Jesus Enters Jerusalem like a King
1Jesus and his followers approached Jerusalem and the outlying villages of Bethphage [1] and Bethany on the slopes of a ridge called the Mount of Olives. He sent two disciples ahead. 2Jesus told them, “Go into the next village. You’ll find a young donkey that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it to me. 3If anyone asks, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just tell them, ‘The Lord needs it. We’ll bring it back as soon as he is done with it.’”4So the disciples went on ahead and found the young donkey tied near a front door along the street. They untied it.
5Some people standing nearby asked them, “What do you think you’re doing? Why are you untying that colt?”
6The disciples said what Jesus told them to say. That was enough. The people gave them permission to take the donkey. 7The disciples took the donkey to Jesus and saddled it with some of their cloaks. Jesus sat on the donkey.
8As Jesus rode along, many people paved his path with their cloaks and with tall grass they cut from the nearby fields. 9People who walked in front of him and behind him started chanting, 10God bless the nation of our ancestor David. [4]
Save us! Please save us!” [5] 11When Jesus reached Jerusalem, he went to the Temple. He took a good look around, but it was already late in the day, so he went back to Bethany with his 12 disciples.
That Cursed Fig Tree
12The next day, they left Bethany. Along the way to Jerusalem, [6] Jesus got hungry. 13He saw a fig tree off in the distance. There were leaves on the tree, so he went over to see if he could find any figs to eat. But when he got there, he didn’t find anything but a bunch of leaves. With good reason: figs weren’t in season yet. [7] 14Jesus told the tree, “I don’t want anyone to take a bite of your fruit again.” The disciples heard him say this.Jesus Gets Physical at the Temple
15The group went into Jerusalem. When they got to the Temple, Jesus chased off the vendors who were selling their products in the Temple courtyards. Jesus flipped over the tables of the currency changers. [8] And he knocked over the chairs of the people selling pigeons. [9] 16He ran off anyone trying to carry merchandise onto the Temple property.17Jesus started teaching the people by saying, “Doesn’t our Bible say, ‘My house is a place where people from all over the world can pray’? But you’ve turned it into a convention center for crooks.”
18When the Temple priests and the scholars known as scribes got word of what Jesus was doing, they started working on a plan to kill him. They were afraid of him because they could see he had impressed the people with his teaching. 19When evening came, Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem.
That Cursed Fig Tree Again
20The next morning, Jesus and the disciples took a walk. They saw the fig tree Jesus had talked to the day before. It was now dead—all the way down to the roots. 21Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, look at that! The fig tree you condemned is dead.”22Jesus told the disciples, “Have some faith in God. 23Listen, I’m telling you the truth. If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Rise and drop yourself into the sea,’ it will happen. But you can’t have any doubt. You’ve got to believe that what you say is going to happen. If you can do that, it will happen. 24I want you to know that, and here’s why. Whatever you pray for, whatever you ask for, believe that you’ve already got it. If you can do that, you’ll get it.
25“Whenever you pray, forgive anyone who has done you wrong. You’ve got to do that so your Father in heaven will forgive you of the sins you’ve committed. 26If you don’t forgive others, your Father in heaven isn’t going to forgive you either.” [10]
Jewish Leaders Grill Jesus
27Jesus and the disciples went back to Jerusalem. While they were walking around in the Temple courtyards, the top priests came over to him. Scribes came too, along with a group of older Jewish men. 28They asked Jesus, “Who gave you the right to do what you’ve been doing here? Where do you get the authority to do this?”29Jesus said, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll ask you one question. If you’re willing to answer that for me, I’ll tell you where I get the authority to do what I’ve been doing. 30Here’s the question. It’s about the baptisms that John did. Who gave him the right to do that? Was baptism God’s idea, or did some human think it up? Go ahead, give me an answer to that one.”
31The Jewish leaders talked about this among themselves. They said, “If we say the idea came from heaven, he’ll ask us the tough follow-up question, ‘Well, why didn’t you believe him?’ 32On the other hand, if we say some human invented the idea, that’s not going to go over well with the people.” Everyone thought John was a genuine prophet.
33So they told Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Fine with me. If you’re not going to answer my question, I’m not going to tell you where I get my authority.”
