Matthew 21:1-22
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus at the Temple
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[e] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
Jesus Curses a Fig Tree
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
As one maps out the timeline of Passion Week and look at Matthew 21, Mark 13 (and the parallel accounts in Matthew 24 and Luke 21), we find that these events actually took place on Holy Tuesday, rather than Holy Monday... While Monday was defined by the action of cleansing the Temple and the initial cursing of the fig tree, Tuesday was the day of teaching and discourse...On Tuesday morning, as Jesus and the disciples walked back into the city, they saw that the fig tree had withered to its roots, which prompted Peter’s question and Jesus’ lesson on faith...
In Matthew 21, not all of the verses occur on Holy Monday...The chapter begins with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, which is the cornerstone of Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1–11), and much of that text consists of Matthew’s narrative descriptions and the shouts of the gathered crowds rather than the direct words of Jesus...According to the chronological harmony of the Gospels, Jesus entered the city on Sunday, looked around the Temple, and then retired to Bethany for the night...The events specifically tied to Holy Monday typically begin at verse 12 when Jesus returns to the city to cleanse the Temple and continues through the cursing of the fig tree in verses 18 through 22...
While Jesus speaks several significant "red-letter" passages in this chapter—such as His declaration that the Temple is a "house of prayer" and His teachings on the power of faith and prayer regarding the withered fig tree—He does not speak every verse...Large portions of the chapter are dedicated to the historical account written by Matthew, as well as the questioning and challenges posed by the chief priests and elders...Furthermore, the parables that conclude the chapter, such as the Two Sons and the Tenants, are often associated with the intensive teaching He did on Holy Tuesday...It is most accurate to view Matthew 21 as a transition from the celebration of Sunday into the authoritative actions of Monday and the profound parables of Tuesday...
The discourse found in Mark Chapter 13, often called the "Olivet Discourse," occurred as Jesus was leaving the Temple for the final time that Tuesday...As they walked away, the disciples remarked on the massive stones and magnificent buildings of the Temple complex...Jesus responded by prophesying that not one stone would be left upon another...Later, as He sat on the Mount of Olives overlooking the city, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately when these things would happen and what the signs of His coming would be...
This chapter is incredibly significant because it contains Jesus’ warnings about future tribulations, the coming of the Son of Man, and the command to "Watch"...It serves as His final public warning to the nation and His private preparation for His followers before the events of the Upper Room and Gethsemane...It is helpful to distinguish that while Monday was a day of "cleansing" the Father's house, Tuesday—and specifically the teaching in Chapter 13—was a day of "warning" about the temporary nature of earthly structures compared to the eternal nature of His words...
Monday of Holy Week, often called Great and Holy Monday or "Fig Monday," marks a dramatic shift in the atmosphere of Jerusalem...Following the celebratory echoes of "Hosanna" from Palm Sunday, Jesus returns to the city from His evening stay in Bethany with a focused, sovereign authority...This day is defined by two primary actions: the cursing of the barren fig tree and the cleansing of the Temple...Together, these events serve as a living parable about the difference between religious appearance and spiritual reality...For us today, Holy Monday is a call to examine the "fruit" of our own lives and to ensure that our hearts are truly houses of prayer rather than cluttered marketplaces of worldly distraction...
The account of the fig tree in Matthew 21:18–22 often puzzles readers because it is one of the few instances where Jesus uses His power to destroy rather than to heal...One might ask why He didn't simply heal the tree to produce more figs...The answer lies in the symbolic nature of the act; the tree represented the religious establishment of Jerusalem at that time...It had the "leaves" of religious profession—the rituals, the titles, and the temple sacrifices—but it lacked the "fruit" of justice, mercy, and true faith...With Jesus cursing the tree, He was not acting out of frustration, but providing a visual warning of the judgment that falls upon spiritual hypocrisy...A tree that looks alive but provides no sustenance is ultimately useless to the Kingdom of Heaven...Healing the tree would have missed the prophetic point: that God desires genuine transformation over empty tradition...
After the encounter with the fig tree, Jesus entered the Temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling...He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, declaring, "My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a 'den of robbers'"...This cleansing was a direct confrontation with the corruption that had seeped into the holiest place on earth...The "money changers" were exploiting the poor, turning worship into a profitable business...By clearing the courts, Jesus was restoring the Temple to its original purpose: a place where all nations could come to seek God's Face...This action mirrors the themes Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, where He emphasized that we cannot serve both God and money...
In the Roman Catholic tradition, Holy Monday also brings us back to Bethany to remember the anointing of Jesus by Mary...This act of "extravagant love" stands in stark contrast to the greed of the money changers and the barrenness of the fig tree...Mary took a jar of expensive perfume, worth a year's wages, and poured it on Jesus' feet, wiping them with her hair...While Judas Iscariot complained about the "waste" of money, Jesus defended her, noting that she was preparing Him for the day of His burial...This moment highlights the core of Holy Monday: while the religious leaders were plotting His death and the merchants were profiting from the pilgrims, one woman understood the worth of the Savior and gave Him her very best...
The significance of Holy Monday for modern Christians is found in the invitation to "cleanse our own temples"...As the Apostle Paul would later write, our bodies are now the temple of the Holy Spirit...We must ask ourselves what "tables" Jesus might need to overturn in our own lives today...Are there areas where we have allowed the "business" of life to crowded out the "house of prayer"?...Like the fig tree, do we have the outward leaves of a Christian life—being ready for service to others and saying the right words—while lacking the fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy, and peace?...Holy Monday challenges us to move beyond the surface and invite the LORD to do a deep work of purification within us...
As we walk through the "Circle of Holy Week," this second day reminds us that Jesus is both a King of Mercy and a Judge of Righteousness...He traveled from Bethany to Jerusalem not just to visit, but to reclaim what was His...The judgment of the fig tree and the cleansing of the Temple were necessary steps on the road to the Cross, showing that the old system of sacrifice was being replaced by a new covenant written on the heart...Let us take this day to sit in the quiet of our "inner room," as Jesus taught in Matthew 6, and offer Him the "perfume" of our sincere devotion...
In conclusion, Holy Monday is a day of preparation and inspection...It calls us to be ready for the return of the Master and to ensure that when He looks at the "branches" of our lives, He finds fruit that will last, and fig trees that produce good fruit...Whether we call it Fig Monday or Great and Holy Monday, the message remains the same: God is looking for a people whose worship is sincere and whose lives reflect the beauty of His Holiness...Let us all see the authority Jesus displayed in the Temple is the same authority He wants to use to bring peace and order to our hearts this week...