Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
Jesus was traveling through the city of Jericho when something remarkable happened. In that city lived a man named Zacchaeus who worked as a chief tax collector and had become very rich from his job. When Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming through town, he desperately wanted to see him, but there was a problem—he was a short man, and the crowd of people was too thick for him to see over their heads. Determined not to miss his chance, Zacchaeus ran ahead of the crowd and climbed up into a sycamore tree along the road where Jesus would pass. From his perch in the branches, he would have a perfect view. When Jesus reached that very spot, he stopped and looked up into the tree. "Zacchaeus," Jesus called out, "come down quickly! I need to stay at your house today." Zacchaeus scrambled down from the tree as fast as he could and welcomed Jesus with pure joy. But when the crowd saw what was happening, they began complaining to each other. "Look at that," they muttered. "Jesus is going to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!" Zacchaeus stood up before everyone and spoke directly to Jesus. "Lord, I want you to know that I'm giving half of everything I own to the poor. And if I have cheated anyone out of money, I will pay them back four times what I took." Jesus looked at him and declared, "Today, salvation has come to this house. This man is truly a son of Abraham. The Son of Man came to search for and rescue those who are lost."
The Parable of the Ten Minas
While the people were listening to Jesus, he told them a story. He shared this parable because they were getting close to Jerusalem, and the people thought God's kingdom was about to appear right away. Jesus said, "There was once a man from a noble family who had to travel to a faraway country to be officially made king, and then he would return home. Before he left, he called ten of his servants together and gave each of them a mina of money. He told them, 'Use this money to do business while I'm gone.' "But the people in his homeland hated this man and sent messengers after him to say, 'We don't want this person to be our king.' "After the man had been made king, he came back home. He called for the servants he had given money to, because he wanted to see how much profit each one had made. The first servant came to him and said, 'Master, the mina you gave me has earned ten more minas.' His master answered, 'Excellent work, good servant! Since you have been faithful with this small amount, I'm putting you in charge of ten cities.' "The second servant came and said, 'Master, your mina has made five more minas.' The king told him, 'You will be in charge of five cities.' "Then another servant came forward and said, 'Master, here is your mina. I wrapped it up in a cloth and kept it safe. I was afraid of you because you are a hard man. You take money you never put in, and you harvest crops you never planted.' "The master replied, 'You evil servant, I will use your own words against you. So you knew I was a hard man who takes money I never put in and harvests crops I never planted? Then why didn't you at least put my money in the bank? When I came back, I could have collected it with interest.' "Then he said to the people standing nearby, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the servant who has ten minas.' They said to him, 'Master, he already has ten minas!' The king answered, 'I tell you, everyone who has something will be given more. But anyone who has nothing will lose even what little he has. As for my enemies who didn't want me to be their king, bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"
The Triumphal Entry
After Jesus finished speaking, he continued walking ahead of everyone else, making his way up toward Jerusalem. When he came close to the villages of Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples on ahead with specific instructions. "Go into the village in front of you," Jesus told them. "As soon as you enter it, you'll see a young donkey tied up there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it back to me. If anyone asks why you're taking it, just tell them, 'The Lord needs it.'" The two disciples went exactly where Jesus had directed them, and everything happened just as he had said it would. They found the young donkey tied up, just as Jesus had described. While they were untying it, the people who owned it came over and asked, "Why are you untying our donkey?" "The Lord needs it," the disciples answered, just as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey back to Jesus. Then they threw their own cloaks over the animal's back to make a saddle, and helped Jesus climb on. As Jesus rode along the road, people began spreading their cloaks on the ground in front of him like a carpet. When Jesus reached the place where the road slopes down from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of his followers erupted in joyful, loud praise to God. They were celebrating all the amazing miracles they had witnessed Jesus perform. "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!" they shouted. "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest places!" Some Pharisees who were standing in the crowd heard all this commotion and said to Jesus, "Teacher, you need to tell your disciples to stop this noise!" But Jesus replied, "I'm telling you the truth—if they stopped shouting, the stones themselves would burst out crying in praise."
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
As Jesus came near to Jerusalem and caught sight of the city spread out before him, he began to weep over it. Through his tears, he spoke to the city as if it were a person he loved: "If only you had understood today what could have brought you true peace! But now that knowledge is completely hidden from you, and you cannot see it. "The time is coming when your enemies will build walls around you to trap you inside. They will surround you completely and close in on you from every direction. They will destroy you utterly, tearing you down to the ground along with all the children living within your walls. Your enemies will not leave a single stone stacked on top of another stone. All of this will happen because you failed to recognize that God himself had come to visit you."
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Jesus walked into the temple courtyard and started forcing out the people who were selling things there. He told them, "The Scriptures say, 'My house will be a house of prayer.' But you have turned it into a hideout for thieves." Every day Jesus taught in the temple, but the chief priests, religious teachers, and leaders of the people were determined to kill him. However, they couldn't figure out how to do it because all the people were captivated by everything he said and hung on his every word.