As they neared Jerusalem, coming to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples on ahead[1] 2 and told them, “Go into the village right in front of you. As soon as you enter it, you’ll find a colt tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it, and he’ll send it back here right away.’”
4 So they went and found the colt tied outside a door on the street, and they untied it. 5 Some of the people standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered just as Jesus had told them, and the people let them go.
7 They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks over it, and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut leafy branches from the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting:
“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord![2] 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”[3]
11 He entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
12 The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, he was hungry. 13 Seeing a fig tree in the distance with leaves, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves — it wasn’t the season for figs.[4] 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
15 They came to Jerusalem. He entered the temple and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those selling doves,[5] 16 and he wouldn’t let anyone carry goods through the temple. 17 He was teaching them and saying, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a hideout for bandits.”[6]
18 The chief priests and the scribes heard this and began looking for a way to destroy him. They were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. 19 When evening came, they left the city.
20 Early in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look — the fig tree you cursed has withered.”
22 Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Amen, I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not waver in his heart but believes that what he says will happen — it will be done for him. 24 That’s why I tell you: whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your wrongs.”
27 They came to Jerusalem again. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came up to him 28 and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you the authority to do them?”
29 Jesus said to them, “I’ll ask you one question. Answer me, and I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 John’s baptism — was it from heaven or from people? Answer me.”
31 They talked it over among themselves: “What should we say? If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he’ll say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From people’…” — they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone really did hold that John was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
And Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things either.”
Notes
Note 1. The name means “house of unripe figs” (pag, the green fig of Song of Songs 2:13); Luke 19:29 also places Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, which Acts 1:12 puts “a Sabbath day’s journey” from Jerusalem. ↩
Note 2. “Hosanna” comes from a Hebrew cry meaning “Save, please!” — a plea for rescue drawn from Psalm 118:25. ↩
Note 3. The Psalms of Solomon ask God to raise up “the son of David” as king over Israel (Psalms of Solomon 17:21). ↩
Note 4. Matthew’s telling (21:18–19) does not say that it was not the season for figs. ↩
Note 5. The Mishnah records that money changers set up their tables in the temple each year before the half-shekel tax fell due (Shekalim 1:3); the tax itself comes from Exodus 30:13. ↩
Note 6. The phrase quotes Jeremiah 7:11, where God condemns people who steal, murder, and swear falsely and then stand in the temple and say, “We are safe” (Jeremiah 7:9–10). ↩