Matthew 21
21
Jesus Enters Jerusalem Like a King
(Mk. 11:1–11; Lk. 19:28–38; Jn. 12:12–19)
1Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers into town. 2He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey with her colt. Untie them both, and bring them to me. 3If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell them, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.’”
4This showed the full meaning of what the prophet said:
5“Tell the people of Zion,#21:5 people of Zion Literally, “daughter of Zion,” meaning the city of Jerusalem.
‘Now your king is coming to you.
He is humble and riding on a donkey.
He is riding on a young donkey, born from a work animal.’” Zechariah 9:9
6The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. 7They brought the mother donkey and the young donkey to him. They covered the donkeys with their coats, and Jesus sat on them. 8On the way to Jerusalem, many people spread their coats on the road for Jesus. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. They all shouted,
“Praise#21:9 Praise Literally, “Hosanna,” a Hebrew word used in praying to God for help. Here, it was probably a shout of celebration used in praising God or his Messiah. Also in the last line of this verse and in verse 15. to the Son of David!
‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Psalm 118:25-26
Praise to God in heaven!”
10Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. All the people in the city were confused. They asked, “Who is this man?”
11The crowds following Jesus answered, “This is Jesus. He is the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus Goes to the Temple
(Mk. 11:15–19; Lk. 19:45–48; Jn. 2:13–22)
12Jesus went into the Temple area. He threw out all those who were selling and buying things there. He turned over the tables that belonged to those who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he turned over the benches of those who were selling doves. 13Jesus said to them, “The Scriptures say, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer.’#Quote from Isa. 56:7. But you are changing it into a ‘hiding place for thieves.’#Quote from Jer. 7:11.”
14Some blind people and some who were crippled came to Jesus in the Temple area. Jesus healed them. 15The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he was doing. And they saw the children praising him in the Temple area. The children were shouting, “Praise to the Son of David.” All this made the priests and the teachers of the law angry.
16They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
He answered, “Yes. The Scriptures say, ‘You have taught children and babies to give praise.’#Quote from Ps. 8:2 (Greek version). Have you not read that Scripture?”
17Then Jesus left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
Jesus Shows the Power of Faith
(Mk. 11:12–14, 20–24)
18Early the next morning, Jesus was going back to the city. He was very hungry. 19He saw a fig tree beside the road and went to get a fig from it. But there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again produce fruit!” The tree immediately dried up and died.
20When the followers saw this, they were very surprised. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up and die so quickly?”
21Jesus answered, “The truth is, if you have faith and no doubts, you will be able to do the same as I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. 22If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”
Jewish Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority
(Mk. 11:27–33; Lk. 20:1–8)
23Jesus went into the Temple area. While Jesus was teaching there, the leading priests and the older leaders of the people came to him. They said, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things you are doing? Who gave you this authority?”
24Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 25Tell me: When John baptized people, did his authority come from God, or was it only from other people?”
The priests and the Jewish leaders talked about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ 26But we can’t say John’s baptism was from someone else. We are afraid of the people, because they all believe John was a prophet.”
27So they told Jesus, “We don’t know the answer.”
Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things.
Jesus Uses a Story About Two Sons
28“Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29“The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later he decided he should go, and he went.
30“Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ He answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go.
31“Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”
The Jewish leaders answered, “The first son.”
Jesus said to them, “The truth is, you are worse than the tax collectors and the prostitutes. In fact, they will enter God’s kingdom before you enter. 32John came showing you the right way to live, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw that happening, but you would not change. You still refused to believe him.
God Sends His Son
(Mk. 12:1–12; Lk. 20:9–19)
33“Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and then left on a trip. 34Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes.
35“But the farmers grabbed the servants and beat one. They killed another one and then stoned to death a third servant. 36So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to them that they did the first time. 37So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’
38“But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ 39So the farmers took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
40“So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”
41The Jewish priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the land to other farmers, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders refused to accept
became the cornerstone.
The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.’ Psalm 118:22-23
43“So I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do what God wants in his kingdom. 44Whoever falls on this stone will be broken. And it will crush anyone it falls on.”#21:44 Some Greek copies do not have verse 44.
45When the leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. 46They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to do anything, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Matthew 21
21
Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King
1As Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem, they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers 2and said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will quickly find a donkey tied there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, say that the Master needs them, and he will send them at once.”
4This was to bring about what the prophet had said:
5“Tell the people of Jerusalem,
‘Your king is coming to you.
He is gentle and riding on a donkey,
on the colt of a donkey.’ ”#Isaiah 62:11; Zechariah 9:9
6The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. 7They brought the donkey and the colt to Jesus and laid their coats on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8Many people spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The people were walking ahead of Jesus and behind him, shouting,
“Praise to the Son of David!
God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord!#Psalm 118:26
Praise to God in heaven!”
10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, all the city was filled with excitement. The people asked, “Who is this man?”
11The crowd said, “This man is Jesus, the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus Goes to the Temple
12Jesus went into the Temple and threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of those who were exchanging different kinds of money, and he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. 13Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be called a house for prayer.’ But you are changing it into a ‘hideout for robbers.’ ”
14The blind and crippled people came to Jesus in the Temple, and he healed them. 15The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw that Jesus was doing wonderful things and that the children were praising him in the Temple, saying, “Praise to the Son of David.” All these things made the priests and the teachers of the law very angry.
16They asked Jesus, “Do you hear the things these children are saying?”
Jesus answered, “Yes. Haven’t you read in the Scriptures, ‘You have taught children and babies to sing praises’?”
17Then Jesus left and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
The Power of Faith
18Early the next morning, as Jesus was going back to the city, he became hungry. 19Seeing a fig tree beside the road, Jesus went to it, but there were no figs on the tree, only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again have fruit.” The tree immediately dried up.
20When his followers saw this, they were amazed. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”
21Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree and even more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. 22If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”
Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority
23Jesus went to the Temple, and while he was teaching there, the leading priests and the elders of the people came to him. They said, “What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24Jesus answered, “I also will ask you a question. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 25Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from God or just from other people?”
They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘It was from people,’ we are afraid of what the crowd will do because they all believe that John was a prophet.”
27So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.
A Story About Two Sons
28“Tell me what you think about this: A man had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ 29The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later the son changed his mind and went. 30Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work,’ but he did not go. 31Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”
The priests and leaders answered, “The first son.”
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do. 32John came to show you the right way to live. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Even after seeing this, you still refused to change your ways and believe him.
A Story About God’s Son
33“Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. 34When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 35But the farmers grabbed the servants, beat one, killed another, and then killed a third servant with stones. 36So the man sent some other servants to the farmers, even more than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to the servants that they had done before. 37So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours!’ 39Then the farmers grabbed the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”
41The priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the vineyard to some other farmers who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
became the cornerstone.
The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.’ #Psalm 118:22–23
43“So I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who do the things God wants in his kingdom. 44The person who falls on this stone will be broken, and on whomever that stone falls, that person will be crushed.”
45When the leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew Jesus was talking about them. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the people, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.