Jesus comes to Jerusalem as king
1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’
4This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet:
5‘Say to Daughter Zion,
“See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ’21:5 Zech. 9:9
6The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
‘Hosanna21:9 A Hebrew expression meaning ‘Save!’ which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15 to the Son of David!’
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’21:9 Psalm 118:25,26
‘Hosanna21:9 A Hebrew expression meaning ‘Save!’ which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 15 in the highest heaven!’
10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’
11The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’
Jesus at the temple
12Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘ “My house will be called a house of prayer,”21:13 Isaiah 56:7 but you are making it “a den of robbers.”21:13 Jer. 7:11’
14The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant.
16‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ they asked him.
‘Yes,’ replied Jesus, ‘have you never read,
‘ “From the lips of children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your praise”21:16 Psalm 8:2 (see Septuagint)?’
17And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
Jesus curses a fig-tree
18Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19Seeing 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!’ Immediately the tree withered.
20When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. ‘How did the fig-tree wither so quickly?’ they asked.
21Jesus replied, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig-tree, but also you can say to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,” and it will be done. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.’
The authority of Jesus questioned
23Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. ‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ they asked. ‘And 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. 25John’s baptism – where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?’
They discussed it among themselves and said, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will ask, “Then why didn’t you believe him?” 26But if we say, “Of human origin” – we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.’
27So they answered Jesus, ‘We don’t know.’
Then he said, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The parable of the two sons
28‘What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.”
29‘ “I will not,” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
30‘Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will, sir,” but he did not go.
31‘Which of the two did what his father wanted?’
‘The first,’ they answered.
Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
The parable of the tenants
33‘Listen to another parable: there was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall round it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35‘The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them in the same way. 37Last of all, he sent his son to them. “They will respect my son,” he said.
38‘But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, “This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” 39So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40‘Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’
41‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,’ they replied, ‘and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.’
42Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘ “The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvellous in our eyes”21:42 Psalm 118:22,23?
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. 44Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.’21:44 Some manuscripts do not have verse 44.
45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
ኢየሱስ በታላቅ ክብር ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም መግባቱ
21፥1-9 ተጓ ምብ – ማር 11፥1-10፤ ሉቃ 19፥29-38
21፥4-9 ተጓ ምብ – ዮሐ 12፥12-15
1ኢየሩሳሌም መቃረቢያ ደብረ ዘይት ተራራ ላይ ወደምትገኘው ቤተ ፋጌ ወደተባለችው ስፍራ እንደ ደረሱ፣ ኢየሱስ ሁለት ደቀ መዛሙርት ላከ፤ 2እንዲህ አላቸው “በአቅራቢያችሁ ወዳለው መንደር ሂዱ፤ እንደ ደረሳችሁም አንዲት አህያ ከነውርንጫዋ ታስራ ታገኛላችሁ፤ ፈትታችሁም ወደ እኔ አምጧቸው። 3ማንም ሰው ለምን እንዲህ ታደርጋላችሁ ቢላችሁ፣ ‘ጌታ ይፈልጋቸዋል’ በሉት፤ እርሱም ወዲያውኑ ይሰድዳቸዋል።”
4ይህ የሆነውም በነቢዩ እንዲህ በማለት የተነገረው ይፈጸም ዘንድ ነው።
5“ለጽዮን ልጅ እንዲህ በሏት፤
‘እነሆ፤ ንጉሥሽ ትሑት ሆኖ፣
በአህያዪቱና በግልገሏ፣
በውርንጫዪቱም ላይ ተቀምጦ ወደ አንቺ ይመጣል።’ ”
6ደቀ መዛሙርቱም ሄደው ኢየሱስ እንዳዘዛቸው አደረጉ። 7አህያዪቱንና ውርንጫዋን አምጥተው ልብሶቻቸውን በላያቸው ላይ አኖሩ፤ እርሱም ተቀመጠባቸው። 8ከሕዝቡም አብዛኛው ልብሶቻቸውን፣ በመንገድ ላይ አነጠፉ፤ ሌሎቹም ከዛፎች ቅርንጫፍ እየዘነጠፉ በመንገዱ ላይ ጣል ጣል አደረጉ። 9ቀድሞት ከፊቱ የሚሄደውና ከኋላው ይከተለው የነበረው ሕዝብም እንዲህ እያለ ይጮኽ ነበር፤
“ሆሣዕና21፥9 በዕብራይስጡ አገላለጽ አሁን አድን! ማለት ሲሆን የምስጋና አገላለጽ ነው፤ 15 ይመ ለዳዊት ልጅ!”
“በጌታ ስም የሚመጣ የተባረከ ነው!”
“ሆሣዕና በአርያም!”
10ኢየሩሳሌም በገባ ጊዜም ከተማዋ በመላ፣ “ይህ ማነው?” በማለት ታወከች።
11ሕዝቡም፣ “ይህ በገሊላ ከምትገኘው ከናዝሬት የመጣው ነቢዩ ኢየሱስ ነው” አሉ።
ኢየሱስ በቤተ መቅደስ ሲነግዱ ያገኛቸውን አስወጣቸው
21፥12-16 ተጓ ምብ – ማር 11፥15-18፤ ሉቃ 19፥45-47
12ከዚያም ኢየሱስ ወደ ቤተ መቅደስ ገብቶ በቤተ መቅደስ ውስጥ ይሸጡና ይገዙ የነበሩትን አባረራቸው፤ የገንዘብ ለዋጮችን ጠረጴዛና የርግብ ሻጮችን መቀመጫ በመገለባበጥ፣ 13“ ‘ቤቴ የጸሎት ቤት ይባላል’ ተብሎ ተጽፏል፤ እናንተ ግን፣ ‘የዘራፊዎች ዋሻ’ አደረጋችሁት” አላቸው።
14በቤተ መቅደሱም ውስጥ ዐይነ ስውሮችና ሽባዎች ወደ እርሱ ቀረቡ፤ እርሱም ፈወሳቸው። 15ነገር ግን የካህናት አለቆችና የኦሪት ሕግ መምህራን ያደረጋቸውን ታምራትና፣ “ሆሣዕና፤ ለዳዊት ልጅ” እያሉ የሚጮኹትን ሕፃናት ባዩ ጊዜ በቍጣ ተሞሉ።
16እነርሱም፣ “እነዚህ ሕፃናት የሚሉትን ትሰማለህ?” አሉት።
ኢየሱስም፣ “አዎን እሰማለሁ፤ እንዲህ የሚለውን ከቶ አላነበባችሁምን?
“ ‘ከልጆችና ጡት ከሚጠቡ፣
ሕፃናት አፍ ምስጋናን አዘጋጀህ።’ ”
17ትቷቸው ከከተማው ወጣ፤ ወደ ቢታንያም ሄዶ በዚያው ዐደረ።
ፍሬ አልባ የሆነችው በለስ
21፥18-22 ተጓ ምብ – ማር 11፥12-14፡20-24
18ኢየሱስ በማግስቱም ማለዳ ወደ ከተማዪቱ በመመለስ ላይ ሳለ ተራበ፤ 19በመንገድ ዳርም አንድ የበለስ ዛፍ አይቶ ወደ እርሷ ሲሄድ ከቅጠል በስተቀር ምንም ስላላገኘባት፣ “ከእንግዲህ ፍሬ አይኑርብሽ!” አላት፤ የበለሷ ዛፍ ወዲያውኑ ደረቀች።
20ደቀ መዛሙርቱም የሆነውን አይተው በመደነቅ፣ “የበለሷ ዛፍ እንዴት በአንዴ ልትደርቅ ቻለች?” አሉ።
21ኢየሱስም እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “እውነት እላችኋለሁ፤ እምነት ቢኖራችሁ ባትጠራጠሩ፣ በበለሷ ዛፍ ላይ የሆነውን ማድረግ ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ ይህን ተራራ፣ ‘ከዚህ ተነቅለህ ባሕር ውስጥ ግባ’ ብትሉት እንኳ ይሆናል፤ 22እምነት ካላችሁ በጸሎት የምትለምኑትን ሁሉ ትቀበላላችሁ።”
በኢየሱስ ሥልጣን ላይ የቀረበ ጥያቄ
21፥23-27 ተጓ ምብ – ማር 11፥27-33፤ ሉቃ 20፥1-8
23ኢየሱስ ወደ ቤተ መቅደስ ገብቶ በማስተማር ላይ ሳለ፣ የካህናት አለቆችና የሕዝብ ሽማግሌዎች ቀርበው፣ “ይህን ሁሉ ነገር የምታደርገው በምን ሥልጣን ነው? ሥልጣንስ የሰጠህ ማን ነው?” ብለው ጠየቁት።
24ኢየሱስም መልሶ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “እኔም አንድ ጥያቄ እጠይቃችኋለሁ፤ መልሱን ብትነግሩኝ፣ እኔም እነዚህን ነገሮች በምን ሥልጣን እንደማደርግ እነግራችኋለሁ፤ 25የዮሐንስ ጥምቀት የመጣው ከየት ነበር? ከሰማይ ወይስ ከሰዎች?”
እነርሱም እርስ በርስ በመነጋገር እንዲህ ተባባሉ፤ “ ‘ከሰማይ ነው?’ ካልን ‘ታዲያ ለምን አላመናችሁበትም?’ ይለናል፤ 26‘ከሰዎች ነው’ ካልን ደግሞ፣ ‘ሕዝቡ ዮሐንስን ነቢይ ነው’ ብሎ ስለሚያምን እንፈራለን።”
27ስለዚህ፣ “አናውቅም” ብለው ለኢየሱስ መለሱለት።
እርሱም፣ “እኔም እነዚህን ነገሮች በምን ሥልጣን እንደማደርግ አልነግራችሁም” አላቸው።
የመታዘዝ ትርጕም
28ኢየሱስም እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “ምን ይመስላችኋል? ሁለት ወንዶች ልጆች ያሉት አንድ ሰው ነበረ፤ ወደ መጀመሪያው ልጁ ሄዶ፣ ‘ልጄ ሆይ፤ ዛሬ ወደ ወይኑ ቦታ ሄደህ ሥራ’ አለው።
29“ልጁም፣ ‘አልሄድም’ አለው፤ ኋላ ግን ተጸጽቶ ሄደ።
30“ወደ ሁለተኛው ልጁ ሄዶ እንደዚያው አለው፤ ልጁም ‘እሺ ጌታዬ እሄዳለሁ’ አለው፤ ነገር ግን ሳይሄድ ቀረ።
31“ከሁለቱ የአባቱን ፈቃድ የፈጸመው የትኛው ነው?”
እነርሱም፣ “የመጀመሪያው ልጅ” አሉት።
ኢየሱስም እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “እውነት እላችኋለሁ፣ ቀረጥ ሰብሳቢዎችና አመንዝራዎች ወደ እግዚአብሔር መንግሥት በመግባት ይቀድሟችኋል፤ 32መጥምቁ ዮሐንስ የጽድቅን መንገድ ሊያሳያችሁ ወደ እናንተ መጣ፤ እናንተ አላመናችሁትም፤ ቀረጥ ሰብሳቢዎችና አመንዝራዎች ግን አመኑት። የሆነውን ካያችሁ በኋላ እንኳ ንስሓ ገብታችሁ አላመናችሁትም።
የወይን ዕርሻ ገበሬዎች ምሳሌ
21፥33-46 ተጓ ምብ – ማር 12፥1-12፤ ሉቃ 20፥9-19
33“ሌላም ምሳሌ ስሙ፤ አንድ የወይን ዕርሻ ባለቤት ነበረ፤ በዕርሻው ዙሪያ ዐጥር ዐጠረ፤ ለወይኑ መጭመቂያ ጕድጓድ ቈፈረ፤ ለጥበቃ የሚሆን ማማ ሠራ፤ ከዚያም ዕርሻውን ለገበሬዎች አከራይቶ ወደ ሌላ አገር ሄደ። 34የመከር ወራት ሲደርስ፣ ፍሬውን ለመቀበል አገልጋዮቹን ወደ ገበሬዎቹ ላካቸው።
35“ገበሬዎቹም አገልጋዮቹን ይዘው አንዱን ደበደቡት፤ ሌላውን ገደሉት፤ ሌላውን ደግሞ በድንጋይ ወገሩት። 36እርሱም ከፊተኞቹ የሚበልጡ ሌሎች አገልጋዮቹን ላከ፤ ገበሬዎቹም ተመሳሳይ ድርጊት ፈጸሙባቸው። 37በመጨረሻም፣ ‘ልጄን ያከብሩታል’ በማለት ልጁን ላከ።
38“ነገር ግን ገበሬዎቹ ልጁን ባዩት ጊዜ፣ ‘ይህማ ወራሹ ነው፤ ኑ፣ እንግደለውና ርስቱን እንውረስ’ ተባባሉ። 39ይዘውም ከወይኑ ዕርሻ ውጭ አውጥተው ገደሉት።
40“ታዲያ የወይኑ ዕርሻ ባለቤት ሲመጣ፣ እነዚያን ገበሬዎች ምን የሚያደርጋቸው ይመስላችኋል?”
41እነርሱም፣ “እነዚያን ክፉዎች በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ገድሎ ከወይኑ ዕርሻ ተገቢውን ፍሬ በወቅቱ ለሚያስረክቡት ለሌሎች ገበሬዎች ያከራያል” አሉት።
42ኢየሱስም እንዲህ ተብሎ በቅዱሳት መጻሕፍት የተጻፈውን አላነበባችሁምን? አላቸው፤
“ ‘ግንበኞች የናቁት ድንጋይ፣
የማእዘን ራስ21፥42 ወይም የማእዘን ድንጋይ ሆነ፤
እግዚአብሔር ይህን አድርጓል፤
ሥራውም ለዐይናችን ድንቅ ነው።’
43“ስለዚህ እላችኋለሁ፤ የእግዚአብሔር መንግሥት ከእናንተ ተወስዳ ፍሬዋን ለሚያፈራ ሕዝብ ትሰጣለች፤ 44በዚህ ድንጋይ ላይ የሚወድቅ ይሰባበራል፤ ድንጋዩ ደግሞ የሚወድቅበትን ማንኛውንም ሰው ይፈጨዋል።”21፥44 አንዳንድ ቅጆች ቍጥር 44 የላቸውም።
45የካህናት አለቆችና ፈሪሳውያን ምሳሌዎቹን በሰሙ ጊዜ፣ ስለ እነርሱ የሚናገር መሆኑን ዐወቁ። 46ነገር ግን ይዘው ሊያስሩት ቢፈልጉም፣ ሕዝቡ ኢየሱስን እንደ ነቢይ አድርጎ ይመለከት ስለ ነበር ፈሩ።
