1Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, (亚14:4; 太24:3; 太26:30; 可11:1; 可14:13; 路19:29; 约8:1; 约12:12; 徒1:12)2saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.3If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”4This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, (太1:22)5“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt,[1] the foal of a beast of burden.’” (赛62:11; 亚9:9; 太11:29)6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.7They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.8Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. (王下9:13)9And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (诗118:25; 诗118:26; 诗148:1; 太20:30; 太23:39; 路2:14; 启7:10)10And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” (可11:11)11And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (太2:23; 太21:46; 可6:15; 路7:16; 路9:8; 路9:19; 路13:33; 路24:19; 约1:21; 约4:19; 约6:14; 约7:40; 约9:17)
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
12And Jesus entered the temple[2] and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. (出30:13; 利1:14; 利5:7; 利12:8; 可11:15; 路2:24; 路19:45; 约2:14)13He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” (赛56:7; 耶7:11)14And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. (太11:5; 太15:31)15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, (太21:9; 路19:39)16and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (诗8:2; 太11:25; 太12:3; 太12:5; 太19:4; 太21:42; 太22:31)17And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. (太16:4; 可11:1; 可11:19; 路19:29; 路21:37; 路24:50; 约11:18)
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
18In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. (太4:2; 可11:12; 可11:20)19And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. (路13:6)20When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”21And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. (诗46:2; 太17:20; 约14:12; 徒10:20; 羅4:20; 羅14:23; 林前13:2; 雅1:6; 启8:8)22And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (太7:7; 太21:21)
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (出2:14; 太26:55; 可11:27; 路20:1; 约1:25; 徒4:7)24Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.25The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ (太13:54; 太21:32; 路7:30; 路15:18; 路15:21; 约3:27)26But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” (太11:9; 太14:5; 太21:46; 约5:35)27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ (太17:25; 太18:12; 太20:1; 太21:33)29And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. (太21:32; 太27:3; 來7:21)30And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go.31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. (太12:28; 路7:29; 路7:37)32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. (箴8:20; 太3:8; 太3:15; 太11:18; 太21:25; 太21:29; 路3:12; 彼后2:21)
The Parable of the Tenants
33“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. (诗80:8; 歌8:11; 赛5:1; 赛5:2; 太21:28; 太25:14; 可12:1; 可13:34; 路20:9)34When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants[3] to the tenants to get his fruit. (太21:33)35And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. (代下24:19; 代下24:21; 代下36:15; 尼9:26; 耶37:15; 耶38:6; 太5:12; 太22:6; 太23:34; 太23:37; 约10:31; 徒7:52; 徒7:59; 林后11:24; 帖前2:15; 來11:36)36Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. (太22:4)37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ (王上21:19; 约1:11; 羅8:17; 來1:2)39And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. (來13:12)40When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (太24:50; 太25:19)41They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” (太8:11; 太21:43; 路19:27; 徒13:46; 徒18:6; 徒28:28)42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;[4] this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? (诗118:22; 太21:16; 徒4:11; 彼前2:7)43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. (赛5:4; 赛5:7; 太3:10; 路14:24)44And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”[5] (赛8:14; 但2:34; 但2:44; 羅9:32; 彼前2:8)45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.46And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. (太21:11; 太21:26; 太26:4; 可11:18; 路19:47; 约7:25; 约7:30; 约7:44)