Matthew 21
21
The Triumphal Entry
1When they approached Jerusalem#Mk 11:1–10; Lk 19:28–38; Jn 12:12–19 and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives,#Zch 14:4; Mt 24:3; 26:30; Lk 19:29,37; 21:37; Jn 8:1; Ac 1:12 Jesus then sent two disciples, 2telling them, “Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.”
4This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
5 Tell Daughter Zion,
“See, your King is coming to you,
gentle, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt,
the foal of a donkey.” # 21:5 Is 62:11; Zch 9:9 #
Is 62:11; Zch 9:9
6The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted:
Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord! # 21:9 Ps 118:25–26
Hosanna in the highest heaven!#Ps 118:25; Mt 9:27; 23:39; Lk 2:14
10When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” 11The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus#Mk 6:15; Lk 7:16; 13:33; 24:19; Jn 1:21; 4:19; 6:14 from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Cleansing the Temple
12Jesus went into the temple#21:12 Other mss add of God#Mk 11:15–18; Lk 19:45–47; Jn 2:14–16 and threw out all those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.#Ex 30:13; Lv 1:14; 5:7; 12:8; Dt 14:25 13He said to them, “It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer,#21:13 Is 56:7 but you are making it a den of thieves!” #Jr 7:11#21:13 Jr 7:11
Children Praise Jesus
14The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that he did and the children shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16and said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
Jesus replied, “Yes, have you never read:
You have prepared # 21:16 Or restored praise#Ps 8:2; Mt 11:25; 12:3,5; 19:4; 22:31
from the mouths of infants and nursing babies?” #21:16 Ps 8:2
17Then he left them, went out of the city to Bethany,#Mt 26:6; Mk 11:1; Lk 19:29; 24:50; Jn 11:18 and spent the night there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18Early in the morning,#Mk 11:12–14,20–24 as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. 19Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” At once the fig tree withered.
20When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”
21Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.#Mt 17:20; Lk 17:6; 1Co 13:2; Jms 1:6 22And if you believe, you will receive#Mt 7:7–8; Jn 11:22 whatever you ask for in prayer.”
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23When he entered the temple,#Mk 11:27–33; Lk 20:1–8 the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?” #Ex 2:14; Mt 26:55; Ac 4:7; 7:27
24Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Did John’s baptism come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”
They discussed it among themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him? ’ #Mt 13:54; Lk 7:30; 15:18,21; Jn 3:27 26But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we’re afraid of the crowd,#Mt 14:5; 21:46; Mk 11:32; 12:12 because everyone considers John to be a prophet.”#Mt 11:9; Mk 6:20 27So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘My son, go work in the vineyard today.’ #
Mt 20:1
29 “He answered, ‘I don’t want to,’ but later he changed his mind and went. 30Then the man went to the other and said the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he answered, but he didn’t go. 31Which of the two did his father’s will?”
They said, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness,#Pr 8:20; Mt 3:8–12; 2Pt 2:21 and you didn’t believe him. Tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; but you, when you saw it, didn’t even change your minds then and believe him.
The Parable of the Vineyard Owner
33 “Listen #
Mk 12:1–12; Lk 20:9–19 to another parable:#Mt 13:3,34–36; 15:15; 22:1; 24:32 There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower.#Is 5:1–2; Lk 14:28 He leased it to tenant farmers and went away.#Ps 80:8; Sg 8:11–12; Mt 25:14 34When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit. 35The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.#2Ch 24:21; Neh 9:26; Mt 5:12; 23:34,37; Ac 7:52; 1Th 2:15; Heb 11:36–37 36Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. 37Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38 “But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ #
Ps 2:8; Heb 1:2 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”
41“He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.”#Mt 8:11; Ac 13:46; 18:6; 28:28
42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone. # 21:42 Lit the head of the corner
This is what the Lord has done
and it is wonderful in our eyes? # 21:42 Ps 118:22–23 #
Ps 118:22–23; Ac 4:11; Rm 9:33; 1Pt 2:7
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. 44Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; #Is 8:14–15; Rm 9:32–33; 1Pt 2:8 but on whomever it falls, it will shatter him.”#21:44 Some mss omit this verse
45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,#Mt 13:3,35; 15:15; 21:33; 22:1; 24:32 they knew he was speaking about them. 46Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because the people regarded him as a prophet.#Mt 26:4; Mk 11:18; Lk 19:47–48; Jn 7:25,30,44
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Matthew 21: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Matthew 21
21
In Jerusalem
Triumphal Entry
1And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. 3And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. 4All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5Tell ye the daughter of Sion,
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee,
Meek, and sitting upon an ass,
And a colt the foal of an ass.
6And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. 10And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
Cleansed the Temple
12And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. 14And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. 15And 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, 16and 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 perfected praise? 17And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. 19And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. 20And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! 21Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and 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. 22And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
23And 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 authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? 24And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? 26But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. 27And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31Whether 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 go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came unto you in the 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.
The Wicked Husbandmen
33 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 tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: 34and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 39And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. 40When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 41They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 42Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures,
The stone which the builders rejected,
The same is become the head of the corner:
This is the Lord's doing,
And it is marvellous in our eyes?
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 45And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 46But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
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