Matthew 21:12–27

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.’ ⁿ But you are changing it into a ‘hideout for robbers.’ ” ⁿ

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 ⁿ 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’?” ⁿ

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.