Jerusalem tests her King and hears the nations are at stake.

Matthew 21

The King enters on a donkey, cleanses the temple, withers a fruitless fig tree, and tells parables that indict leaders who will not do the Father's will.

¹When they came near to Jerusalem and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite 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 immediately he will send them.”

⁴All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,

⁶The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them, ⁷and brought the donkey and the colt and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them. ⁸A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

¹⁰When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”

¹¹The multitudes said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

¹²Jesus entered into the temple of God and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. ¹³He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!”

¹⁴The lame and the blind came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?”

Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of children and nursing babies, you have perfected praise’?”

¹⁷He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and camped there.

¹⁸Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, “Let there be no fruit from you forever!”

Immediately the fig tree withered away.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree immediately wither away?”

²¹Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done. ²²All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

²³When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?”

²⁴Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.” ²⁷They answered Jesus, and said, “We don’t know.”

He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁸But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ ²⁹He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went. ³⁰He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I’m going, sir,’ but he didn’t go. ³¹Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you. ³²For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him.

³³“Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. ³⁴When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. ³⁵The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way. ³⁷But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him. ⁴⁰When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?”

⁴¹They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

⁴³“Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing its fruit. ⁴⁴He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them. ⁴⁶When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.

Matthew 22

A wedding feast is filled with unlikely guests, Caesar's coin is given back to Caesar, and the greatest commandment joins love of God with love of neighbor.

¹Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, ²“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son, ³and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. ⁴Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’ ⁵But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise; ⁶and the rest grabbed his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. ⁷When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

⁸“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. ⁹Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.’ ¹⁰Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing, ¹²and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless. ¹³Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’ ¹⁴For many are called, but few chosen.”

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk. ¹⁶They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach; for you aren’t partial to anyone. ¹⁷Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

¹⁸But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the tax money.”

They brought to him a denarius.

²⁰He asked them, “Whose is this image and inscription?”

²¹They said to him, “Caesar’s.”

Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

²²When they heard it, they marveled, and left him and went away.

²³On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him, ²⁴saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.’ ²⁵Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. ²⁶In the same way, the second also, and the third, to the seventh. ²⁷After them all, the woman died. ²⁸In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her.”

²⁹But Jesus answered them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. ³⁰For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like God’s angels in heaven. ³¹But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, ³²‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

³³When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

³⁴But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together. ³⁵One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. ³⁶“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”

³⁷Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

⁴¹Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, ⁴²saying, “What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?”

They said to him, “Of David.”

⁴³He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

⁴⁵“If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

⁴⁶No one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man dare ask him any more questions from that day forward.

Matthew 23

Jesus pronounces woes on scribes and Pharisees who shut the kingdom, strain out gnats, and adorn the tombs of prophets their fathers killed.

¹Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, ²saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. ³All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do. ⁴For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them. ⁵But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the fringes of their garments, ⁶and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ by men. ⁸But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers. ⁹Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven. ¹⁰Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ. ¹¹But he who is greatest among you will be your servant. ¹²Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

¹⁴“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. ¹⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.

¹⁶“Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ ¹⁷You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? ¹⁸And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated.’ ¹⁹You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? ²⁰He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who has been living in it. ²²He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it.

²³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. ²⁴You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

²⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. ²⁶You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.

²⁷“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. ²⁸Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

²⁹“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous, ³⁰and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. ³²Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna? ³⁴Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ³⁵that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar. ³⁶Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

³⁷“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! ³⁸Behold, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Matthew 24

On the Mount of Olives He foretells the temple's fall, tribulation, and the coming of the Son of Man, and He commands servants to watch.

¹Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. ²But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.”

³As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray. ⁵For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁷For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“Then they will deliver you up to oppression and will kill you. You will be hated by all of the nations for my name’s sake. ¹⁰Then many will stumble, and will deliver up one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹Many false prophets will arise and will lead many astray. ¹²Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³But he who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵“When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house. ¹⁸Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes. ¹⁹But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days! ²⁰Pray that your flight will not be in the winter nor on a Sabbath, ²¹for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. ²²Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.

²³“Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There!’ don’t believe it. ²⁴For false christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.

²⁵“Behold, I have told you beforehand.

²⁶“If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; or ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it. ²⁷For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ²⁸For wherever the carcass is, that is where the vultures gather together.

²⁹“But immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; ³⁰and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

³²“Now from the fig tree learn this parable: When its branch has now become tender and produces its leaves, you know that the summer is near. ³³Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that he is near, even at the doors. ³⁴Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things are accomplished. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

³⁶“But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. ³⁷As the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, ³⁹and they didn’t know until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and one will be left. ⁴²Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes. ⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.

⁴⁵“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom his lord finds doing so when he comes. ⁴⁷Most certainly I tell you that he will set him over all that he has. ⁴⁸But if that evil servant should say in his heart, ‘My lord is delaying his coming,’ ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with the drunkards, ⁵⁰the lord of that servant will come in a day when he doesn’t expect it and in an hour when he doesn’t know it, ⁵¹and will cut him in pieces and appoint his portion with the hypocrites. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.

Matthew 25

Ten virgins, three servants with talents, and the separation of sheep from goats show that waiting for the King is proved by readiness, faithfulness, and mercy.

¹“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³Those who were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, ⁴but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all slumbered and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’ ⁷Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. ⁸The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹But the wise answered, saying, ‘What if there isn’t enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰While they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹Afterward the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ ¹²But he answered, ‘Most certainly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ ¹³Watch therefore, for you don’t know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

¹⁴“For it is like a man going into another country, who called his own servants and entrusted his goods to them. ¹⁵To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two. ¹⁸But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s money.

¹⁹“Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled accounts with them. ²⁰He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents in addition to them.’

²¹“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

²²“He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents in addition to them.’

²³“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

²⁴“He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter. ²⁵I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’

²⁶“But his lord answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. ²⁷You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. ²⁸Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be taken away. ³⁰Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

³¹“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. ³⁶I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?’

⁴⁰“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; ⁴³I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

⁴⁴“Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’

⁴⁵“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ ⁴⁶These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”