Matthew 21

21 ¹As they neared Jerusalem and reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples ahead,

²telling them, "Go to the village ahead of you. You'll at once find a donkey tied, with a colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, say, 'The Lord needs them,' and the Lord will send them at once."

⁴This took place to fulfill what the prophet had said: ⁵"Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Look, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"

⁶The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷They brought the donkey and colt, put their cloaks on the animals, and Jesus sat on the cloaks. ⁸Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road; others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹The crowds ahead of him and behind him kept shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of our Father! Hosanna in the highest!" ^a a v9 "Hosanna" is a Hebrew cry meaning "Save us!" — used here as a joyful shout of praise and welcome.

¹⁰And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred, asking, "Who is this?"

¹¹And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."

Jesus Reclaims His Father's House

¹²Then Jesus entered the temple, drove out all selling and buying there, overturned the money-changers' tables and the dove sellers' seats.

¹³He told them, "It is written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you're making it a den of robbers."

¹⁴And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵When the chief priests and teachers of the law saw the wonders he did, and the children shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they grew angry,

¹⁶and said to him, "Do you hear what these say?" Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?"

¹⁷He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

Faith That Moves Mountains

¹⁸Early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry.

¹⁹Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went to it but found only leaves. He said, "May you never bear fruit again!" At once the tree withered.

²⁰Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree wither so fast?"

²¹Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth: with faith, no doubting, you'll not only do what happened to the fig tree—you'll even tell this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen. ²²And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, you will receive it."

The Son's Authority Questioned

²³Entering the temple, he was teaching when the chief priests and elders of the people came and asked, "What authority do you have for these things, and who gave you this authority?"

²⁴Jesus replied, "I'll ask you one thing too. Tell me the answer, and I'll say by what authority I do these things. ²⁵John's baptism—where was it from? From heaven, or from man?" They discussed among themselves, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

²⁶But if we say, 'From man,' we fear the crowd—they all view John as a prophet."

²⁷They answered Jesus, "We don't know." He said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

Two Sons: Words or Deeds

²⁸"But what do you think? A man had two sons. Coming to the first, he said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.' ²⁹And he answered, 'I will not,' but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰He went to the second and said the same. This one answered, 'I'll go, sir'—but didn't go. ³¹Which of the two did his father's will?" They said, "The first." Jesus told them, "Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom of our Father ahead of you."

³²"For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn't believe him, but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Even after seeing that, you didn't change your minds and believe him."

The Vineyard and the Rejected Son

³³"Hear another parable: A landowner planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, built a watchtower, leased it to tenants, and went away on a trip. ³⁴When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. ³⁵But the tenants seized his servants—they beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they treated them the same way. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' ³⁸But the tenants, seeing the son, said to each other, 'This is the heir; come, let's kill him and seize his inheritance.' ³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"

⁴¹They answered, "He will destroy those evil men horribly, and lease the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in season."

⁴²Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone; this came from our Father, and it's marvelous in our eyes'?"

⁴³"So I tell you: the kingdom of our Father will be taken from you and given to a nation that produces its fruits. ⁴⁴Whoever falls on this stone will be shattered; whoever it falls on will be crushed."

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶They wanted to arrest him but feared the crowds, who considered him a prophet.