CHAPTER 21

On Tuesday morning as Jesus was walking along the Mount of Olives from Bethany toward Jerusalem, his disciples saw the dead fig tree; it was dried up from its roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered up and is dead!”

Jesus said, “Have faith in God! For I tell you the truth: Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you the truth: Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you pray, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so your Father in heaven will forgive your sins.”

Then Jesus and his disciples arrived in Jerusalem and entered the temple courts.

Jesus was walking around the temple, teaching, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. At that time the Jewish religious leaders walked up to Jesus and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you a question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I do these things.” Jesus asked them, “Tell me, was the baptism of John from God or was it from man?” The religious leaders talked with each other and said, “If we say, ‘From God,’ he will ask, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’ But if we say, ‘It was from man,’ then we fear what all the people might do. They will throw rocks at us because they believe that John was a prophet of God.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know where John’s baptism came from.” Then Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things”.

Then Jesus asked the religious leaders, “What do you think about this story? “There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘No, I will not go,’ but later he changed his mind and went into the vineyard to work. Then the father went to his second son and said the same thing, “Go work today in the vineyard.’ He answered, ‘Yes, I will, father,’ but he did not go into the vineyard to work. Tell me, which of the two sons did the will of his father?” The religious leaders answered, “The first son.”

Then Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth: The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you! For John the Baptist came to show you the way of righteousness, and you refused to believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him. And even after you saw this, you still would not repent and believe.”

Turning to the religious leaders, Jesus told them the story of the vineyard owner saying, “There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a hole for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he rented his vineyard to some farmers and went away on a long journey to another place. When it was time for the harvest, the landowner sent a servant to the farmers to collect his share of the vineyard’s fruit. But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him, and sent him away without any fruit. Then the landowner sent another servant to them, but they hit him on the head, beat him, and sent him away with nothing. The owner sent a third servant, and they hurt him and threw him out of the vineyard. Finally, the landowner sent his only son who he loved, for he was the only one left to send. The land- owner thought, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the farmers saw the son coming, they said to one another, ‘This is the landowner’s son, the inheritor of the vineyard; come, let’s kill him and take his inheri- tance.’ So they killed the son, and threw his body out of the vineyard.”

Then Jesus asked the religious leaders, “when the vineyard’s owner comes, what will he do to those evil farmers?” They said, “He will destroy those evil men, and he will rent his vineyard to other farm- ers, who will give him his share of the crops at harvest time.” Jesus said, “Yes, the vineyard owner will go and kill the farmers and then give the vineyard to others. When the religious leaders heard this, they said, “God forbid! May this never be!”

Jesus looked directly at them and asked them, “Haven’t you ever read Psalm 118:22-23? ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’ I tell you the truth: The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who will produce its fruit.”

When the religious leaders heard Jesus’ stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. So they looked for a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid of the crowd of people because they believed that Jesus was a prophet.

The religious leaders left Jesus and went away.

Then Jesus spoke to the people about the kingdom of God. “The kingdom of God is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but those who were invited refused to come. Then the king sent out more servants and told them, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and cattle have been butchered and everything is ready to eat. Come to the wedding banquet!’ But the invited guests ignored them and left—one went to his field, and another went to his business. The others grabbed the king’s servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

“The king was furious. He sent out his soldiers and destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then the king told his servants, ‘The wedding banquet of my son is ready, but those that I invited do not deserve to come. Therefore, go to the street corners and invite everyone to the banquet.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find—the good and the bad—and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes. The king asked him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie this man hand and foot, and throw him outside into the outer darkness, where people will be weeping and grinding their teeth.’”

Then Jesus said, “For many people are called but only a few are chosen.”

At that time the Jewish religious leaders were keeping a very close watch on Jesus. They sent some of their followers to Jesus along with some Herodian spies to trap him in what he was teaching. They pretended to be friendly to Jesus. They hoped to catch him in what he said, so that they could hand him over to the power and authority of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. The religious leaders said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity and show no favoritism because you do not worry about who they are. You speak the truth and teach the true way of God. Tell us what you think: Is it right to pay the imperial tax to the Roman Emperor Tiberius or not?”

Jesus knew they were deceptive and filled with evil intent. He said to them, “You are religious hypocrites! Why are you trying to trap me in what I teach?” Then Jesus said, “Bring me a coin—a Roman denarius— used for paying the imperial tax and let me look at it.” They brought Jesus a coin. Then Jesus asked them, “Whose image and inscription is stamped on the coin?” The religious leaders said, “It is Caesar’s.” Jesus said to them, “So give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.”

When they heard this, the religious spies were amazed by his answer, and failed to trap Jesus in his public teaching. So they no longer asked Jesus any more questions and walked away.

That same day some religious leaders called Sadducees—who denied the resurrection from the dead—came to Jesus in the temple and asked him this question to test him, “Teacher, Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without children, so he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to all seven brothers. Finally, the woman died. Tell us, which one of the seven brothers will the woman be married to at the resurrection from the dead, for she had married all the brothers.”

Jesus said to them, “The people of this world get married, but the worthy at the resurrection of the dead will not get married. They will not die, for they will be like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. You are wrong because you do not know the Bible or the power of God. Why do you not believe in the resurrection of the dead, for even Moses believed in the resurrection of the dead. Haven’t you read the words of Moses in Exodus 3:6 when God appeared and spoke to him at the burn- ing bush? God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses responded by calling him ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ So God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are very wrong!”

When the crowds of people heard Jesus speak, they were amazed at his teaching.

Then some religious leaders called Pharisees—who did believe in the resurrection of the dead—said to Jesus, “Teacher, very good!” The Pharisees met together when they heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees. So one of them came and heard the Sadducees debating Jesus in the temple court. The religious leader heard the wisdom of Jesus, so he tried to test Jesus by asking him, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Of all of God’s commandments, which one is the most important? Which is the greatest commandment in the law of Moses?”

Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law of Moses? How do you understand what it says?” The religious leader said, “It is written in Deuteronomy 6:5, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,’ and in Leviticus 19:18, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Jesus said, “Very good, your answer is correct; do this and you will live. The first and greatest commandment is Deuteronomy 6:4-5, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ And the second greatest commandment is Leviticus 19:18, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these two. For the whole truth of the Old Testament is contained in these two commandments.”

The religious leader said, “Teacher, well said. You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is much more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices in the temple.”

From that time on, none of the religious leaders dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

When Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, the religious leaders gathered around him. Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said, “The son of David.”

Then Jesus responded, “Why do you teach that the Messiah is the son of David? Why is it then that David, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared in Psalm 110:1, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ Therefore, David calls him ‘Lord.’ So how then can the Messiah be his son?”

The religious leaders had no answer for Jesus, and from that day on, they dared not ask Jesus any more questions. And a large crowd of people were listening with excitement.

Jesus turned and said to his disciples and the crowd of people, “Beware of the religious leaders. Be careful to obey what they teach, but do not live as they live. For they do not practice what they preach, for everything they do is to be seen by other people. They like to walk around in flowing robes and make their garment tassels long for everyone to see. They love to be greeted with respect in the public market. They love to sit in places of authority in the synagogues that are called the seats of Moses. They like to sit at places of honor at banquets. They defraud widows’ houses and for a show make long prayers before people. But you can be assured that they will receive a most severe judgment from God. They tie heavy burdens onto the shoulders of the people, but they are not willing to lift a finger to remove them. They love to be called teachers, but you should not be called teachers because you have only one true Teacher, and you are all fellow believers. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts themselves in pride will be humbled, and whoever humbles them- selves will be exalted by God. And don’t call anyone on earth ‘father.’ You have only one Father in heaven.”

Then Jesus continued to condemn the religious leaders. He said, “How terrible for you! You slam the door of the kingdom of God in people’s faces. And you yourselves do not even enter it, nor will you let those enter who are trying to enter. You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, but when they convert, you make them twice the child of hell as you are. How terrible for you.

“You are blind leaders! You say, ‘Whoever makes a promise by the temple, it means nothing; but whoever promises by the gold of the temple is bound to keep his oath.’ You are blind fools! Which is greater—the gold, or the temple that makes the gold holy? You also say, ‘Whoever makes a promise by the altar, it means nothing; but whoever promises by the gift that is on the altar is bound to keep his oath.’ Which is greater—the gift, or the altar that makes the gift holy? Therefore, whoever makes a promise by the altar swears an oath by it and by all the offerings on it. And whoever makes a promise by the temple swears an oath by it and by God who dwells in it. And whoever makes a promise by heaven swears an oath by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. You give to God a tenth of your spices, but you neglect the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced these, without neglecting the former things.

“You are blind leaders! You remove insects from your drinks, but you swallow a camel. You clean the outside of the cup and dish you use, but your hearts are full of greed and self-indulgence.

“You are spiritually blind! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean. You are like tombs that are painted white and are beautiful on the outside, but on the inside they are full of rotting bones of the dead people, and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. How terrible for you! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have helped kill the prophets.’ In saying this, you testify against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and finish what your ancestors started!

You are snakes! You are the children of snakes! Why do you think you will escape being condemned to hell? Therefore, I am sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues, and chase them from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the righteous blood of Abel to the righteous blood of Zechariah who you murdered. I tell you the truth: This will all come on this generation of Israel.”

Then Jesus declared in the temple, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill God’s prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a mother bird gathers her chicks under her wings. But you were not willing!. Look! Your house has been forsaken by God and left desolate. I tell you the truth: You will not see me again until you shout Psalm 118:26, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Frustrated with the religious leaders, Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were given in the temple. He watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. He looked up and saw many rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; they were throwing in large amounts of money. Then Jesus saw a poor widow come and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Jesus called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth: This poor widow has put more money into the temple treasury than all the rich people. For the rich gave out of their abundant wealth, but she gave out of her poverty. She gave all she had to live on.”