Matthew 21
21
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
1As they approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent out two disciples, 2telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. As soon as you get there, you’ll find a donkey tied up, with her colt next to her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, tell them, ‘The Lord needs them.’ The owner will send them right away.”
4This happened to make the words of the prophet come true:
5“Say to the city of Zion,
‘See, your king is coming to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
riding on a donkey’s colt.’ ”
6The disciples went and did what Jesus had told them to do. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their coats on them for Jesus to sit on. 8A very large crowd spread their coats on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread those on the road. 9Some of the people went ahead of him, and some followed behind, and they all shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up. The people asked, “Who is this?”
11The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus Clears Out the Temple
12Jesus entered the temple courtyard and began to drive out all those who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of the people who exchanged money and the benches of those who sold doves. 13“It is written,” he told them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’ ”
14People who were blind and disabled came to Jesus at the temple, and he healed them. 15The chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he was doing, and they heard the children in the temple courtyard shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” This made them angry.
16“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus. “Haven’t you ever read about it in Scripture? It says,
“ ‘Even from children and infants,
Lord, you will receive praise.’ ”
17Then Jesus left them and went out of the city to spend the night in Bethany.
Jesus Makes a Fig Tree Dry Up
18Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back into Jerusalem, he was hungry. 19He saw a fig tree by the road and went up to it, but he didn’t find anything on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Right away the tree dried up.
20When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?” they asked.
21Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do what was done to the fig tree. You can even say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive what you ask for when you pray.”
The Authority of Jesus Is Questioned
23Jesus went into the temple courtyard and started teaching there. The chief priests and elders of the people came up to him and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24Jesus answered, “I’ll ask you a question too. If you answer me, I’ll tell you by what authority I’m doing these things. 25Where did John’s baptism come from? Was it from heaven, or was he acting on human authority?”
They talked this over among themselves and realized, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he’ll ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘On human authority,’ who knows what the people might do to us? They all believe that John was a prophet.”
27So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus replied, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I’m doing these things either.”
The Story of the Two Sons
28“What do you think about this? A certain man had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
29“ ‘I won’t,’ the son answered. But later he changed his mind and went.
30“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. That son answered, ‘I will, sir.’ But he didn’t go.
31“Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32John came to show you the right way, and you didn’t believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. Even when you saw that, you didn’t turn away from your sins and believe him.
The Story of the Renters
33“Listen to another story. A certain man owned some land and planted a vineyard on it. He put up a wall around it, dug a pit for a winepress, and built a lookout tower. Then he rented the vineyard out to some farmers and moved to another place. 34When harvest time came, he sent his slaves to the renters to collect his share of the fruit.
35“But the renters mistreated his slaves. They beat one of them, killed another, and threw stones at a third. 36Then the man sent a larger group of slaves to the renters, but they treated them the same way. 37So finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’
38“But when the renters saw the son coming, they said to one another, ‘He’s supposed to inherit all the owner’s property someday. Come on, let’s kill him, and then everything will be ours.’ 39So they grabbed him and dragged him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40“What will the owner of the vineyard come and do to those renters?”
41“He’ll make those cruel men suffer a cruel death,” they replied. “Then he’ll rent the vineyard out to other renters who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?
“ ‘The stone the builders wouldn’t accept
has become the most important stone of all.
The Lord has done this,
and it’s wonderful in our eyes.’
43“So I tell you that the kingdom of God is going to be taken away from you and given to people who will produce its fruit. 44Anyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and the stone will crush anyone it falls on.”
45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ stories, they knew he was talking about them. 46They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
Currently Selected:
Matthew 21: RAD
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Radiate™ New Testament
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014, 2020 by Biblica, Inc.
Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Matthew 21
21
1 And when they had drawn near to Jerusalem, and had arrived at Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2 saying to them: "Go into the town that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Release them, and lead them to me.
3 And if anyone will have said anything to you, say that the Lord has need of them. And he will promptly dismiss them."
4 Now all this was done in order to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, saying,
5 "Tell the daughter of Zion: Behold, your king comes to you meekly, sitting on a donkey and on a colt, the son of one accustomed to the yoke."
6 Then the disciples, going out, did just as Jesus instructed them.
7 And they brought the donkey and the colt, and they laid their garments on them, and they helped him sit upon them.
8 Then a very numerous crowd spread their garments on the way. But others cut branches from the trees and scattered them on the way.
9 And the crowds that preceded him, and those that followed, cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!"
10 And when he had entered into Jerusalem, the entire city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?"
11 But the people were saying, "This is Jesus, the Prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."
12 And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and he cast out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of the vendors of doves.
13 And he said to them: "It is written: 'My house shall be called a house of prayer. But you have made it into a den of robbers.' "
14 And the blind and the lame drew near to him in the temple; and he healed them.
15 Then the leaders of the priests and the scribes became indignant, seeing the miracles that he wrought, and the children crying out in the temple, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!"
16 And they said to him, "Do you hear what these ones are saying?" But Jesus said to them, "Certainly. Have you never read: For out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have perfected praise?"
17 And leaving them behind, he went out, beyond the city, into Bethania, and he lodged here.
18 Then, as he was returning to the city in the morning, he was hungry.
19 And seeing a certain fig tree beside the way, he approached it. And he found nothing on it, except only leaves. And he said to it, "May fruit never spring forth from you, for all time." And immediately the fig tree was dried up.
20 And seeing this, the disciples wondered, saying, "How did it dry up so quickly?"
21 And Jesus responded to them by saying: "Amen I say to you, if you have faith and do not hesitate, not only shall you do this, concerning the fig tree, but even if you would say to this mountain, 'Take and cast yourself into the sea,' it shall be done.
22 And all things whatsoever that you shall ask for in prayer: believing, you shall receive."
23 And when he had arrived at the temple, as he was teaching, the leaders of the priests and the elders of the people approached him, saying: "By what authority do you do these things? And who has given this authority to you?"
24 In response, Jesus said to them: "I also will question you with one word: if you tell me this, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John, where was it from? Was it from heaven, or from men?" But they thought within themselves, saying:
26 "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' we have the crowd to fear, for they all hold John to be a prophet."
27 And so, they answered Jesus by saying, "We do not know." So he also said to them: "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
28 But how does it seem to you? A certain man had two sons. And approaching the first, he said: 'Son, go out today to work in my vineyard.'
29 And responding, he said, 'I am not willing.' But afterwards, being moved by repentance, he went.
30 And approaching the other, he spoke similarly. And answering, he said, 'I am going, lord.' And he did not go.
31 Which of the two did the will of the father?" They said to him, "The first." Jesus said to them: "Amen I say to you, that tax collectors and prostitutes shall precede you, into the kingdom of God.
32 For John came to you in the way of justice, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Yet even after seeing this, you did not repent, so as to believe him.
33 Listen to another parable. There was a man, the father of a family, who planted a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, and dug a press in it, and built a tower. And he loaned it out to farmers, and he set out to sojourn abroad.
34 Then, when the time of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, so that they might receive its fruits.
35 And the farmers apprehended his servants; they struck one, and killed another, and stoned yet another.
36 Again, he sent other servants, more than before; and they treated them similarly.
37 Then, at the very end, he sent his son to them, saying: 'They will revere my son.'
38 But the farmers, seeing the son, said among themselves: 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and then we will have his inheritance.'
39 And apprehending him, they cast him outside the vineyard, and they killed him.
40 Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard arrives, what will he do to those farmers?"
41 They said to him, "He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and he will loan out his vineyard to other farmers, who shall repay to him the fruit in its time."
42 Jesus said to them: "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders have rejected has become the cornerstone. By the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?'
43 Therefore, I say to you, that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and it shall be given to a people who shall produce its fruits.
44 And whoever will have fallen on this stone shall be broken, yet truly, on whomever it shall fall, it will crush him."
45 And when the leaders of the priests, and the Pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them.
46 And though they sought to take hold of him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in