12 And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and did cast forth all those selling and buying in the temple, and the tables of the money-changers he overturned, and the seats of those selling the doves, 13 and he saith to them, 'It hath been written, My house a house of prayer shall be called, but ye did make it a den of robbers.' 14 And there came to him blind and lame men in the temple, and he healed them, 15 and the chief priests and the scribes having seen the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David,' were much displeased; 16 and they said to him, 'Hearest thou what these say?' And Jesus saith to them, 'Yes, did ye never read, that, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou didst prepare praise?' 17 And having left them, he went forth out of the city to Bethany, and did lodge there,
18 and in the morning turning back to the city, he hungered, 19 and having seen a certain fig-tree on the way, he came to it, and found nothing in it except leaves only, and he saith to it, 'No more from thee may fruit be—to the age;' and forthwith the fig-tree withered. 20 And the disciples having seen, did wonder, saying, 'How did the fig-tree forthwith wither?' 21 And Jesus answering said to them, 'Verily I say to you, If ye may have faith, and may not doubt, not only this of the fig-tree shall ye do, but even if to this mount ye may say, Be lifted up and be cast into the sea, it shall come to pass; 22 and all—as much as ye may ask in the prayer, believing, ye shall receive.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 21:12-22
Commentary on Matthew 21:12-17
(Read Matthew 21:12-17)
Christ found some of the courts of the temple turned into a market for cattle and things used in the sacrifices, and partly occupied by the money-changers. Our Lord drove them from the place, as he had done at his entering upon his ministry, John 2:13-17. His works testified of him more than the hosannas; and his healing in the temple was the fulfilling the promise, that the glory of the latter house should be greater than the glory of the former. If Christ came now into many parts of his visible church, how many secret evils he would discover and cleanse! And how many things daily practised under the cloak of religion, would he show to be more suitable to a den of thieves than to a house of prayer!
Commentary on Matthew 21:18-22
(Read Matthew 21:18-22)
This cursing of the barren fig-tree represents the state of hypocrites in general, and so teaches us that Christ looks for the power of religion in those who profess it, and the savour of it from those that have the show of it. His just expectations from flourishing professors are often disappointed; he comes to many, seeking fruit, and finds leaves only. A false profession commonly withers in this world, and it is the effect of Christ's curse. The fig-tree that had no fruit, soon lost its leaves. This represents the state of the nation and people of the Jews in particular. Our Lord Jesus found among them nothing but leaves. And after they rejected Christ, blindness and hardness grew upon them, till they were undone, and their place and nation rooted up. The Lord was righteous in it. Let us greatly fear the doom denounced on the barren fig-tree.