< Matthew 21 >
1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two disciples,
As [we] approached Jerusalem, we came near Bethphage [village], near Olive [Tree] Hill. Jesus said to two [of his] disciples, “Go to the village just ahead of us. As soon as you enter [it], you will see a donkey and her foal that are {someone has} tied [up]. Untie them and bring them [here] to me.
2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to Me.
3 If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
If anyone says anything to you [about your doing that], tell [him], ‘The Lord needs them.’ He will [then allow you to] lead them away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
When all this happened, what was written by a prophet {what a prophet wrote about} was fulfilled {happened}. The prophet wrote, “Tell the people who live in Jerusalem [SYN], ‘Look! Your king is coming to you! He will come humbly. He [will show that he is humble, because he will be] riding on a colt, the offspring of a donkey.’”
5 “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
So the [two] disciples went and did what Jesus told them to do.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.
They brought the donkey and its colt [to Jesus]. They placed their cloaks on them [to make something for him to sit on]. Then Jesus [mounted the colt] and sat on the cloaks.
8 A massive crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Then a large crowd spread [some of] their clothing on the road, and other [people] cut off branches from [palm] trees and spread them on the road. [They did those things to decorate the road in order to honor Jesus].
9 The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
The crowds that walked in front of him and those who walked behind him were shouting things like, “Praise the [Messiah], the descendant of [King] David!” “May the Lord [God] bless [this one] who comes as [God’s] representative and with [God’s] authority [MTY].” “Praise God, who is in the highest [heaven]!”
10 When Jesus had entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
As Jesus entered Jerusalem, a crowd of people [MTY] from all [over the city] became excited and were saying, “Why [are they honoring] this man [like that]?”
11 The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
The crowd [that was already following him] said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee!”
12 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
Then Jesus went into the Temple [courtyard] and chased out all of those who were buying and selling things there. He also overturned the tables of those who were giving [Temple tax money in exchange for Roman] coins, and he overturned the seats of those who were selling pigeons [for sacrifices].
13 And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Then he said to them, “It is {([Jeremiah/A prophet]) has} written [in the Scriptures that God said], ‘[I want] my house to be called a place where [people] pray’, but you bandits have made it [MET] your hideout!”
14 The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.
After that, [many] blind [people] and lame [people] came to Jesus in the temple [in order that he would heal them], and he healed them.
15 But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
The high priests and the men who taught the people the [Jewish] laws saw the wonderful deeds that Jesus did. [They also saw and] heard the children shouting in the Temple, “We praise the [Messiah], the descendant of [King] David!” The religious leaders were indignant [because they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah].
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”
[They thought that Jesus should not be allowing the children to say that], so they asked him, “[How can you tolerate] this [RHQ]? Do you hear what these [children] are shouting?” Then Jesus said to them, “Yes, I [hear them, but] if you [remembered what] you have read [in the Scriptures about children praising me, you would know that God is pleased] [RHQ] [with them]. [The psalmist] wrote, [saying to God], ‘You have taught infants and other children to praise you perfectly.’”
17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where He spent the night.
Then Jesus left the city. We [disciples] went [with him] to Bethany [town], and we slept there [that night].
18 In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, He was hungry.
Early [the next morning], when we were returning to the city, [Jesus] was hungry.
19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered. (aiōn )
He saw a fig tree near the road. [So he went over to it to pick some figs to eat]. But when he got close, he saw that there were no [figs on the tree]. There were only leaves on it. So [to illustrate how God would punish the nation of Israel], he said to the fig tree, “May you never again produce figs!” As a result, the fig tree withered that night. (aiōn )
20 When the disciples saw this, they marveled and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”
[The next day] when we disciples saw [what had happened to the tree], we marveled, and we said [to Jesus], “(It is astonishing that the fig tree withered so quickly!/How is it that the fig tree dried up so quickly?)” [RHQ]
21 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you 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.
Jesus said to us, “Think about this: If you believe [that God has power to do what you ask him to] and you do not doubt [that], you will be able to do [things like what I have] done to this fig tree. You will even be able to do [marvelous deeds like] saying to a nearby hill, ‘Uproot yourself and throw yourself into the sea’, and it will happen!
22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
In addition [to that], whenever you ask [God for something] when you pray [to him, if you] believe [that he will give it to you], you will receive [it from him].”
23 When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”
After that, Jesus went into the Temple [courtyard]. While he was teaching [the people], the chief priests and the elders of the Jewish Council approached him. They asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who authorized you to do what you did [here yesterday] [DOU]?”
24 “I will also ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Jesus said to them, “I also will ask you a question, and if you answer me, I will tell you who authorized me to do these things.
25 What was the source of John’s baptism? Was it from heaven or from men?” They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
Where did John [the Baptizer] get [his authority to] baptize [those who came to him]? [Did he get it] from God or from people? [MTY/EUP]” The chief priests and elders debated among themselves [about what they should answer]. [They said to each other], “If we say, ‘[It was] [MTY/EUP] from God’, he will say to us, ‘Then (you should have believed his [message]!/why did you not believe [John’s message]?) [RHQ]’
26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.”
If we say, ‘It was from people’, we are afraid that the crowd [will react violently], because all [the people] believe that John was a prophet [sent by God].”
27 So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
So they answered Jesus, “We do not know [where John got his authority].” Then he said to them, “[Because you did not answer my question], I will not tell you who authorized me to do the things I did [here yesterday].”
28 But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
[Then Jesus said to the chief priests and elders], “Tell me [RHQ] what you think [about what I am about to tell you]. There was a man who had two sons. He went to his older son and said, ‘My son, go and work in my vineyard today!’
29 ‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.
But the son said [to his father], ‘I do not want to [go and work in your vineyard today]!’ But later he changed his mind, and he went to the vineyard [and worked].
30 Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go.
Then the father approached his younger son and said what he had said to his older son. That son said, ‘Sir, I will [go and work in the vineyard today.’] But he did not go there.
31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.
So which of the man’s two sons did what their father desired?” They answered, “The older son.” Jesus [explained to them what that parable meant] by saying, “Think about this: [It is more likely that other people, including] tax collectors and prostitutes, [whom you think are very sinful], will enter where God rules, than it is that you [Jewish leaders] will enter.
32 For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
I [say this to you] because, even though John [the Baptizer] explained to you how to live righteously, you did not believe his message. But tax collectors and prostitutes believed his [message, and they turned away from their sinful behavior]. In contrast, you, even though you saw what they did, refused to turn away from your sinful behavior, and you did not believe [John’s message].”
33 Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.
“Listen to another parable [that I will tell you]. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He built a fence around it. He dug a hole in the ground [inside the fence]. He placed [in the hole] a stone tank to [collect the juice that would be] pressed out of the grapes. He also built a tower [inside that fence that someone would sit in to guard that vineyard]. He arranged for some men [to care for] the vineyard [and to give him some of the grapes in return]. Then he went away to another country.
34 When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit.
When it was time to harvest the grapes, the landowner sent some of his servants to the men who were taking care of the vineyard to get his share of the grapes [that the vineyard had produced].
35 But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
But the renters seized the servants. They beat one of them, they killed another one, and [killed] another one of them [by throwing] stones at him.
36 Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.
[So the landowner] sent more servants than [he had sent] the first [time]. The renters treated those servants the same way that [they had treated the other servants].
37 Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
Later, [knowing this], [the landowner] sent his son to [the renters to get his share of the grapes]. When he sent him, he said [to himself], ‘They will certainly respect my son [and give him some of the grapes].’
38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’
But when the renters saw his son [arriving], they said to each other, ‘This is the man who will inherit [this vineyard]! Let’s kill him and divide the property [among ourselves].’
39 So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
So they grabbed him, dragged him outside the vineyard, and killed him.
40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?”
[Now I ask you], when the landowner returns to his vineyard, what [do you think] he will do to those renters?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”
[The chief priests and elders] replied, “He will thoroughly destroy those wicked [renters]! Then he will rent the vineyard to others. They will give him [his share of] the grapes when they are ripe.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Jesus said to them, “[That is right, so you need to think carefully about these words which] you have read [RHQ] in the Scriptures: The builders rejected a certain stone. [But others put] that same stone [in its proper place, and it] has become the most important stone [of the] building [MET]. The Lord has done this, and we marvel as we look at it.
43 Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
So, [because you reject me], I am going to tell you this: God will no longer let you [Jews] be the people over whom he rules. Instead, he will let [non-Jews] be the people over whom he rules, and they will do [IDM] what he asks them to do.
44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
[The important stone in the building represents me, the Messiah, and those who reject me are like people who fall on this stone]. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken into pieces {This cornerstone will break into pieces anyone who falls on it}, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
45 When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them.
When the chief priests and the [elders who were] Pharisees heard this parable, they realized that he was accusing them [because they did not believe that he was the Messiah].
46 Although they wanted to arrest Him, they were afraid of the crowds, because the people regarded Him as a prophet.
They wanted to seize him, but [they did not do so] because they were afraid of what the crowds [would do if they did that], because [the crowds] considered that Jesus was a prophet.