Ambrossos says, “The Lord Jesus himself could be the mount. What is this mount except it be that which produces fruitful olive fruits. These are not like the trees that bend with their weight, but they are clustered with the Gentiles through the perfect Spirit. It is he, who through him we climb and we reach the top. He is the door and the way. It is he who is opened for us, and it is he who opens.”” St. Ambrosios moreover says, “He has come to the mount of Olives to plant the small olives with his heavenly power he is the heavenly Sower, and every plant he sows in God’s house declares, (Psalm 52:8) “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God, I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.”” When at the Mount Olives, the Lord sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you.” He sent his two disciples so as to get the donkey and the colt that were tied, and he asked them to loosen them and bring them to him, so he would use them in entering Jerusalem. The church forefathers saw in every word mentioned regarding this event, it implied a meaning that concerned the salvation of humanity. We mention some of these as follows: First: the donkey and the colt symbolically represent at that time the Jews and the Gentiles. The Lord is in need of all humanity, even if debased in their thoughts to the level of a donkey or a colt, with reference to their knowledge of God and their spiritual behavior. As the psalmist says, (Ps. 73:22,23) “I was like a beast before you. Nevertheless I am continually with you.” In humility, man feels incapable of comprehending God’s mysteries, and he sees himself as a beast, incapable of thinking. But he has the world of God inside him, and he himself becomes as the inward Jerusalem. He accepts the Lord’s work in his life, as did the disciples by untying the first bindings by https://coptic-treasures.com/ means of the Holy Spirit. They then offer them as a divine animal to ride, going freely towards the higher Jerusalem (Gal 4:26) instead of his first village and the deeds of object slavery. St. John Chrysostom says, “He symbolized humanity to those two beasts since there is some similarity between them. For, the donkey according to the law, is a defiled animal, and the most stupid animal that is loaded with weight; it is dumb, weak, defiled and burdened with weight. This was the situation of humanity before coming of Christ. They were defiled with every passion and insensibility. Their words were harsh, and were stupid because they disregarded God. There is nothing more stupid than when man scorns the Creator, and worships the works of his hands, as if these have created him. They were weak in the spirit, gluttonous, and they forgot their heavenly roots, and have become slaves to lust and the devils. They were heavily burdened, groaning under the weight of dark idolatry and its superstition.” St. Cyril the great says, about this, “The God of all has created man on earth with a mind that discerns in wisdom. He has the power to comprehend, but Satan has deceived him. Even though he is created in God’s image, he was misled. He no longer knew the Creator, the making of all. Satan sloped down with the people of the earth to the basest degree of stupidity and ignorance. The righteous king David knew this, and cried bitterly, saying, (Ps 49:12) “Nevertheless man, though in horror, does not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.” It is possible that the donkey, of older years, symbolizes the Jewish assembly for it has become beastly. They paid no attention, except what is very little, to the law. They cared less about the prophets and the saints. Moreover, they disobeyed Christ, who called them to the faith, and the opening of their eyes, saying, (John 8:12) “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” The darkness about which he speaks of here, undoubtedly, concerns the mind; and it means ignorance, blindness, and absolute unreasoning. As for the colt, that was not yet used for riding, this symbolizes the new people that was called from among the atheists.” This, too, was deprived of reason by nature. They were headlong in wrongdoing, but Christ has become their wisdom (Co 2:3) “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” This is why the colt was brought by means of the two disciples sent by Jesus for this purpose. What does this mean? It means that Christ called the atheists by shinning the light of Truth on them. This is served in two ways; the prophets and the apostles. The atheists were won over to the faith by the apostles’ preaching, who used words from the law and the prophets. One of them says to those called to the faith, so as to know about Christ’s coming; (2 Peter 1:19) “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heard as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” When the daylight dawned by the shine of the truthful light, the prophetic word was no longer a small lantern, but has rather become equal to the beams of the morning star. https://coptic-treasures.com/ The colt was brought from the village, which refers to uncivilized thoughts of the atheists. These were unlike those educated in the city, for they lived in a rough and tough rival method. Theses do not continue in this situation regarding the uncivilized mind. They are rather changed to a peaceful and wise condition, by their submission to Christ, the teacher of these mothers. Therefore, the colt was disregarded, for Christ did not ride it, although it was previously used to be ridden and was submissive to its riders. He used the donkey which was untrained and unused by anyone. As I said previously the Jewish syndicate was rejected, which was previously over-ridden by the law, and he accepted the donkey, the people taken from the Gentiles. This symbolic meaning said by St. Cyril the great was taken from the scholar Oreganess who said, “The old Jewish syndicate was symbolized by the donkey, for it was tied by its iniquities. The colt too was blinded, as a symbol of the newborn people of the Gentiles. Because the Savior drew near, and the way to the heavenly Jerusalem became open, he commanded it be loosened through the teachings of his disciples to whom he gave the Holy Spirit, saying, (John 20:22,23) “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” He moreover says, “His need was as such, that when he sits on them they will be freed of their burden, he connected what he sat upon, not that he was the one to rest by their means.”” St. John Chrysostom says, “The colt meant the church and the new congregation that was previously not devout, but now it has become pure, for Jesus was there upon it.” Second: St. Jerome speaks of the two disciples that the Lord has sent, saying, “He sent his two disciples, one of them for the circumcised people and the other for the Gentiles.” But St. Hillary, bishop of Poitier thinks the two disciples were sent to the Gentiles, one to Samaria, that had some knowledge of God, and the other one to the rest of the Gentiles. He said, “The donkey and the colt refer to the call of the doubled Gentiles. The Samaritans worshiped God through their rituals, and they were referred to by the donkey. As for the Gentiles, they were referred to by the colt, for they were not yet used to carrying loads.” In this way the Lord sent two to set free those who were under the bonds of superstition. Samaria believed by means of Philip, and Carnelians believed in Christ as the prime of the Gentiles, by means of St. Peter. St. Jerome noticed in the gospel of St. Luke that the colt had many friends. It is as if those people were subjected not to one iniquity or to one devil, but to many. There are they who yielded by means of the apostles’ preaching, and have left all to the real Master, Jesus Christ. Third: St. Ambrosios speaks of the divine authority given to the two disciples to untie the donkey and the colt, saying; “It was not possible to loosen them except at the Lord’s command. For, the hand of the apostles, sent by the Lord could loosen them.” The scholar Oregances says, “This donkey was primarily carrying Balaam (Numbers 22), but now it is carrying Christ, this is it which was loosened by the disciples. It has been freed https://coptic-treasures.com/ from the bonds that tied her down. This is because the Son of God sat on it, and entered with it the Holy city of the heavenly Jerusalem.” St. Jerome says, “Just as the Lord has sent his disciples to loosen the donkey and the colt so he rides on it, he likewise sends them to you, to loosen you from the bonds of worldly concerns, and to leave the milk and the straw of Egypt, and hence follow him for he is the real Moses. You will then enter the promised land through the wilderness.” Four: The Lord asked the disciples to tell the owner of the donkey and the colt “The Lord is in need of them.” Indeed, he is looking upon the entire humanity, not as he is above it, but as if he is in need of everyone. He asks for our hearts to be a dwelling place for him, and our life to be a heavenly ship to carry him. St. John Chrysostom noticed the Lord did not ask them to say, “Your Lord needs them” neither “Our Lord needs them” is Lord of the entire humanity. Even the sinners feel grateful to him, although they very freely belonged to Satan. What is surprising is that the owner of the donkey and the core did not argue with them, but he gave what he owned to the Lord. As St. John Chrysostom says, “If he who did not know Christ gave in and yielded, so how much more is it appropriate for his disciples to offer him everything.” Five: St. Mathew the evangelist declares that what was happening was prophesied previously by Zachary the prophet (Matt 21:4) “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion ‘behold, your king is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey!’’” St. John Chrysostom moreover says, “The prophet Zechariah was known, and the Jews’ envy and their rejection of Christ was clear when he went into the temple; he therefore warned them ahead and gave them this sign so they may know him.” The Lord Jesus spoke of his love to his bride, and he belittled himself before her so he would serve her. When entering Jerusalem to stretch out his hand to humanity as a groom to her, he did not go on horseback with men running to him, as Absalom, son of David did when he went to his father’s city (2 Sam 5:1). Neither did he use chariots and horses as Adonis did (1 Kings 1:5). He did not sound the trunyset and flute as happened with Solomon (1 Kings 1:38-40). He who sits on the heaven of heavens has previously sent to Elijah a fiery Chariot. But as for the Lord, he rode a donkey and a colt, foal of a donkey, even though it was he who was seen by Isaiah, sitting on his high throne, on the Cherubim’s’ Chariots, on a majestically throne and the tails filling up the alter (Is 6:1). St. Jacob El Serougy sings Chantingly: https://coptic-treasures.com/ “You love made you descend from the chariot to an ordinary donkey, instead of the indescribable cherubim hosts, what the mercies have brought you done from among the bull, the faces, and the wings of fire, so that the foal of a donkey gives you the praise. In the chariot the heavenly hosts shout loud your glory. But as for here the scorned debased colt carries you to the heavenly hosts.” The flying cherubims of fire bless you, and here the children praise you with their hymns. The angels of light, with the brushes of light pave his way, and the disciples here put their clothes before him. The mighty had come down from his father to visit our place. With his will he reached the limits of humility. He got on the donkey in modesty to visit his people. Zechariah the prophet carried the violin of the Spirit, and hurried before him chanting joyfully his prophecy. He touched his chords and began to sing saying, (Zech 9:9) “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem behold, your king is coming to you; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” St. John Chrysostom comments on the Lord using a donkey and a colt, saying, “Even though the prophet has lived long before the Lord’s coming, yet he says ‘Behold!’ This is to show that he about whom he is speaking is their king even before his birth. Whenever you see him do not say ‘we have no king but Caesar. He has come to save you, if you understand him, but, if you don’t, he will be against you. He came ‘lowly’ so you would not fear his greatness, but you would rather love his gentleness. He will not come riding a gold chariot, and neither will he be clothed in silk, nor riding a horse of fire like those ready to fight in animosity. But he will come on a donkey, a friend to peace and serenity.’” Six: (Matt 21:6,7) “So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road.” We have said previously, to offer clothes to someone refers to his becoming a ruler (Is 3:6). At this point the disciples came forth representing the church, proclaiming their acceptance of the Groom as head and ruler. They threw their old robes so us to enjoy the Lord Jesus himself as the robe of righteousness in which they are wrapped with and hide in. They took off the jail clothes with Gehoiachin (Jer. 52:33) so they could sit with the Groom, the king of kings. They will then hear his sweet words (Song of Sol 4:11) “How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse…and the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.” In their turn they will answer, (Is 61:10) “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ St. Jerome speaks of these clothes, saying, “The clothes of these two disciples they had put on the animal, refer to the teaching of righteousness, or to the interpretation of the Holy Book, and to the truth of the Church. Unless the soul is adorned with these things and wrapped in them, it will not be worthy of carrying the Lord.” Seven: (Matt 21:8) “Others cut down branches from the trees and spread then on the road.” These were branches of palm trees and olive branches which they used. In (John 12:13) “They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him.” The multitudes declared the joy of the church, in its triumph of the Lord. The palm branches were mixed with the olive ones; it was as if the spirit of triumph was blended with the Spirit of peach. The Lion ha been laid in the grave, and so death was terrified, and the doors of Hades were exploded. This offered great peace for the soul, for it was exalted above death, and entered to the father’s embrace in everlasting reconciliation. St. Augustine says, “The palm branches are a motto of praise, which means victory! For, the Lord was coming for victory over death by means death. Also, with his triumphant cross he has overcome Satan, the ruler of death.” The branches of the trees here, may have referred to the prophecies of the Old Testament, which we cut so as to spread the way for us, for the Messiah the Saviour’s coming in to our hearts. It was quite impossible for the world to accept our Lord Jesus, for being the Messiah the Saviour it those prophecies had not been spread before him in our minds and hearts, declaring his person. Eight: (Matt 21:9) “Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest.” The multitudes welcomed him joyfully and exalted him as ‘a king’ the Son of David, for it is only he who could save them, and exalt them to the highest. But what do those multitudes before, and those following, stand for? St. Jerome says, “The multitudes who believed in the Lord before the gospel came before him, and those who believed in him after the gospel, followed him. All of them in unity praised him in one voice and witnessed of him.” This symbolic interpretation St. Jerome copied from the scholar Oreganus who said, “We can say that those who came before are the saintly prophets who lived before his coming. But as for those who followed, these are the apostles who were close to him, after the coming of the word of God. They all declared in uniformity, in one voice, that the Saviour has become incarnate and human.” St. John Chrysostom says, “those prior ones declared prophetically of the Lord’s coming, and those that followed praised and declared that his coming has been fulfilled.” In this way the multitudes welcomed him. Before him, came those shouting joyfully, representing the men of the Old Testament, who saw him with the eyes of faith through the prophecies. Those who followed him from behind praised him, representing, the men of the New Testament who were blessed with what the prophets had longed for. https://coptic-treasures.com/ Their praise was concentrated on proclaiming the salvation, saying ‘Hosanna’ or ‘Hoshanna’. Which is a Hebrew word that has been left the same in most of the translation. This is why St. Augustine things it an exclamation make revealing a state of mind, more than it does a particular meaning. Even though most of the fathers and scholars think it means ‘Save us’. St. Jerome says, “It means that the coming of Christ is the salvation of the world.” The words ‘Hosanna to the Son of David….Hosanna in the highest’ as the scholar Oreganus says, “They praised his humanity by crying out ‘Hosanna to the Son of David.’ They praised his absolute correction to the house of God by crying out ‘Hosanna in the highest’.” St. Jerome says, “This means that salvation is in the highest, pointing clearly that the coming of Christ means the salvation that does not touch mankind alone, but the entire universe as well. He therefore linked the worldly issues with the heavenly ones (Phil 2:10).” St. Augusine comments on the words, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’ saying, “We understand from his words ‘in the name of the Lord’ more so by the words ‘in the name of God the Father. It could also be understood that it is in his own name, since he is the Lord. He himself said, (John 5:43) “I have come in my Father’s name and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.” The real teacher of modesty in Christ who gave himself up and was obedient till death, the death of the cross (Phil 2:8). But he did not lose his godliness by his teaching of humility. On one hand he is equal to the Father, and on the other hand he is similar to us. Being equal to God the father, he brought about our existence, and in being similar to us, he has saved us from perishing.’” Nine: (Matt21: 10,11) “And when he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying ‘Who is this?’ So the multitudes said, ‘this is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee!’” In this way, when our Jesus enters into our inner Jerusalem to establish his kingdom in us by the cross, all the heart shakes offering all his feelings and emotions and love to the new king. It is then that man regains his peace, and gets reconciled to heaven, and he even becomes a new heaven. 2. The Purifying the Temple: When the Lord enters our inner Jerusalem, he goes into a holy place. He himself cleans it, and he makes a whip to expel the sellers of pigeons, and twins the tables of the tax-collectors, saying, (Matt 21: 13) “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of thieves.” What is this whip other than the Holy Spirit, sent by the Son from the Father to prick the conscience for iniquity? The Holy Spirit grants the inward repentance, and gives absolution from sin through the church. https://coptic-treasures.com/ By means of the planning Holy Spirit, the Lord brings back to his holy place in us his sanctification that it had lost, by converting our inner life from ‘the life of prayer’ to a commercial work even in the spiritual matters. Instead of having the heart a divine treasure, where the Lord Jesus himself is inside, a heavenly treasure that never perishes, the heart gets confused with the accounts of money changes and the selling of doves. The immense peace of God is taken away, and it gets occupied with temporary disturbance that chokes the soul. St. Jerome thinks the Jewish priests used to make the most from the Passover feast, in which the Jews from all over the world used to come to offer sacrifices. They therefore changed the temple to a commercial center. They set the tables of the money changes, to offer loans to the people so as to buy the sacrifices. They offered them not by the interest money, for this is forbidden by the law, but by actual gifts, which in reality are covered interest money. This is a painful picture in which the Lord’s temple has diverted from its goal. The priests have lost their spiritual work, and have changed their mission to collecting money. As the scholar Oreganus says, “Let everyone be expelled of those people who sell in the temple, particularly if doves are sold. That is, if this man sells for money what the Holy Spirit has revealed to him, the doves, and he does not teach of him fro free. He is selling the work of the Spirit, and is expelled from the Lord’s altar.” The shepherds lose their spiritual work, and convert the Word of God, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to trading. As St. Jerome says, “The Lord Jesus enters every day into his father’s temple, and he expels from his church all over the world, bishops, priests, deacons and congregation, and he addresses them with the same accusation, that they are sellers and buyers. What I am saying about the church, is applied by each one to himself, for the apostle says that we are God’s temple, and the Spirit of God dwells in us. Let our hearts be free of any trading, or a market for buyers and sellers, and free of any desire to receive gifts. Otherwise the Lord will enter in fury and will cleanse his temple without any lenience, in another way, other than that of the whip. He will raise from the thieves’ den and the house of commerce, a house of prayers.” St. Jerome comments on driving out the sellers of doves, and upturning the tables of the tax collectors, saying, “Most People think that his greatest miracle is that of raising up Lazarus from the dead, or that of opening the eyes of him who was born blind. In my opinion I believe the most amazing miracle is that one person, despised and dishonored, having no remarkable religions position, who has come to be crucified, could have struck with only one single whip, amidst the scribes and Pharisees. These were rebellions against him, and could see with their own eyes the ruin done to their money gains. He drove out the big amber of people, and upturned their money tables, and broke their seats; for there was fiery flame kindled from his eyes. The greatness of his divinity shone on his face; therefore none of the priests could lay head on him. At any rate, according to human calculations, the temple lost, in the eyes of the religious leaders, a great deal at that time; for he drove out the buyers and sellers and upturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of dove seelers. But, with the https://coptic-treasures.com/ logic of faith the temple obtained its sanctity for the Lord’s coming in his own person in it, which did not matter to them at all. Instead of the worldly commerce there came the heavenly treasure himself filling the temple up with peace and glory. He gave vision to the blind, and healed the crippled and could make them walk (Matt 21:14) “Then the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.” St. Jerome also says, “If he had not upturned the tables of the money changers, and the chairs of the dove sellers, the blind and the lame would not have been worthy of regaining their vision, and, of walling quickly.” When the Lord dwells in the heart, he destroys all evil, and anything linked to this evil and the blessing of the Lord dwells in it. Instead of the spiritual blindness, our inward eyes are opened to witness what is heavenly. Our inward feet are healed, and our souls are released in the power of the Spirit towards eternity, after it had stopped walking for a long time, in the kingly way. 3. The Children’s Praise: (Matt 21:15-17) As the children’s tongues and infants were opened in praise (Matt 21:16) the chief priests and the scribes were angry. The little children have not read the prophecies, and neither have they seen any of the miracles. But their meek hearts got opened to the king, and their helpless tongues uttered in inward joy and glory. The chief priests and the scribes had been entrusted with the prophecies, and interpreted them. The wise men also confirmed them, and they have witnessed the miracles. But despite all of this, their stony hearts were shut before the king, and were filled with misery instead of giving praise. They cried out in anger (Matt 21:16) “Do you hear what these are saying?” For real, the children have declared the joyful kingdom of God, whereas the chief priests revealed their wrath about the evil kingdom that has no peace whatsoever. Father Moses says, “Wherever the kingdom of heaven is found, for sure the joyful eternal life is there. And wherever the kingdom of Satan is found, no doubt there is death and the grave. He who is in Satan’s kingdom will not be able to thank God, for the prophet says (Psalm 115:17,18) “The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence. But the living (who live to God and not to sin or to the world, we praise the Lord from now to the end of ages. Alleluia)”” 4. In the House of Bethany: (Matt 21:17) “Then he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and he lodged there.” If we go back to the look of Ezekiel, we find God was concerned about those whom he called ‘the rest’. These were of a few number who obeyed the Lord and listened to him. God pays attention to them, even in the midst of strict discipline which was observed subisucrsively by the people, priests and leaders. https://coptic-treasures.com/ Here too, even though Jerusalem rebelled against the Lord, by means of the scribes, he Pharisees and the Sadducees with the priests and chief priests, yet he found a place of rest in a village close by ‘Bethany.’ He was eager to go to this house, which is belonged to Lazarus, Mary and Martha, so he would rest there. ‘Bethany’ means ‘the house of suffering and pain.’ The world runs after earthly luxury and pleasures, but the Lord finds his rest in no other place than in the heart that becomes ‘Bethany’, a heart that bears the suffering for the sake of the kingdom. People want out by the thousands to welcome the Lord in Jerusalem. But he has found no open warm hearts to receive him like those of this house. St. Jerome comments on the Lord’s going to Bethany, saying, “He was poor indeed, and far from being a person who loves to show off. He therefore could not find in the big city Jerusalem a sheltering place or a home but he rather stayed at Lazarus and his sisters, very small home at Bethany.” 5. The Withered Fig Tree: The Lord’s kingdom could not be established except by the destruction of the kingdom of darkness. This is why, because he wished to plant his holy vineyard, he had to destroy the unfruitful fig tree. Indeed, the fig tree had attractive leaves, to which the hungry person comes thinking he would find some fruit to eat, but he returns still hungry. In this sance way the Jews had their green leaves, such as their knowledge of God, and their learning of the law, also keeping record of the prophecies. But despite this, they had no inner life that produced any fruits. They were tied to appearances that seemed outwardly bright, but they were cut off from live depths. They paid attention to literal things, but not to the spirit. Therefore what the Lord did was to destroy literal observance so as to establish the spirit, the donor of life. The Lord stood before the barren fig tree, and so it withered by one word of his mouth. As St. Jerome says, “The night darkness disappeared with the beams of morning light.” St. Augustine comments on condemning the fig tree, saying, “The Lord Jesus realized that a particular tree deserved to become withered, for it had the leaves, yet no fruits. This tree is the Jewish assembly. They had all the writing of the prophets, which were only leaves, and Christ was hungry asking for fruit and could find nothing on it. Christ could not find himself among the fruit; for he who does not have Christ, has no fruit. He who does not cling to the unity of Christ, does not have Christ in him; moreover, he who has no love…listen to the apostle when he says, (Gat 5:22) “But the fruit of the spirit is love.” The apostle shows the greatness of this cluster by means of this fruit.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ We find the fig tree condemned because it has leaves yet with no fruits. In the beginning of humanity, when Adam and the sinned, they made for themselves covering of the leaves of fig trees (Gen 3:7). This refers to iniquity. Nathaniel, too, was under the fig tree as if he were under the shade of death. The Lord saw him, and he takes care of those about whom is said, (Is 9:2) “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” When the tree withered, the disciples were amazed; so the Lord told them (Matt 21:21) “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea’ it will be done.” As St. Augustine says, “The fig tree of the Jews has withered, because it has rejected to carry Christ in it as a living fruit. This is why the Lord says, (Is 5:6) “I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.” But in faith, the Lord Jesus went out, the real mountain, and was cast into the Gentile sea, so the prophetic words would be fulfilled (Is 49:6) “I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”” If we have the faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, he not only dries up our old fig tree that has a holy place in our hearts, but also he himself enters in us, as the mountain in cast in to the sea, so that he becomes the mystery of salvation for us. With faith we are blessed by everything in Christ Jesus, so long as we obtain him in us. St. Felixinos says, “Faith gives an a divine power in him, since he believes that everything he wants he does.” 6. The Rulers Argue with Him: Because the Lord has given a blow to the kingdom of sin, particularly to hypocrisy, and thereby establishing the kingdom of righteousness, the chief priests and the elders of the people rebelled. It was as if they were defending the darkness, and asked him (Matt 21:23) “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” This question was not to obtain the blessing of spiritual knowledge for their own construction, but it was rather to seize the chance to attack him. This is why he did not answer them, but he rather asked them another question as a response, (Matt 21:24,25) “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: the baptism of John --- where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They asked him in cunningness ‘by what authority do you do these things?’ St. Cyril the great says, they thought they would hurt his feelings as a breaker of the Mosaic law, for he was not of the Levi tribe, but from the tribe of Judah. He had thereby no right to teach or interpret the law…etc. They did not relies he was the one who had set the law. The Lord answered them wisely, and he subdued their cunningness by his question about St. John the Baptist, (Matt 21:26) “And they reasoned among themselves https://coptic-treasures.com/ saying, ‘If we says ‘from heaven he will say to us, ‘why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say ‘from men’, we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.’’” As much as we come forth to the Lord in a lowly heart, as much as we enter into his mysteries. He rejoices for us, and he leads us in his holy spirit to know his immeasurable mysteries. But he who uses the worldly smartness can never go in to him. He will rather stay outside, and be deprived of knowing him. The Pharisees, the priests and the elders of the multitudes have lost their lowliness, and they asked for their personal glory. They were therefore afraid of the people and could not come to the truth. As St. Cyril the great says, “Notice the acute cunningness of the Pharisees, for they ran away from the truth, and have rejected the light. They did not fear committing iniquity. 7. The Parable of the Two Sons and the Vineyard: When the Lord destroys iniquity, he offers a justification for his action. At this point he was entering Jerusalem, and the religious leaders were rebellions against him. He therefore made it clear it was necessary to cast them out from the vineyard, and to place others, able to shepherd with a new concept, appropriate to his kingdom. The parable we have in hand, the Lord of glory is manifested as a landlord asking his two sons to work in his vineyard, which is, his church for the account of the heavenly kingdom. The first one represents the Gentiles who began their life by rejecting to work. But they repented later, and went to work in the vineyard. The second one refers to the Jews, who said, (Matt 21:30) “I go sin,” but they did not go. Truly the Jews accepted the work in the kingdom, but it was a wordy acceptance with no work at all. They therefore cast themselves out form the vineyard, to leave their place for the Gentiles who did not listen to God at the beginning, but then they obeyed him. It is really difficult for those entrusted people over God’s word to leave their positions, for not believing in the truth, and leave them to the tax collectors and prostitutes who went ahead of them to God’s kingdom through their faith. 8. The Parable of theWicked Vinedressers: the Lord summarized the entire history of salvation in this parable for he showed clearly God’s tender love. “He planted a vineyard and set hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.” He entrusted them over the vineyard after he had provided for them in every way for the work. But when he sent his servants asking for the fruit, the vinedressers beat some of them, killed others, and stoned them. The same thing was done for another time, and finally, (Matt 21:37-39) “Then last of all he sent his son to them saying, ‘they will respect my son.’ But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘this is the heir. Come let us kill him and seize his inheritance’. So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ In the previous parable the Jews manifested themselves as speakers with no work or deeds. They therefore have lost their position, and were replaced in their work by those who repented over their pas. Here the Lord reveals to them that throughout history they were not only idle, but they have also persecuted God’s men most cruelly. Even the son of God himself, when he came as the only heir, they cast him out of Jerusalem so as to kill him. He pronounced the verdict on them from their own mouths, for he asked them (Matt 21:40-44) “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” they said to him, ‘He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.’ Jesus said to them ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures ‘the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’ therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this tone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.’ In this way the Lord showed them the result, which is the necessity to pull down the old building, so the kingdom of God would be established on a new foundation. What is this rejected cornerstone? It is said that when Solomon’s temple was being built, the builders found a very huge stone, and they thought it is of no use, and so disregarded it. But when they needed a rock for the cornerstone, they found nothing better than this rejected rock. This was a symbol of the Lord Jesus who was rejected by the Jewish religious people. They did not know that which connects the two walls in the new temple, binds the Jews as well as the Gentiles in him, so all would become members in the new kingdom. St. Cyril the great explained this parable more in detail, for he said, “If anyone investigates intelligently what is meant here by those words, he will find the entire history of the children of Israel briefly spoken of in these words, who is her who has planted the vineyard? What is understood by the planted vineyard is made clear by the palmist when he speaks of the Israelites (Ps 80:8,9) “You have brought a vine out of Egypt; you have cast out the nations, and planted it. You prepared room for it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land.” The devout prophet Isaiah declares the same issue, saying (Is 5:1) “My will-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.” He also speaks more strongly more clearly what was said in a mysterious way (Is 5:7) “For the vineyard and traveled for a long time. If God fills everyone and is not absent from any existing creature, then how can the landowner travel for a long time? This means that after they had seen him as a burning fire when he came down on Mount Sinai to speak with Moses about the covenant, Moses was the mediator between God and the people; since that time he did not manifest himself visibly. He rather used the analogies taken from human deeds. Therefore his relation with them was as someone who has traveled away from them to a far off place.”” https://coptic-treasures.com/ Hence, as I have mentioned though he traveled, yet he was very much concerned about his vineyard. He sent to them honest servants in three different stages to ask for the harvest or the fruits from the barns of his vineyard. He has not left any period of lapse between these stages in which he did not send prophets or righteous ones to advise Israel, and urge them to offer fruits, according to the law, for the glory of life. But they were wicked, disobedient and hard hearted. Their hearts were so cruel that they would not listen to any advice, even if it was for their own good. We can see Isaiah the prophet, who was a person that went through so much toil and hardship but yet it was in vain. He said, (Is 53:1) “Who has believed our report?” They disregarded the messengers sent to them (Luke 20:10) “and sent hem away empty-handed” for they had nothing good to offer to God who sent them. Jeremiah, too, rebuked the Jewish people and their rulers because of their arrogance. He warned them saying, (Jer 6:10) “To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear? Indeed, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them, and they have no delight in it.” At another place he talks to Jerusalem in this way (Jer 51:9) “We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country; for her judgment reached to heaven and is lifted up to the skies.” As I said, he calls Jerusalem Babylon; for it is not any different than Persia, with Babylon as the capital city, for it was disobedient and stubborn. They did not submit to the holy law, and maybe also because it has become scorned for not knowing God. It has chosen to worship the creation and not the Creator. It also worshiped its handcrafts; for Israel was wrong in leaving the faith and worshiping idols. This is the way by which they cast out the messengers most shamefully. The landlord of the vineyard thought within himself “What shall I do?” (Luke 20:13). It is appropriate for us to investigate in details the meaning of these words, is the landlord using these words because he no longer has other servants? Certainly not. God is not in need of any servants to fulfill his sanctified will. But as a physician he says to the patient, ‘what shall I do?’ We understand by this that the physician has used every source of medical technique but all in vine. This is why we confirm that the landlord of the vineyard has been very gentle and caring with the vinedressers. But the vineyard has not benefited anything. This is why he says, ‘what shall I do?’ and what is the result? He wished to fulfill a greater goal, for he said ‘I shall send my beloved son, they might fear him when they see him.’ After he had sent the servants, he sent the son like one not to be counted among the servants, for he is the Lord and the real son. If he has chosen to take the four of a slave for the sake of provision, yet he is God, the Son of God the father himself, he has a natural authority. Have there given any honor to the one who came, being the Son, the Lord, the Omnipotent, for he is the heir to al what belongs and concerns the father? No, they have rather killed him outside the vineyard, and plotted together for a crime full of evil stupidity and ignorance, saying, “Let us kill him so we take the inheritance.” But tell me, how can we accept this? Are you the Son of God the Father? Will you naturally have the inheritance? If you cast for away the heir from the way, how can you be a lord who covets the inheritance. How can this not be ludicrous and silly? For the Lord, being the Son, and as the real heir to him, he has the authority with the Father. He has become man, and has called those who believe in him to come and share his kingdom, and he would be an owner with them. But as for these, they https://coptic-treasures.com/ wished to obtain the kingdom all by themselves, without him, usurping for themselves the inheritance of the Lord. This aim was impossible, and full of ignorance. This is why the devout King David said about them in the psalm (Ps 2:4) “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision.” This is why the Lord cast out the Jewish assembly due to their resistance of God’s will, and asked them to hand over the vineyard they were entrusted with, and that produced no fruits. God has said at another place (Jer 12:10) “Many rulers have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden (defiled) my portion underfoot; they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.” Isaiah also said (Is 3:13,14) “The Lord stand up to plead, and stands to judge the people. The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and his princes: ‘For you have eaten up the vineyard.’ They have therefore returned the land without any fruit, as evil men, and hence in all fairness they will fall under hard ordeals because of their negligence and their killing to the Lord.” ‘He will give the vineyard to others’; Who are these others? These are the saintly apostles, and the preachers of the evangelical commandments, as well as they servants of the New Testament. These know how to discipline people in an appropriate way, without any blame. They are able to lead the people in every way that pleased God in a wonderful way. This is what you learn from the Lord’s words to Isaiah to the Jewish mother which is their assembly (Is 1:25) “I will turn my hand against you, and thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all your counselors as at the beginning.” As I have said, he is referring with these words to the New Testament preachers, about whom was said at another place in Isaiah (Is 61:6) “But you shall be named the priests of the Lord, and they shall call you the servants of our God.” But as for the vineyard being given to other vinedressers, not only to the saintly apostles, but also to those who followed them, though they were not of Israelite blood. This was declared by the God of all as said by Isaiah, about the Gentile church and the rest of Israel (Is. 61:5) “Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen, and your vinedressers.” In truth, many of the Gentiles are counted as saints, and have become teachers and trainers. Up till today, there are men of Gentile origin who occupy remarkable positions in the churches. They sow the seeds of righteousness, which belong to Christ in the believers’ hearts. They are returning the Gentiles who were entrusted, as beautiful vineyards in God’s eyes.” St. Cyril also comments on the Lord’s words about himself as being the rejected corner stone in this way, “The savior is the chosen stone, and he was rejected by those who were supposed to build the Jewish assembly, and he has become the cornerstone. The Holy Book draws the similarity between him and the cornerstone because he gathers both nations together: Israel and the Gentiles in one faith and one love (Eph 2:15)” 9. The Rulers Perceive his Parables: (Matt 21:45,46) “Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitudes, because they took him for a prophet.” https://coptic-treasures.com/ The chief priests and the Pharisees perceived the Lord’s words with their minds, but they did not accept them in a spirit of love and construction. Instead of repenting for what they committed, they thought of plotting against him.
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