Mat 21 | Comm | STEP | Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,

‏ Matthew 21

1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If any one says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them, ‘and he will send them immediately." 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 "Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’" 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 And a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went before him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" 11 So the crowds said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

12 And Jesus entered the temple of God and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And he said to them, "It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer, ‘but you have made it a ‘den of robbers.’" 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant; 16 and they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have perfected praise’?" 17 Then he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and he lodged there.

18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And immediately the fig tree withered. 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?" 21 And Jesus answered them, "Truly, I say to 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 taken up and cast into the sea, ‘it will be done. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."

23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" 24 Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you one question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John—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?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men, ‘we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet." 27 So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

28 "What do you think? A man had two sons; and he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not, ‘but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he went to the second and said the same thing. And he answered, ‘I go, sir, ‘but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him.

33 "Hear another parable: there was a landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vine dressers and went into a far country. 34 When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did the same to them. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them saying, ‘They will respect my son, ‘ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 So 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 tenants?" 41 They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." 42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘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 tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44 And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet.