Chapter Overview Key ideas, context & where Christ is 1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage , to the Mount of Olives , then Jesus sent two disciples ,
2 saying to them , “Go into the village in front of you , and immediately you will find a donkey tied , and a colt with her . Untie them and bring them to me .
3 If anyone says anything to you , you shall say , ‘The Lord needs them ,’ and he will send them at once .”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet , saying ,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion , ‘Behold , your king is coming to you , humble , and mounted on a donkey , on a colt , the foal of a beast of burden .’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them .
7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks , and he sat on them .
8 Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road , and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road .
9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting , “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 , the whole city was stirred up , saying , “Who is this ?”
11 And the crowds said , “This is the prophet Jesus , from Nazareth of Galilee .”
12 And Jesus entered the temple 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 pigeons .
13 He said to them , “It is written , ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer ,’ but you make 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 infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise ’?”
17 And leaving them , he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there .
18 In the morning , as he was returning to the city , he became hungry .
19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside , he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves . And he said to it , “May no fruit ever come from you again !” And the fig tree withered at once .
20 When the disciples saw it , they marveled , saying , “How did the fig tree wither at once ?”
21 And Jesus answered them , “Truly , I say to you , if you have faith and do not doubt , you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree , but even if you say to this mountain , ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea ,’ it will happen .
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 , from where did it come ? From heaven or from man ?” And they discussed it 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 man ,’ we are afraid of the crowd , for they 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 And he answered , ‘I will not ,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went .
30 And he went to the other son and said the same . And he answered , ‘I will , sir ,’ but 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 prostitutes 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 prostitutes believed him . And even when you saw it , you did not afterward change your minds and believe him .
33 “Hear another parable . There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants , and went into another country .
34 When the season for fruit drew near , he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit .
35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one , killed another , and stoned another .
36 Again he sent other servants , more than the first . And they did the same to them .
37 Finally 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 have his inheritance .’
39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him .
40 When therefore 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 that the builders rejected has become the 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 people producing its fruits .
44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces ; and when it falls on anyone , it will crush him .”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables , they perceived that he was speaking about them .
46 And although they were seeking to arrest him , they feared the crowds , because they held him to be a prophet .
Scripture quotations marked “ESV” are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.