Mt 21:1
21:1 And {1} when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come
     to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two
     disciples,

 (1) Christ by his humility, triumphing over the pride of this
     world, ascends to true glory by the shame of the cross.

Mt 21:3
21:3 And if any [man] say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord
     hath need of them; and straightway {a} he will send them.

     (a) He that will say anything to you will let them go,
         that is, the ass and the colt.

Mt 21:5
21:5 Tell ye the {b} daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh
     unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the
     foal of an ass.

     (b) The city of Sion.  This is a Hebrew idiom, common in
         the Lamentations of Jeremiah.

Mt 21:7
21:7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their
    {c} clothes, and they set [him] {d} thereon.

    (c) Their uppermost garment.
    (d) Upon their garments, not upon the ass and the colt.

Mt 21:9
21:9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed,
     cried, saying, {e} Hosanna to the Son of David: {f} Blessed
     [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the
     highest.

     (e) This was an ancient kind of cry, which they voiced in
         the feast of Tabernacles, when they carried boughs
         according as God commanded; Le 23:40.  And the
         word is corruptly made of two, for we should say,
         "Hoshiang-na", which is as much as to say, "Save I pray
         thee".
     (f) Well is it to him that comes in the Name of the Lord,
         that is to say, whom the Lord has given us for our
         King.

Mt 21:10
21:10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, {g} all the city was
      moved, saying, Who is this?

      (g) That is, all the men of Jerusalem were moved.

Mt 21:15
21:15 {2} And when the chief priests and scribes saw the
      wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in
      the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they
      were sore displeased,

 (2) Those that should be masters of godliness are the ones that
     envy most the glory of Christ: but in vain.

Mt 21:16
21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus
      saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth
      of babes and sucklings thou hast {h} perfected praise?

      (h) You have made most perfect.  We read in David, "Thou
          hast established" or "grounded", and if the matter is
          considered well, the evangelist says here the same
          thing, for that which is most perfect is stable and
          sure.

Mt 21:17
21:17 {3} And he left them, and went out of the city into
      Bethany; and he lodged there.

 (3) Christ does in this way forsake the wicked, for he has a
     consideration and regard for his Church.

Mt 21:18
21:18 {4} Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he
      hungered.

 (4) Hypocrites will at length have their masks discovered, and
     any false faces taken away.

Mt 21:21
21:21 {5} Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto
      you, If ye have faith, and {i} doubt not, ye shall not
      only do this [which is done] to the fig tree, but also if
      ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be
      thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

 (5) How great the force of faith is.
     (i) The Greek word signifies a fixing or wavering of
         mind, so that we cannot tell which way to take.

Mt 21:23
21:23 {6} And when he was come into the temple, the chief
      priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he
      was teaching, and said, By what {k} authority doest thou
      these things? and who gave thee this authority?

 (6) Against those who neglect the doctrine and bind the calling
     and vocation to an ordinary succession, going about by that
     false pretext, to stop Christ's mouth.
     (k) Or by what power.

Mt 21:24
21:24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you
      {l} one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will
      tell you by what authority I do these things.

      (l) One thing, that is to say, I will ask you one thing
          first before I answer your questions.

Mt 21:25
21:25 The {m} baptism of John, whence was it? from {n} heaven,
      or of men? And they {o} reasoned with themselves, saying,
      If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did
      ye not then believe him?

      (m) The preaching of John is called by the figure
          "baptism" because he preached the baptism of
          repentance, etc.; Mr 1:4  Ac 19:3.
      (n) From God, and so it is plainly seen how these are set
          one against another.
      (o) Beat their heads about it, and mused, or laid their
          heads together.

Mt 21:31
21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of [his] father? They
      say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I
      say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots {p} go
      into the kingdom of God before you.

      (p) They hurry to the kingdom of God and you go slowly, so
          that you should at least have followed their example.
          Mark then that this word, "go into", is improperly
          taken in this place because none of them followed
          Christ.

Mt 21:32
21:32 For John came unto you in the {q} way of righteousness,
      and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots
      believed him: and ye, when ye had seen [it], repented not
      afterward, that ye might believe him.

      (q) Living uprightly, being of good and honest behaviour;
          For the Hebrews use this word "way" for life and
          manners.

Mt 21:33
21:33 {8} Hear another parable: There was a certain householder,
      which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and
      digged a winepress in it, and built a {r} tower, and let
      it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

 (8) Those men are often the cruellest enemies of the Church, to
     whose faithfulness it is committed: But the vocation of God
     is neither tied to time, place, nor person.
     (r) Made the place strong: for a tower is the strongest
         place of a wall.

Mt 21:38
21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among
      themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and
      let us {s} seize on his inheritance.

      (s) Literally, "let us hold it fast".

Mt 21:41
21:41 They say unto him, He will {t} miserably destroy those
      wicked men, and will let out [his] vineyard unto other
      husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their
      seasons.

      (t) A kind of proverb, showing what punishment the wicked
          are worthy of.

Mt 21:42
21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the
      scriptures, The stone which the {u} builders rejected, the
      same is {x} become the {y} head of the corner: {z} this is
      the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

      (u) Master builders, who are chief builders of the house,
          that is of the Church.
      (x) Began to be.
      (y) The chiefest stone in the corner is called the head of
          the corner: which bears up the couplings or joints of
          the whole building.
      (z) That matter (in that the stone which was cast away is
          made the head) is the Lord's doing which we behold and
          greatly marvel at.

Mt 21:43
21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be
      taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the
      {a} fruits thereof.

      (a) They bring forth the fruits of the kingdom of God, who
          bring forth the fruit of the Spirit, and not of the
          flesh, Ga 5:16-26.

Mt 21:44
21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken:
      but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will {b} grind him to
      powder.

      (b) As chaff used to be scattered with the wind, for he
          uses a word which properly signifies separating the
          chaff from the corn with winnowing, and to scatter it
          abroad.

Mt 21:46
21:46 {9} But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared
      the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

 (9) The wicked can do nothing but what God wills.