Matthew 21 Footnotes

21:12-22 Matthew (and to a lesser extent Luke) differed from Mark on the timing of these events. It appears that Mark recorded the actual chronology, while Matthew and Luke gave a more topical arrangement within the broad chronology. Mark had Jesus merely looking around at the temple on the day of the triumphal entry and cleansing the temple the following day. Matthew and Luke skipped the initial visit and jumped immediately to the cleansing. Mark split the cursing of the fig tree (before the cleansing) and its withering (after the cleansing). Matthew combined both events and reported them immediately after the cleansing.