The Triumphal Entry
As Jesus and his followers drew near to Jerusalem, they came to the village of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead with specific instructions. "Go into the village in front of you," he told them. "As soon as you enter, you will find a donkey tied up there with her young colt beside her. Untie both animals and bring them to me. If anyone asks you what you're doing, simply tell them that the Lord needs these animals, and the person will let you take them immediately." This event happened to fulfill what God had spoken long ago through one of his prophets: "Tell the people of Zion, 'Look, your King is coming to you. He is gentle and humble, riding on a donkey—yes, riding on a young donkey, the offspring of a working animal.'" The two disciples went and did exactly what Jesus had told them to do. They found the donkey and her colt, brought them back to Jesus, and spread their outer coats on the animals' backs. Then Jesus climbed on and sat down. A huge crowd had gathered, and they began spreading their cloaks on the road in front of Jesus like a carpet. Other people cut branches from nearby trees and scattered them across the path. The crowds walking ahead of Jesus and those following behind him were all shouting joyfully: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" When Jesus entered Jerusalem this way, the entire city was buzzing with excitement and confusion. People everywhere were asking, "Who is this man?" The crowds who had witnessed everything replied, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
The Cleansing of the Temple
Jesus walked into the temple courtyard and found people buying and selling things there. He drove them all out, flipping over the tables where men were exchanging money and knocking down the chairs of those who were selling doves for sacrifices. He said to them, "The Scriptures say, 'My house will be called a place of prayer,' but you have turned it into a hideout for thieves." People who were blind and unable to walk came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them all. When the chief priests and religious teachers saw the amazing things Jesus was doing and heard the children in the temple courtyards shouting, "Praise the Son of David!" they became furious. They asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" Jesus replied, "Yes, I do. Haven't you ever read in the Scriptures where it says, 'From the mouths of children and babies, you have brought forth perfect praise'?" After this, Jesus left them and walked out of the city to the village of Bethany, where he stayed for the night.
The Cursing of the Fig Tree
The next morning, as Jesus was walking back to the city, he felt hungry. He spotted a fig tree growing beside the road and walked over to it, hoping to find some fruit. But when he reached the tree, he discovered it had nothing but leaves—no fruit at all. Jesus spoke to the tree: "You will never produce fruit again!" The moment he said these words, the fig tree dried up completely. The disciples witnessed this and were amazed. They asked Jesus, "How did that fig tree wither and die so fast?" Jesus answered them, "I'm telling you the truth—if you have genuine faith without any doubt, you won't just be able to do what happened to this fig tree. You could even tell that mountain over there to uproot itself and throw itself into the sea, and it would happen. When you pray and truly believe, you will receive whatever you ask for."
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
When Jesus came back to the temple courts and started teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him. They confronted him with a direct challenge: "What gives you the right to do these things? Who gave you this authority?" Jesus looked at them and said, "I'll ask you a question too. If you can answer mine, then I'll tell you what gives me the right to do what I'm doing. Tell me this: When John baptized people, where did his authority come from? Did it come from heaven, or did it come from human sources?" The religious leaders stepped aside and whispered frantically among themselves. They realized they were trapped. "If we say his authority came from heaven," they reasoned, "then Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John. But if we say it came from human sources, we'll have a problem with the crowds, because everyone believes John was a true prophet." After their hurried discussion, they returned to Jesus with their answer: "We don't know." Jesus replied, "Then I won't tell you what gives me the authority to do these things either."
The Parable of the Two Sons
Jesus asked them, "What do you think about this story? A father had two sons. He went to the first son and said, 'Son, go work in the vineyard today.' The son answered, 'I won't do it.' But later he felt sorry about his response, changed his mind, and went to work in the vineyard. Then the father went to his second son and asked him the same thing. This son replied, 'Yes sir, I'll go.' But he never actually went to work. Now, which of these two sons actually did what their father wanted?" The people answered, "The first son." Jesus replied, "I'm telling you the truth: tax collectors and prostitutes are entering God's kingdom ahead of you. John the Baptist came to show you the right way to live, but you refused to believe him. However, the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe John's message. Even after you watched this happen, you still didn't feel sorry for your sins or change your minds to believe him."
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Jesus told them another story. "There was a wealthy man who owned land, and he planted a vineyard on it. He built a wall all around the vineyard to protect it, dug out a place where the grapes could be pressed into wine, and constructed a watchtower. When everything was ready, he rented the vineyard to some farmers and then traveled to a distant country. When it came time for the grape harvest, the landowner sent his servants to the farmers to collect his portion of the crop. But the farmers grabbed his servants and treated them terribly. They beat one of them, murdered another, and threw stones at a third until he died. The landowner tried again, sending even more servants than before. But the farmers did exactly the same cruel things to this second group. Finally, the landowner decided to send his own son. 'Surely they will show respect to my son,' he thought to himself. But when the farmers saw the son coming, they talked among themselves and said, 'Look, here comes the heir who will inherit everything someday. Come on, let's kill him and then we can take over his inheritance for ourselves.' So they grabbed the son, dragged him outside the vineyard, and murdered him. Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what do you think he will do to those farmers?" The people listening answered, "He will destroy those evil men in a terrible way, and he will rent his vineyard to different farmers who will honestly give him his fair share when harvest time comes." Jesus responded to them, "Haven't you ever read this in the Scriptures: 'The stone that the builders threw away as worthless has become the most important stone of all. The Lord has done this, and it is wonderful to see'? Because of this, I'm telling you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who will actually produce the good fruit God expects. Anyone who trips and falls on this stone will be shattered into pieces, but anyone who has this stone fall on top of them will be completely crushed." When the chief priests and Pharisees heard Jesus tell these stories, they realized he was talking about them. They wanted to arrest him right then and there, but they were afraid of the crowds of people, because everyone believed Jesus was a prophet sent from God.