Matthew 21
21
1 And when they had drawn near to Jerusalem, and had arrived at Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
2 saying to them: "Go into the town that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Release them, and lead them to me.
3 And if anyone will have said anything to you, say that the Lord has need of them. And he will promptly dismiss them."
4 Now all this was done in order to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet, saying,
5 "Tell the daughter of Zion: Behold, your king comes to you meekly, sitting on a donkey and on a colt, the son of one accustomed to the yoke."
6 Then the disciples, going out, did just as Jesus instructed them.
7 And they brought the donkey and the colt, and they laid their garments on them, and they helped him sit upon them.
8 Then a very numerous crowd spread their garments on the way. But others cut branches from the trees and scattered them on the way.
9 And the crowds that preceded him, and those that followed, cried out, saying: "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 had entered into Jerusalem, the entire city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?"
11 But the people were saying, "This is Jesus, the Prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."
12 And Jesus entered into the temple of God, and he cast out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of the vendors of doves.
13 And he said to them: "It is written: 'My house shall be called a house of prayer. But you have made it into a den of robbers.' "
14 And the blind and the lame drew near to him in the temple; and he healed them.
15 Then the leaders of the priests and the scribes became indignant, seeing the miracles that he wrought, and the children crying out in the temple, saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!"
16 And they said to him, "Do you hear what these ones are saying?" But Jesus said to them, "Certainly. Have you never read: For out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have perfected praise?"
17 And leaving them behind, he went out, beyond the city, into Bethania, and he lodged here.
18 Then, as he was returning to the city in the morning, he was hungry.
19 And seeing a certain fig tree beside the way, he approached it. And he found nothing on it, except only leaves. And he said to it, "May fruit never spring forth from you, for all time." And immediately the fig tree was dried up.
20 And seeing this, the disciples wondered, saying, "How did it dry up so quickly?"
21 And Jesus responded to them by saying: "Amen I say to you, if you have faith and do not hesitate, not only shall you do this, concerning the fig tree, but even if you would say to this mountain, 'Take and cast yourself into the sea,' it shall be done.
22 And all things whatsoever that you shall ask for in prayer: believing, you shall receive."
23 And when he had arrived at the temple, as he was teaching, the leaders of the priests and the elders of the people approached him, saying: "By what authority do you do these things? And who has given this authority to you?"
24 In response, Jesus said to them: "I also will question you with one word: if you tell me this, I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John, where was it from? Was it from heaven, or from men?" But they thought within themselves, saying:
26 "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' we have the crowd to fear, for they all hold John to be a prophet."
27 And so, they answered Jesus by saying, "We do not know." So he also said to them: "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
28 But how does it seem to you? A certain man had two sons. And approaching the first, he said: 'Son, go out today to work in my vineyard.'
29 And responding, he said, 'I am not willing.' But afterwards, being moved by repentance, he went.
30 And approaching the other, he spoke similarly. And answering, he said, 'I am going, lord.' And he did not go.
31 Which of the two did the will of the father?" They said to him, "The first." Jesus said to them: "Amen I say to you, that tax collectors and prostitutes shall precede you, into the kingdom of God.
32 For John came to you in the way of justice, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Yet even after seeing this, you did not repent, so as to believe him.
33 Listen to another parable. There was a man, the father of a family, who planted a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, and dug a press in it, and built a tower. And he loaned it out to farmers, and he set out to sojourn abroad.
34 Then, when the time of the fruits drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, so that they might receive its fruits.
35 And the farmers apprehended his servants; they struck one, and killed another, and stoned yet another.
36 Again, he sent other servants, more than before; and they treated them similarly.
37 Then, at the very end, he sent his son to them, saying: 'They will revere my son.'
38 But the farmers, seeing the son, said among themselves: 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and then we will have his inheritance.'
39 And apprehending him, they cast him outside the vineyard, and they killed him.
40 Therefore, when the lord of the vineyard arrives, what will he do to those farmers?"
41 They said to him, "He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and he will loan out his vineyard to other farmers, who shall repay to him the fruit in its time."
42 Jesus said to them: "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders have rejected has become the cornerstone. By the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?'
43 Therefore, I say to you, that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and it shall be given to a people who shall produce its fruits.
44 And whoever will have fallen on this stone shall be broken, yet truly, on whomever it shall fall, it will crush him."
45 And when the leaders of the priests, and the Pharisees had heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them.
46 And though they sought to take hold of him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
Currently Selected:
Matthew 21: CPDV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Matthew 21
21
The Royal Welcome
1-3When they neared Jerusalem, having arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olives, Jesus sent two disciples with these instructions: “Go over to the village across from you. You’ll find a donkey tethered there, her colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me. If anyone asks what you’re doing, say, ‘The Master needs them!’ He will send them with you.”
4-5This is the full story of what was sketched earlier by the prophet:
Tell Zion’s daughter,
“Look, your king’s on his way,
poised and ready, mounted
On a donkey, on a colt,
foal of a pack animal.”
6-9The disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. They led the donkey and colt out, laid some of their clothes on them, and Jesus mounted. Nearly all the people in the crowd threw their garments down on the road, giving him a royal welcome. Others cut branches from the trees and threw them down as a welcome mat. Crowds went ahead and crowds followed, all of them calling out, “Hosanna to David’s son!” “Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!” “Hosanna in highest heaven!”
10As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. Unnerved, people were asking, “What’s going on here? Who is this?”
11The parade crowd answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth in Galilee.”
He Kicked Over the Tables
12-14Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text:
My house was designated a house of prayer;
You have made it a hangout for thieves.
Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in. They came to Jesus and he healed them.
15-16When the religious leaders saw the outrageous things he was doing, and heard all the children running and shouting through the Temple, “Hosanna to David’s Son!” they were up in arms and took him to task. “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
Jesus said, “Yes, I hear them. And haven’t you read in God’s Word, ‘From the mouths of children and babies I’ll furnish a place of praise’?”
17Fed up, Jesus spun around and left the city for Bethany, where he spent the night.
The Withered Fig Tree
18-20Early the next morning Jesus was returning to the city. He was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree alongside the road, he approached it anticipating a breakfast of figs. When he got to the tree, there was nothing but fig leaves. He said, “No more figs from this tree—ever!” The fig tree withered on the spot, a dry stick. The disciples saw it happen. They rubbed their eyes, saying, “Did we really see this? A leafy tree one minute, a dry stick the next?”
21-22But Jesus was matter-of-fact: “Yes—and if you embrace this kingdom life and don’t doubt God, you’ll not only do minor feats like I did to the fig tree, but also triumph over huge obstacles. This mountain, for instance, you’ll tell, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it will jump. Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God.”
True Authority
23Then he was back in the Temple, teaching. The high priests and leaders of the people came up and demanded, “Show us your credentials. Who authorized you to teach here?”
24-25a Jesus responded, “First let me ask you a question. You answer my question and I’ll answer yours. About the baptism of John—who authorized it: heaven or humans?”
25b-27 They were on the spot and knew it. They pulled back into a huddle and whispered, “If we say ‘heaven,’ he’ll ask us why we didn’t believe him; if we say ‘humans,’ we’re up against it with the people because they all hold John up as a prophet.” They decided to concede that round to Jesus. “We don’t know,” they answered.
Jesus said, “Then neither will I answer your question.
The Story of Two Sons
28“Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, ‘Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.’
29“The son answered, ‘I don’t want to.’ Later on he thought better of it and went.
30“The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, ‘Sure, glad to.’ But he never went.
31-32“Which of the two sons did what the father asked?”
They said, “The first.”
Jesus said, “Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God’s kingdom. John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn’t care enough to change and believe him.
The Story of the Greedy Farmhands
33-34“Here’s another story. Listen closely. There was once a man, a wealthy farmer, who planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, put up a watchtower, then turned it over to the farmhands and went off on a trip. When it was time to harvest the grapes, he sent his servants back to collect his profits.
35-37“The farmhands grabbed the first servant and beat him up. The next one they murdered. They threw stones at the third but he got away. The owner tried again, sending more servants. They got the same treatment. The owner was at the end of his rope. He decided to send his son. ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘they will respect my son.’
38-39“But when the farmhands saw the son arrive, they rubbed their hands in greed. ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all for ourselves.’ They grabbed him, threw him out, and killed him.
40“Now, when the owner of the vineyard arrives home from his trip, what do you think he will do to the farmhands?”
41“He’ll kill them—a rotten bunch, and good riddance,” they answered. “Then he’ll assign the vineyard to farmhands who will hand over the profits when it’s time.”
42-44Jesus said, “Right—and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles:
The stone the masons threw out
is now the cornerstone.
This is God’s work;
we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!
“This is the way it is with you. God’s kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life. Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered; whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed.”
45-46When the religious leaders heard this story, they knew it was aimed at them. They wanted to arrest Jesus and put him in jail, but, intimidated by public opinion, they held back. Most people held him to be a prophet of God.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.