Matt. 20:1-16 – Jesus told a parable that the kingdom of heaven was like a vineyard, where the owner hired workers throughout the course of the day.  At the end of the day, each worker was paid exactly the same.  Jesus was teaching people that the reward for being part of the kingdom would be the same for all.  There are no gradations of heaven . . . there is just heaven.  Period.  Whether you were an apostle, or just another person in the kingdom, your reward after this life is over is the same.

Matt. 20:17-19 – Jesus told the apostles, for the third time, that He was going to go to Jerusalem and be killed.  His death was not a surprise . . . it was part of God’s plan.

Matt. 20:20-28 – James and John, two of the apostles, wanted a special place in Jesus’ kingdom.  It is interesting to note that this takes place just after Jesus told the parable about everyone’s reward being the same.  Hmmm.  This creates jealousy among the other apostles, which is NOT what the kingdom is about, either.  Jesus then explains that if they want to be great in the kingdom, they need to serve others, not BE SERVED by others.  There are a lot of religious groups where some person or persons have an office and are treated differently, or viewed as being “better.”  But Jesus said that if you wanted to be better, you serve others, instead of being served by others.

Matt. 21:1-11 – Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecy(Zech. 9:9; Ps. 18:25-26) when He entered Jerusalem.  Jesus fulfilled a LOT of OT prophecy. 

Matt. 21:12-17 – Jesus was not always kind and pleasant.  At one point, He saw people doing things in the Temple in Jerusalem  that they had no authority to do there.  He drove out those people who were doing things that were not supposed to be done at the Temple.  Today, many people do things in an attempt to worship God, but they fail because they do things that God did not tell them to do.  If Jesus entered a place of worship today, I wonder who He would drive out?

Matt. 21:18-22 – One day, Jesus was hungry.  He went to a fig tree, but it did not have any figs.  As a result, He cursed the fig tree, and it withered.  Jesus expected figs from a fig tree and He expects Christian living from His disciples.  If a person professes to be following Jesus, but is not, that person will be cursed and wither just like the fig tree(only it will be worse that just withering).

Matt. 21:23-27 – One day, some people asked Jesus Who He had authority from to teach what He was teaching.  Jesus declined to even answer their question unless they answered one of His questions.  They did not, so He did not.  Jesus knew their hearts.  He knew that they would not believe Him regardless of what He said, so He did not answer them.  On the surface, this might seem mean or petty, but if someone had no interest in listening to Jesus and following Him, why bother with them?  So He was rather dismissive of them.  It is important to remember that we do not know someone else’s heart like Jesus did, so we have to refrain from treating people as He did, unless those people clearly demonstrate any interest in following Jesus.

Matt. 21:28-32 – Jesus tells another parable, this time about what it means to be obedient.  A man had two sons.  One son said he would do as his father asked, but did not.  The other son said he would not do what the father asked, but later did do what his father wanted him to do.  Jesus makes the point that saying you will do what your father asks is not enough.  You need to actually do what he said.  The same is true for people who claim to follow Jesus.  Saying you will do what God says is not enough.  You have to do what He says.

Matt. 21:33-46 – Jesus tells another parable.  This time, a man planted a vineyard and turned it over to his servants and went away.  When the harvest time came, he sent servants to get the produce.  They beat and killed those servants.  The master sent his son, so they killed him , too.  Jesus asked His listeners what the owner would do when he returned to those servants.  They replied that he would utterly destroy those servants, which was correct.  Jesus said that God will do the same thing.  Since people in His kingdom(Israel) were not doing what they were supposed to do, God was taking His kingdom away from them and giving it to others.

Matt. 22:1-14 – Jesus told a similar parable next.  This time, a king’s son was getting married, so the king invited all the important people.  They declined, so he invited the “less desirable” people.  They did come.  However, there was one person who came in without the right clothing.  He was evicted from the party and cast out into a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth(a reference to hell).  By the way, all the people who refused the invitation would also be there.  If we do not put on the right clothes, we will also be cast away from God.  In Rom. 13:14, Paul states that we have to clothe ourselves with Jesus.  He made a similar comment in Gal. 3:27 that we put on Christ when we are baptized.

Matt. 22:15-22 – Jesus said to pay your taxes.  And He was telling people to pay their taxes to the Roman government, an extremely violent and corrupt and immoral government.  It doesn’t matter how you feel about the government, you still have to pay your taxes.

Matt. 22:23-33 – Jesus was asked about marriage and heaven.  He stated that there is no marriage in heaven.  Sorry.  If you are looking forward to being married in heaven, apparently you will not be.  This does not mean that you will not know your spouse in heaven; there just will not be that type of exclusive relationship with anyone in heaven.  This should be fine, as being with God for eternity is WAY more than enough.

Matt. 22:34-40 – Jesus was asked what the greatest command was.  This is a reference to the Law of Moses.  Jesus answered that the greatest command was to love God with all your heart, soul and mind.  Nothing is left.  You love God not just more than anyone else.  If you love God will ALL your heart, soul and mind, nothing is left.  Period.  He also said to love your neighbor as yourself.  This is all about how you treat others.  This might sound like a contradiction.  How can you love your neighbor if you love God with ALL.  Loving your neighbor is demonstrating your love for God.  Your neighbor was created in the image of God.  How could you not love your neighbor?

Matt. 23:1-36 – Jesus condemned the religious leaders for some of the following:  having an outward appearance of obedience to God, but not actually obeying Him; keeping people out of the kingdom by not teaching them the truth; swearing falsely based on what they swore on; paying attention to smaller things and not doing major things, like justice, mercy and faithfulness; being full of greed and self-indulgence; and their killing of the prophets God sent to tell them to repent.  These were people who everyone at the time thought were religious and godly.  They were not.

When we read about the things Jesus said, we need to be careful to look at ourselves.  Is He describing me?  And don’t be too quick to dismiss that thought.  Examine yourself closely.  Don’t be satisfied that “you’re okay” just because you feel okay, or because you’ve been doing the same thing for a while now.  None of that matters.  What matters is whether or not you are doing what He said to do.  Let’s be honest with ourselves.  God already knows the truth about us.  Do we know the truth about ourselves?