Asn they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,
saying to them; "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donket tied there, with her colt by her, Untie them and bring them to me
If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away,"
This took place to fulfill waht was spoken through the prophet;
Say to the Daughter of Zion,"See, yiur king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey,"
The disciples, went and did as Jesus had instructed them.
They brought the donkey and thec olt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jeus sat on them.
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,"Hosanna to the Son of David."" Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, tjhe whole city was stired anda sked,"Who is this?"
The crowds answered," This is Jesus, the prophet from Bazareth in Galilee."
Jesus entered thet emple area and drove out all who were buying ands elling there.
"It is written, he said to them,"My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers"
The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them
But when the cuief preists and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and thec hildren shouting in thet emple area,"Hosanna to the Son of David,: they were indignant.
"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him,"Yes," replied Jesus,"have you never read,"From the lips of children and infants you have ordiained praise?"
And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the right.
Early in the morning as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry,
Seeing afig tree by the road, he went up to is b ut found nothing on it except leaves. The he said to it,"May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately?" they asked.
When the disciples saw this, they were amazed,"How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.
Jesus replied,"I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, Go, throw yourself into the sea, and it will be done.
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Jeus entered thet emple courts, and while he was teaching the chief priests and teh elders of the people came to him,"By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked," And who gave you this authority?"
Jesus replied," I will also ask you one question . If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things/
John's baptism- where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or fron men?" They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, From heaven him?
But if we say, Ftrom men-we are afraid of the people,for they all hold that John was a prophet."
So they answered Jesus,"We don't know." Then he said,"Neither will I tell you by waht aythority I am doing these things.
"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, Son, go and work today in the vineyard,
"I will not, hea nswered, but later he changed his mind and went.
"Then thef ather went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, I will, sir, but he did not go.
"Which of the two did what his father wanted?""The first," they answered, Jesus said to them,"I tell you the truth, the fax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness. and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
"Listen to another parable, There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower, Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers, and went away on a journey,
When the ahrvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
"The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third,
Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them thes ame way.
Last of all, he sant his son to them, "They will respect my son, he said.
"But when the tenants saw teh son, they said toe ach other,"This is the heir, Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance,
So they look him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
"Therefore , when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
"He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied," and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of teh crop at ahrvest time."
Jesus said to them,"Have you never read to the Scripures;"The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit
He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.
When the dhief priests and the Pharisees about them.
They looked for a way to arrest him , but they were afraid of teh crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
Matthew 22
Jesus spoke to them again in parables saying:
"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
He sent his servants to those who had beeb invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
"Then he sent some more servants and said, "Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattered cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready, Come to the wedding banquet thing is ready, Come to the wedding hanquet.
"But they paid no attention and went off- one to his field, another to his business.
The rest seized his servabts mistreated them and killed them
The king was enraged, He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
"Then he said to his servants,"The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.
Go to the street comers and invite to the banquet anyone you find.
So the servants went out into teh streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wddding clothes.
Friend, he asked how did you get in here without wedding clothes? The man was speechless,
"Then the king told thea ttendants,"Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
"For many are invited, but few are chosen."
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.
They asent their disciples to him along with the Heroddddians,"Teacher," they said, "we know you are man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who theya re,
Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
But Jesus knowing their evil intent,s aid,:You hypocrites,wgy are you trying to trap me?
Show me the coin used for paying the tax" They brought him a denarius,
and he asked them,"Whose prtrait is this? And whose inscription?"
"Caesar's they replied. Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caear's and to God what is God's"
When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question,
"Teacher," they said,"Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, hos brother must marry the widow and have children for him.
Now there were seven brothers, among us, The first one married and died, and since he had no childrfen, he left his wife to his brother.
The same thjing happened to the second and third brotherm right on down to the seventh.
Finally, the woman died.
Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"
Jesus replied,"You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage ; they will be like the angels in heaven.
But about ther esurrection of the dead- have you not read what God said to you.
I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac. and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living,"
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together
One of them an expert in the law, tested him with this question,
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
Jesus replied; "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it; Love your neighbor as yourself.
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them
"What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?""The son of David," they replied.
He said to them,"How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him :Lord" for he says,
"The Lord said to my Lord,"Sat at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet,"
If then David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?"
No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Matthew 23
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples;
"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat.
So you must obey then andd o everything they tell you But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
They tie up heavy loads and put them on not willing tolift a finger to move them.
"Everything they do is done for men to wee; They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long;
they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;
they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them Rabbi,"
"But you are not to be called' Rabbi, for you have only one Master and you are all brothers,
And do not call anyone on earth father, for you have obe Father, and he is in he
Nor are you to be called teacher, for you have one Teacher, the Christ.
The greater among you will be your servant,
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! hyou shut the kingdom of heaven in men;s faces. You your selves do not enter nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traved over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, "It anyone swears by the temple it means nothing but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath,
You blind fools! Which is greater theg old, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
You blind fools! Which is greater the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
You also say, If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by hisnoath,
You blind men! Which is greater, the gift, or teh altar that makes the gift sacred?
Therefore , he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
And he who swears by tge temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.
And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
"Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices- mint, dill and cummin, But you have neglected the more important matters of the law- justice mercy and faithfulness, You should have practiced the latter,without neglecting the former.
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Phrisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they me full of greed and self-indulgence.
Blind Phariseed! First clean teh inside also will be clean.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like white washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean
In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
"Woe to you, teachers oof the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs, for the prophets and decorate the gaves of the righteous.
And you say,"If we had lived in thed ays of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.
So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
"You snakes! Yu brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers, Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.
And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous blood that has been shged on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah. whom you murdered between the temple and thea ltar.
I tell you the truth , all this will come upon this generation.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets ands tone those sent to you, how prophets ands tone those sent to you. how often I have longed tog ather your children together , as a hen gatheres her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
Look, your house is left to you desolate,
For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.