Lesson 21 – The Kingdom Offered and Refused
Read Matthew 21 – www.bible.com/bible/59/mat.21.esv

In Matthew 21, Jesus offers Himself to the nation of Israel as their King. It is a public offer so all can see, understand, and either accept or reject Him. Many people even come forward to sing the songs and publicly proclaim Him as their King. Those same people will be heard just a few days later, again crying out publicly, but this time for His death.

Why did Jesus come to them as a King of peace rather than of power and victory? Part of the answer is in verse 5 – this was as God had prophesied. But the other point was that Jesus was offering a kingdom of peace. They, however, wanted war and revenge and victory over those who had done them wrong. They were not satisfied with peace.

Was His offer of the kingdom real, or was it just an offer for show? His curse of the fig tree tells us the answer – He expected to find fruit, and cursed the tree only when it was evident there was none. God knew the people of Israel would refuse the kingdom, but that didn’t make the offer any less real – it only made the sin greater because the religious leaders knew what they were doing and they turned the people against Jesus intentionally. Jesus demonstrated His authority to rule by cleaning out the temple, chasing away those who used it only for their own profit or power. The leaders challenged Him openly on this, demanding He answer their questions. Again, He turned their questions back on them, showing the crowds the dishonesty of the leaders’ questions.


Finally, to show everyone listening the truth about their leaders, Jesus told two stories. The first, about 2 sons who receive an assignment from their father and how the sons respond to these assignments, showed how God expects more than just verbal agreement with what He asks of people – He expects obedience as the proof of a good relationship. He charges the leaders with being people who only agree with God verbally but don’t follow through on the things God asks of them.

The second story was about an owner who had spent a lot of time and effort to make his business profitable. Then, when he needed to leave the country for a period of time, he placed his employees in charge of his business, asking them to take care of it until his return. Over a period of time he sent other employees back to see how the business was doing, but the employees who’d been left in charge thought they could keep the business for themselves if they just got rid of these messengers. When the owner finally sent his son to bring back a report, the employees killed the son.

Read the last two verses of this chapter – the religious leaders knew Jesus was sent from God – yet, they determined to kill Him anyway.

*How do we as Christians tell God we’ll honor Him and yet do what pleases us rather than Him?