Parallelism in Matthew 21 on the Authority of Yeshua and His Disciples

 

• V1 - Yeshua approaches Jerusalem via House of Unripe Figs
• V2-7 - Yeshua claims authority over Jerusalem
• V8-11 - Jerusalem acknowledges his authority
• V12-13 - Yeshua claims authority over Temple
• V14-16 - People acknowledge his authority over Temple
• V17 - Returns from House of Dates via House of Unripe Figs
• V18-19 - Yeshua has authority over fruit of Jerusalem
• V20-22 - Disciples have authority over mount Zion
• V23-25 - Yeshua's authority questioned by the priests
• V26-27 - Priests' authority threatened by people & Yeshua

Bethphage was between Bethany and Jerusalem. The first time Yeshua entered Jerusalem in v1, he was coming from Jericho. The second time in v17, he was coming from Bethany, but both times he had to pass through Bethphage, even though the second half of the narrative doesn't make that explicit.

Bethphage means "house of unripe figs" and Bethany means either "house of dates" or "house of misery". Since fruit figures prominently in this story and literary structure, I suspect that Matthew and Yeshua mean for us to understand it as "house of dates".

Notice that both halves of the parallelism follow this pattern:

1. Approaching Jerusalem

2. Authority over Jerusalem/Zion

3. Authority over the Temple/Priesthood

By entering Jerusalem the way he did, seated on the donkey, Yeshua claimed to be a deliverer and King of Israel. By sitting on the cloaks of the Twelve Disciples and accepting the accolades, cloaks, and palm branches of the people, he also accepted the submission of the people of Jerusalem to his authority. He then entered the Temple and asserted his authority there by driving out the merchants and money changers and reasserting its intended role as a house of prayer for all nations. In turn, the people again acknowledge his authority by bringing their sick for healing and crying out "Hosanna to the Son of David!" 

In the second half of the parallelism, Yeshua repeats his assertion of authority over Zion by inspecting the fruit of the land and cursing an unproductive tree. Even though this was spring time and well before the season for ripe figs, there should at least have been immature fruit buds forming. (Based on my personal experience with fig trees in my yard, which I admit are not the same variety and might behave differently.) This tree might represent the people of Israel outside of Jerusalem, but I believe it is much more likely that it represents the religious leadership of Judah, which he was replacing with the Twelve Disciples.

Yeshua caused the Sadducees and Pharisees to wither away and he destroyed the Temple to keep them from continuing to defile it. In historical terms, this withering happened almost immediately, about 40 years later. In their stead, he appointed the Disciples to leadership over the people, evidenced by using their cloaks as a saddle on the donkey which, in turn, rode over the cloaks of Jerusalem. (See 2 Kings 9:1-13.) The disciples didn't become a replacement priesthood, but they did take over as God's national teachers and judges.

Two related resources:

A chiasm in Mark 11 on the cleansing of the Temple and the withering of the fig tree.

Video teaching on Yeshua's Triumphal Entry, the two donkeys, and the coats and palm branches...

Chiasm on Matza and Houses in Exodus 12:18-22

Keep this out of the house. Keep yourself inside the house.
Cut that person off. Kill this lamb.
Don't eat that. Eat this.

During the week of Unleavened Bread, some things are forbidden in your house and some things are required.

Exodus 12:18-22

• V18-19a – A time in which something is not to be found in your house
• V19b – If anyone eats leavened bread, he is to be cut off from the people
• V20a – Don’t eat anything leavened
• V20b – In your houses
• V20c – Eat unleavened bread
• V21 – The elders of the people are to select lambs according to the families and kill them.
• V22 – A time in which you are not to be found outside your house

Tangent: Many English translations of this passage make it appear that there is a switch from singular to plural in verse 21: select the "lambs" and then kill the "lamb". This is misleading because only the first instance, the plural, actually uses the Hebrew word for lamb, which is tson, a collective noun. The singular of "Passover lamb" only uses the Hebrew word for Passover, which is pesach. The word "lamb" in the latter instance has been inserted by many translators.

A Double Chiasm in Exodus 13:2-18

Remember to Whom you belong. Remember Who has redeemed you from bondage. He doesn't need you. You need Him.

• v2 – First to open the womb is mine.
• V3 – Moses said, Remember how YHWH brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand
• Don't eat leavened bread
• V4 – This is the month of Aviv
• V5 – The land YHWH swore to give you
• Keep it in this month
• V6-7 – Eat unleavened bread
• V8-10 – Tell your son, Remember how YHWH brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand
• V12 – Set apart the first to open the womb.
• V13 – Redeem the firstborn
• V14 – When your son asks, tell him “YHWH brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.”
• V15 – Pharaoh was stubborn & disobeyed
• YHWH killed their firstborn.
• I sacrifice firstborn to YHWH & obey
• V16 – Redeeming the firstborn prompts us to remember that YHWH brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.
• V17-18 – God redeemed Israel from the land of Egypt

For more on chiasms--including how to identify, map, and interpret them--check out The Chiasm Course!

The Firstborn of Egypt and Israel

Exodus 11:5
And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die… 

Although the Torah is explicit that the firstborn males of God's people belong to him, it is implicit that the firstborn males of all other nations also belong to him. No matter one’s cultural inheritance, God’s intent for the firstborn is to act as his family's kinsman redeemer. In taking the firstborn, as opposed to the youngest or the strongest, God denied the Egyptians their kinsmen redeemers. In effect, he told the Egyptians that there was no recourse other than repentance and accepting him as their ultimate redeemer.

Exodus 13:15
...all that openeth the matrix... There appear to be two ways to interpret this phrase. I do not know which is correct, but I suspect the first:

1. "Firstborn" refers to the firstborn child of his father. "Openeth the matrix" is a figure of speech extending from the fact that most households, even in a polygamous culture, will have only one man and one woman, and should not be taken literally. Every house with male children must have a firstborn and only one firstborn. If the first child born in a house is a female, she was the one to "open the matrix," but she is not called the firstborn. If there are two or three wives in a house, there will be a first child born of each wife, but only one firstborn in the house.


2. "Firstborn" refers to the firstborn child of his mother. If a man has ten wives, each of whom bears sons, then ten sons must be redeemed. "Firstborn of man" in verse 13 should be understood to mean "firstborn humans."