Matthew 21

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

1When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying, “Go into the village ahead of you. Immediately you will find a donkey tied there, with a colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and that person will send them at once.” 4This happened so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: 5“Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Look, your king is coming to you,
gentle and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” 6The disciples went and did just as Jesus instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt, put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds going ahead of him and those following were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!” 10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken and asked, “Who is this?” 11The crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus in the Temple

12Jesus entered the temple and drove out everyone buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 13He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.” 14Blind and lame people came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things he did and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they became indignant. 16They said to him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus said, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘From the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” 17Then he left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

The Fig Tree

18Early in the morning, as Jesus returned to the city, he was hungry. 19Seeing a fig tree beside the road, he went to it but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” 21Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22And whatever you ask in prayer with trust, you will receive.”

Jesus' Authority Challenged

23When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came to him while he was teaching and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25John's baptism—where did it come from? From heaven or from human beings?” They began reasoning among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not trust him?’ 26But if we say, ‘From human beings,’ we are afraid of the crowd, because everyone regards John as a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Two Sons

28“What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go work in the vineyard today.’ 29The son answered, ‘I will not,’ but later changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. 31Which of the two did the father's will?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are going into God's kingdom ahead of you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not trust him, but tax collectors and prostitutes trusted him. Even after you saw this, you did not later change your minds and trust him.

The Wicked Tenants

33“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. He leased it to tenants and went away. 34When the season for fruit approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to receive his fruit. 35The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other servants, more than the first group, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They told him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruit in its seasons.” 42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
This came from the Lord,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43Therefore I tell you, God's kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit. 44The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” 45When the chief priests and Pharisees heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds because the people regarded him as a prophet.