Matthew 21

“But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did ... they were indignant” (15). While children praised Jesus (16) and “tax collectors and prostitutes” followed him (32), the leaders who used religion to increase their own status and power rejected him. They questioned his authority (23) because it challenged their own. Jesus, as he cleansed the Temple of merchants and manipulators, was opening the Kingdom of God to the humble and sincere (12).

“The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” (43). Rather than public perception, Jesus’ kingdom is about real fruit: humility, gratitude, and sacrificial love.