The King Rides Into Jerusalem On a Donkey, As Predicted In Zechariah
21 And when they drew-near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent forth two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Proceed to the village before you, and immediately you will find a donkey having been tied, and a colt with her. Having untied them, bring them to Me. 3 And if someone says something to you, you shall say that ‘The Lord has need of them’, and immediately he will send them forth”. 4 Now this has taken place in order that the thing might be fulfilled having been spoken through the prophet saying: 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you— gentle, and mounted upon a donkey, even upon a colt, a foal of a beast-of-burden’” [Zech 9:9]. 6 And the disciples— having proceeded, and having done just as Jesus directed them— 7 brought the donkey and the colt. And they put their cloaks on them. And He sat on them[a]. 8 And most-of the crowd[b] spread their cloaks in the road. And others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 And the crowds going ahead of Him, and the ones following Him, were crying out, saying, “Hosanna[c] to the Son of David. Blessed is the One coming in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest [heavens]”.
The King Arrives In Jerusalem, And The Whole City Is Shaken
10 And He having entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken[d], saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee”.
Jesus Cleanses The Temple And Accepts Praises From Boys. The Chief Priests Object
12 And Jesus entered into the temple. And He threw-out all the ones selling and buying in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers[e] and the seats of the ones selling the doves[f]. 13 And He says to them, “It has been written [in Isa 56:7]: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’. But you are making it a den of robbers[g]”. 14 And blind ones and lame ones came to Him in the temple, and He cured them. 15 But the chief priests and the scribes— having seen the marvelous things which He did, and the boys[h] crying-out in the temple and saying “Hosanna to the Son of David”— were indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these boys are saying?” And Jesus says to them, “Yes— did you never read [in Ps 8:2] that ‘You prepared-Yourself praise out of the mouth[i] of children and nursing ones’?” 17 And having left them behind, He went outside of the city to Bethany and spent-the-night there.
Jesus Curses a Fruitless Fig Tree
18 Now early-in-the-morning while returning to the city, He was hungry. 19 And having seen one fig tree near the road, He went to it and found nothing on it except leaves only[j]. And He says to it, “May fruit no longer come from you— forever”. And the fig tree was dried-up at-once. 20 And having seen it, the disciples marveled, saying, “How was the fig tree dried up at once?” 21 And having responded, Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you— if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do the thing of the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and be thrown into the sea’, it will be done. 22 And you will receive all that you ask in prayer, believing”.
The Priests Ask, By What Authority Do You Do This?
23 And He having come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came-to Him while He was teaching, saying, “By what-kind-of [k] authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24 And having responded, Jesus said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I also will tell you by what-kind-of authority I am doing these things— 25 From where was the baptism of John, from heaven or from humans?” And the ones were discussing among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven’, He will say to us, ‘Then for what reason did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From humans’, we fear the crowd. For they all are holding John as a prophet”. 27 And having responded to Jesus, they said, “We do not know”. He also said to them, “Nor am I telling you by what-kind-of authority I am doing these things.
One Son Feigns Obedience, One Disobeys But Repents. Which Did The Father’s Will?
28 “But what seems right to you?— A man had two children. And having gone to the first he said, ‘Child, go, work today in the vineyard’. 29 And the one, having responded, said, ‘I will not’. But having regretted[l] it later, he went. 30 And having gone to the other, he spoke similarly. And the one, having responded, said, ‘I will, sir’, and he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of the father?” They say, “The first”.
You Priests Feign Obedience To God, But Did Not Believe John, God’s Messenger
Jesus says to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going-ahead-of you into the kingdom of God. 32 For John came to you in[m] the way of righteousness and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And you, having seen it, did not-even regret it later, that you might believe him.
You Priests Are Like Farmers Who Killed The Owner’s Messengers And Son
33 “Listen-to another parable. There was a man who was a house-master, who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he rented it to farmers and went-on-a-journey. 34 And when the time of the fruits drew-near, he sent forth his slaves to the farmers to receive his fruits. 35 And the farmers, having taken his slaves, beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent-forth other slaves— more than the first. And they did similarly to them. 37 But finally he sent forth his son to them, saying, ‘They will have-regard-for my son’. 38 But the farmers, having seen the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and let us have his inheritance’. 39 And having taken him, they threw him outside of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” 41 They say to Him, “He will miserably destroy the miserable ones themselves! And he will rent the vineyard to other farmers who will give-back the fruits to him in their seasons”.
The Kingdom Will Be Taken Away Because You Rejected God’s Cornerstone
42 Jesus says to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the ones building rejected, this became the head[n] of the corner. This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? [Ps 118:22-23]. 43 For this reason[o] I say to you that the kingdom of God will be taken-away from you, and will be given to a nation[p] producing its fruits. 44 And the one having fallen upon this stone will be broken-to-pieces[q]. And upon whomever it may fall, it will crush[r] him”.
When The Invited Refuse To Attend The Wedding of The King’s Son, They Are Destroyed
45 And having heard His parables, the chief priests and the Pharisees knew that He was speaking about them. 46 And while seeking to seize Him, they feared the crowds, because they were holding Him for a prophet.
Footnotes
- Matthew 21:7 That is, the garments.
- Matthew 21:8 Or, the very-large crowd.
- Matthew 21:9 This transliterated Hebrew word means ‘Save us, we pray’ or ‘Help us, we pray’, as in Ps 118:25. It was used as a shout of praise. They are calling out to Jesus as their Messiah.
- Matthew 21:10 Or, agitated, stirred up.
- Matthew 21:12 They changed foreign currency into Jewish currency for use in the temple.
- Matthew 21:12 That is, the doves used in the sacrifices commanded by God.
- Matthew 21:13 Or, plunderers, bandits.
- Matthew 21:15 Perhaps these were twelve-year-olds like Jesus in Lk 2:43.
- Matthew 21:16 If God accepts praise from the first words of the smallest children in Ps 8, why not these boys now? He will bring it from the stones, if necessary (Lk 19:40).
- Matthew 21:19 This is a parable of Israel. They had the appearance of life, but no fruit. Jesus curses them.
- Matthew 21:23 Or, what authority. That is, a prophet’s authority? Messiah’s?
- Matthew 21:29 Or, changed his mind.
- Matthew 21:32 That is, in connection with.
- Matthew 21:42 That is, the headstone belonging to the corner. This may mean the cornerstone of a foundation; or, the capstone in the arch.
- Matthew 21:43 That is, based on this Scripture.
- Matthew 21:43 Or, people. It was given to a spiritual nation made up of Jews and Gentiles, 1 Pet 2:9; Eph 2:11-22.
- Matthew 21:44 Or, crushed, shattered.
- Matthew 21:44 Or, winnow him, scatter him like chaff. That is, whether they fall over Him in their rejection of Him or He falls on them in their ignorance of Him, the result will be the same; or, if they fall over Him they will be broken but can be healed, but if He falls on them they will be crushed.