Study Desk

^(C1)And as they ^(*)approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and ^(C2)Bethany, near ^(C3)the Mount of Olives, He ^(*)sent two of His disciples,

and ^(*)said to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.

"And if anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it'; and immediately he ^(F1)will send it back here."

They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they ^(*)untied it.

And some of the bystanders were saying to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?"

And they told them just as Jesus had said, and they gave them permission.

^(C1)They ^(*)brought the colt to Jesus and ^(*)put their cloaks on it; and He sat on it.

And many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields.

And those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: "^(F1)Hosanna! ^(C1)BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; ^(F1)Hosanna ^(C1)in the highest!"

^(C1)And Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple area; and after looking around at everything, ^(C2)He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

^(C1)On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry.

Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

And He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening.

^(C1)Then they ^(*)came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^(F1)doves;

and He would not allow anyone to carry ^(F1)merchandise through the temple grounds.

And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written: '^(C1)MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? ^(C2)But you have made it a DEN OF ROBBERS."

And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they ^(C1)began seeking how to put Him to death; for they were afraid of Him, because all ^(C2)the crowd was astonished at His teaching.

And ^(C1)whenever evening came, ^(F1)they would leave the city.

^(C1)As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.

And being reminded, Peter ^(*)said to Him, "^(C1)Rabbi, look, the fig tree that You cursed has withered."

And Jesus answered and ^(*)said to them, "^(C1)Have faith in God.

"^(C1)Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him.

"Therefore, I say to you, ^(C1)all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.

"And whenever you ^(C1)stand praying, ^(C2)forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your ^(F1)offenses.

["^(F1)(C1)But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your ^(F2)offenses."]

And they ^(*)came again to Jerusalem. ^(C1)And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders ^(*)came to Him,

and began saying to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?"

But Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

"Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me."

And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

"But should we say, 'From men'?"—they were afraid of the ^(F1)people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet.

Answering Jesus, they ^(*)said, "We do not know." And Jesus ^(*)said to them, "Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things."

^(C1)And He began to speak to them in parables: "^(C2)A man ^(C3)planted a vineyard and put a ^(F1)fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to ^(F2)vine-growers and went on a journey.

"And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers.

"And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.

"And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.

"And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others.

"He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

"But those vine-growers said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!'

"And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

"What will the ^(F1)owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others.

"Have you not even read this Scripture: '^(C1)A STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS HAS BECOME THE ^(F1)CHIEF CORNERSTONE;

^(C1)THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES'?"

^(C1)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the ^(F1)people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so ^(C2)they left Him and went away.

^(C1)Then they ^(*)sent some of the Pharisees and ^(C2)Herodians to Him in order to ^(C3)trap Him in a statement.

They came and ^(*)said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are truthful and ^(F1)do not care what anyone thinks; for You ^(F2)are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it ^(F3)permissible to pay a ^(F4)poll-tax to Caesar, or not?

"Are we to pay, or not pay?" But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a ^(F1)denarius to look at."

And they brought one. And He ^(*)said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" And they said to Him, "Caesar's."

And Jesus said to them, "^(C1)Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were utterly amazed at Him.

^(C1)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) ^(*)came to ^(F1)Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying,

"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ^(C1)if a man's brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother is to ^(F1)marry the wife and raise up ^(F2)children for his brother.

"There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children.

"The second one ^(F1)married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise;

and so the seven together left no children. Last of all the woman also died.

"In the resurrection, which one's wife will she be? For each of the seven had her as his wife."

Jesus said to them, "Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not ^(F1)understand the Scriptures nor the power of God?

"For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

"But ^(F1)regarding the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, ^(C1)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, '^(C2)I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'?

"^(C1)He is not the God ^(F1)of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken."

^(C1)One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and ^(C2)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the ^(F1)foremost of all?"

Jesus answered, "The ^(F1)foremost is, '^(C1)HEAR, ISRAEL! THE LORD IS OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE;

^(C1)AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'

"The second is this: '^(C1)YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

And the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(C1)HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO OTHER BESIDES HIM;

^(C1)and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, ^(C2)is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices."

When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." ^(C1)And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.

^(C1)And Jesus responded and began saying, as He ^(C2)taught in the temple area, "How is it that the scribes say that the ^(F1)Christ is the ^(C3)son of David?

"David himself said ^(F1)in the Holy Spirit, '^(C1)THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES UNDER YOUR FEET."'

"David himself calls Him 'Lord'; so in what sense is He his son?" And ^(C1)the large crowd ^(F1)enjoyed listening to Him.

^(C1)And in His teaching He was saying: "Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like ^(C2)personal greetings in the marketplaces,

and seats of honor in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets,

^(C1)who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation."

^(C1)And Jesus sat down opposite ^(C2)the treasury, and began watching how the ^(F1)people were ^(C3)putting ^(F2)money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts.

And a poor widow came and put in two ^(F1)lepta coins, which amount to a ^(F2)quadrans.

Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all ^(F1)the contributors to the treasury;

for they all put in out of their ^(F1)surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^(F2)all she had ^(C1)to live on."