Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
1As they all approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage. It was on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent out two disciples. 2He said to them, “Go to the village ahead of you. As soon as you get there, you will find a donkey tied up. Her colt will be with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them. The owner will send them right away.”
4This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would come true. It says,
5“Say to the city of Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you.
He is gentle and riding on a donkey.
He is riding on a donkey’s colt.’ ” (Zechariah 9:9)
6The disciples went and did what Jesus told them to do. 7They brought the donkey and the colt. They placed their coats on them for Jesus to sit on. 8A very large crowd spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9Some of the people went ahead of him, and some followed. They all shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Psalm 118:26)
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up. The people asked, “Who is this?”
11The crowds answered, “This is Jesus. He is the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus Clears Out the Temple
12Jesus entered the temple courtyard. He began to drive out all those who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of the people who were exchanging money. He also turned over the benches of those who were selling doves. 13He said to them, “It is written that the Lord said, ‘My house will be called a house where people can pray.’ (Isaiah 56:7) But you are making it ‘a den for robbers.’ ” (Jeremiah 7:11)
14Blind people and those who were disabled came to Jesus at the temple. There he healed them. 15The chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did. They also saw the children in the temple courtyard shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” But when they saw all this, they became angry.
16“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus. “Haven’t you ever read about it in Scripture? It says,
“ ‘Lord, you have made sure that children and infants
praise you.’ ” (Psalm 8:2)
17Then Jesus left the people and went out of the city to Bethany. He spent the night there.
Jesus Makes a Fig Tree Dry Up
18Early in the morning, Jesus was on his way back to Jerusalem. He was hungry. 19He saw a fig tree by the road. He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Right away the tree dried up.
20When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?” they asked.
21Jesus replied, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You must have faith and not doubt. Then you can do what was done to the fig tree. And you can say to this mountain, ‘Go and throw yourself into the sea.’ It will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive what you ask for when you pray.”
The Authority of Jesus Is Questioned
23Jesus entered the temple courtyard. While he was teaching there, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “Who gave you this authority?”
24Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25Where did John’s baptism come from? Was it from heaven? Or did it come from human authority?”
They talked to one another about it. They said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26But what if we say, ‘From human authority’? We are afraid of the people. Everyone believes that John was a prophet.”
27So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I am doing these things either.
The Story of the Two Sons
28“What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29“ ‘I will not,’ the son answered. But later he changed his mind and went.
30“Then the father went to the other son. He said the same thing. The son answered, ‘I will, sir.’ But he did not go.
31“Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “What I’m about to tell you is true. Tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32John came to show you the right way to live. And you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. You saw this. But even then you did not turn away from your sins and believe him.
The Story of the Renters
33“Listen to another story. A man who owned some land planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress in it. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he moved to another place. 34When harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the renters. He told the slaves to collect his share of the fruit.
35“But the renters grabbed his slaves. They beat one of them. They killed another. They threw stones at the third to kill him. 36Then the man sent other slaves to the renters. He sent more than he did the first time. The renters treated them the same way. 37Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38“But the renters saw the son coming. They said to one another, ‘This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.’ 39So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard. Then they killed him.
40“When the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those renters?”
41“He will destroy those evil people,” they replied. “Then he will rent the vineyard out to other renters. They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what the Scriptures say,
“ ‘The stone the builders didn’t accept
has become the most important stone of all.
The Lord has done it.
It is wonderful in our eyes’? (Psalm 118:22,23)
43“So here is what I tell you. The kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who will produce its fruit. 44Anyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. But the stone will crush anyone it falls on.”
45The chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ stories. They knew he was talking about them. 46So they looked for a way to arrest him. But they were afraid of the crowd. The people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
光榮進聖城
1耶穌和門徒離耶路撒冷越來越近了，他們來到橄欖山旁的伯法其。 2耶穌派兩個門徒進村，並對他們說：「你們到前面的村莊去，就會看見一頭母驢拴在那裡，旁邊還有一頭驢駒。你們把牠們解開，牽到我這裡。 3要是有人問起，你們就說，『主要用牠們』，那人會立刻讓你們牽來。」 4這件事是要應驗先知的話：
5「要對錫安城21·5 「城」希伯來文是「女子」，可能是對錫安的暱稱。說，『看啊，你的君王來了！祂謙卑地騎著驢，騎著一頭驢駒。』」
6兩個門徒照著耶穌的吩咐去了， 7把母驢和驢駒帶了回來。他們把自己的衣服蓋在驢背上，讓耶穌騎上去。 8許多人把衣服鋪在路上，也有些人砍下樹枝鋪在路上。 9眾人前呼後擁，歡呼著說：
「和散那21·9 「和散那」原意是「拯救我們」，此處有「讚美」的意思。歸於大衛的後裔！
奉主名來的當受稱頌！
和散那歸於至高之處的上帝！」
10耶穌進耶路撒冷時，全城轟動，說：「這是誰？」
11眾人說：「祂是先知耶穌，來自加利利的拿撒勒。」
潔淨聖殿
12耶穌進入聖殿，趕走裡面做買賣的人，又推翻兌換錢幣之人的桌子和賣鴿子之人的凳子。
13耶穌斥責他們說：「聖經上說，『我的殿必稱為禱告的殿。』你們竟把它變成了賊窩。」
14殿中的瞎子和瘸子都來到耶穌面前，祂便醫好了他們。 15祭司長和律法教師看見祂所行的奇事，又聽見小孩子在聖殿裡高聲喊著：「和散那歸於大衛的後裔！」便十分惱怒。 16他們責問耶穌說：「你聽見這些人說的了嗎？」
耶穌說：「我聽見了。聖經上說，『你使孩童和嬰兒口中發出頌讚』，你們沒有讀過嗎？」 17然後，祂便離開他們，出城前往伯大尼，在那裡住宿。
咒詛無花果樹
18清早，耶穌在回城的途中餓了。 19祂看見路旁有一棵無花果樹，便走過去，卻發現除了葉子外什麼也沒有。
祂對那棵樹說：「你將再不會結果子！」那棵樹立刻枯萎了。
20門徒見了就驚奇地問：「這棵樹怎麼一下子枯萎了？」
21耶穌回答說：「我實在告訴你們，如果你們有信心、不懷疑，不但能使無花果樹枯乾，就算對這座山說，『從這裡挪開，投進大海裡！』也照樣可以實現。 22所以，你們禱告時無論求什麼，只要有信心，就必定得到。」
質問耶穌的權柄
23耶穌進了聖殿，正在教導人的時候，祭司長和民間的長老來質問祂：「你憑什麼權柄做這些事？誰授權給你了？」
24耶穌說：「我也要問你們一個問題，你們回答了，我就告訴你們我憑什麼權柄做這些事。 25約翰的洗禮是從哪裡來的？從天上來的，還是從人來的？」
他們便彼此議論說：「如果我們說『是從天上來的』，祂一定會問我們，『那你們為什麼不信他？』 26但如果我們說『是從人來的』，又怕觸怒百姓，因為他們相信約翰是個先知。」 27於是，他們回答耶穌說：「我們不知道。」
耶穌說：「我也不告訴你們我憑什麼權柄做這些事。」
兩個兒子的比喻
28耶穌又說：「你們怎樣看這件事？某人有兩個兒子。他對大兒子說，『孩子，你今天到葡萄園工作吧！』
29「大兒子回答說，『我不去！』但後來他改變了主意，就去了。
30「那父親又對小兒子說，『你今天到葡萄園工作吧！』小兒子回答說，『好的，父親。』他答應了，卻沒有去。
31「你們認為這兩個兒子，到底哪一個服從父親呢？」
他們回答道：「大兒子。」
耶穌說：「我實在告訴你們，稅吏和娼妓要比你們先進上帝的國。 32因為約翰來指示你們當行的正路，你們不信他，但稅吏和娼妓信了。你們親眼看見了這些事，竟然還是執迷不悟，不肯信他。
惡毒的佃戶
33「你們再聽一個比喻。有個園主栽種了一個葡萄園，在園子的四周建造圍牆，又在園中挖了一個榨酒池，建了一座瞭望臺，然後把葡萄園租給佃戶，就出遠門了。 34到了收穫的季節，園主派奴僕到佃戶那裡收果子。 35但那些佃戶卻抓住他的奴僕，打傷一個，殺死一個，又用石頭打死了一個。 36於是，園主又派更多的奴僕去，結果也遭到同樣的對待。 37最後，園主派了自己的兒子去，心想，『他們肯定會尊重我的兒子。』 38然而，那些佃戶看見園主的兒子來了，就商量說，『這是園主的繼承人。來吧！我們殺掉他，佔了他的產業！』 39於是，他們抓住他，把他推出園外殺了。 40那麼，當園主回來的時候，他會怎樣處置那些佃戶呢？」
41他們說：「他會毫不留情地除掉那些惡人，然後把葡萄園租給其他按時交果子的佃戶。」
42耶穌說：
「『工匠丟棄的石頭已成了房角石。
這是主的作為，在我們看來奇妙莫測。』
你們難道沒有讀過這段經文嗎？ 43所以，我告訴你們，將把上帝的國從你們那裡奪去，賜給結果子的人。 44凡跌在這石頭上的人，一定粉身碎骨；這石頭落在誰身上，就會把誰砸爛。」
45祭司長和法利賽人聽了耶穌的比喻，明白是針對他們講的。 46他們試圖逮捕耶穌，但又害怕百姓，因為百姓都認為耶穌是先知。
