Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany,
at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to
them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you
enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.
Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing
this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here
immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door
outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those
standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the
colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them
go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on
it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and
others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And
those who went before and those who followed were shouting,
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed
is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he
had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went
out to Bethany with the twelve.
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.
And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he
could find anything on it. 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 heard it.
And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began
to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and
he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of
those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry
anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to
them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of
prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of
robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were
seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the
crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they
went out of the city.
As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered
away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi,
look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus
answered them, “Have faith in God. 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 will
come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and
it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you
have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in
heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the
temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to
him, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these
things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to
them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you
by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from
heaven or from man? Answer me.” And they discussed it with one
another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then
did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were
afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a
prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said
to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these
things.”
