Matthew 21

The Triumphal Entry

Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:29–38; John 12:12–15

21Now ^awhen they drew near Jerusalem, and came to ¹Bethphage, at ^bthe Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. ³And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

⁴²All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

⁵“Tell ^cthe daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your King is coming to you,

Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

^6dSo the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt, ^elaid their clothes on them, ³and set Him on them. ⁸And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; ^fothers cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

^g‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Hosanna in the highest!”

^10hAnd when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, ⁱthe prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

The Cleansing of the Temple

Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45, 46

^12jThen Jesus went into the temple ⁴of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the ^kmoney changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹³And He said to them, “It is written, ^l‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ^m‘den of thieves.’ ”

¹⁴Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. ¹⁵But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the ⁿSon of David!” they were ⁵indignant ¹⁶and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”

And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,

^o‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have perfected praise’?”

¹⁷Then He left them and ^pwent out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

Cursing of the Fig Tree

Mark 11:11–14, 20–24

^18qNow in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. ^19rAnd seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

^20sAnd when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”

²¹So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, ^tif you have faith and ^udo not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, ^vbut also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. ²²And ^wwhatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

Question of Jesus’ Authority

Mark 11:27–33; Luke 20:1–8

^23xNow when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and ^ysaid, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”

²⁴But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: ²⁵The ^zbaptism of ^aJohn—where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ we ^bfear the multitude, ^cfor all count John as a prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.”

And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my ^dvineyard.’ ²⁹He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, ^e“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. ³²For ^fJohn came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; ^gbut tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward ⁶relent and believe him.

Parable of the Landowner

Mark 12:1–12; Luke 20:9–19

³³“Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner ^hwho planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and ⁱwent into a far country. ³⁴Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. ^35jAnd the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. ³⁶Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. ³⁷Then last of all he sent his ^kson to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ^l‘This is the heir. ^mCome, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ⁿSo they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”

^41oThey said to Him, ^p“He will destroy those wicked men miserably, ^qand lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will ⁷render to him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

^r‘The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone.

This was the Lord’s doing,

And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³“Therefore I say to you, ^sthe kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. ⁴⁴And ^twhoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, ^uit will grind him to powder.”

⁴⁵Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they ⁸perceived that He was speaking of them. ⁴⁶But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they ^vfeared the multitudes, because ^wthey took Him for a prophet.