Power, prayer, and forgiveness

²⁰ Early in the morning, as Jesus and his disciples were walking along, they saw the fig tree withered from the root up. ²¹ Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look how the fig tree you cursed has dried up.”

²² Jesus responded to them, “Have faith in God! ²³ I assure you that whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea’—and doesn’t waver but believes that what is said will really happen—it will happen. ²⁴ Therefore I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it, and it will be so for you. ²⁵ And whenever you stand up to pray, if you have something against anyone, forgive so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your wrongdoings.”^[a]

Controversy over authority

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem again. As Jesus was walking around the temple, the chief priests, legal experts, and elders came to him. ²⁸ They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?”

²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I have a question for you. Give me an answer, then I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things. ³⁰ Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me.”

³¹ They argued among themselves, “If we say, ‘It’s of heavenly origin,’ he’ll say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³² But we can’t say, ‘It’s of earthly origin.’” They said this because they were afraid of the crowd, because they all thought John was a prophet. ³³ They answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.”

Parable of the tenant farmers

12 Jesus spoke to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a tower. Then he rented it to tenant farmers and took a trip. ² When it was time, he sent a servant to collect from the tenants his share of the fruit of the vineyard. ³ But they grabbed the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Again the landowner sent another servant to them, but they struck him on the head and treated him disgracefully. ⁵ He sent another one; that one they killed. The landlord sent many other servants, but the tenants beat some and killed others. ⁶ Now the landowner had one son whom he loved dearly. He sent him last, thinking, They will respect my son. ⁷ But those tenant farmers said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ They grabbed him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven’t you read this scripture, The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ¹¹ The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes?”^[b]

¹² They wanted to arrest Jesus because they knew that he had told the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

A question about taxes

¹³ They sent some of the Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap him in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you’re genuine and you don’t worry about what people think. You don’t show favoritism but teach God’s way as it really is. Does the Law allow people to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay taxes or not?”

¹⁵ Since Jesus recognized their deceit, he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a coin. Show it to me.” ¹⁶ And they brought one. He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” His reply left them overcome with wonder.

A question about the resurrection

¹⁸ Sadducees, who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Jesus and asked, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a widow but no children, the brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.^{[c] 20} Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman; when he died, he left no children. ²¹ The second married her and died without leaving any children. The third did the same. ²² None of the seven left any children. Finally, the woman died. ²³ At the resurrection, when they all rise up, whose wife will she be? All seven were married to her.”

²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Isn’t this the reason you are wrong, because you don’t know either the scriptures or God’s power? ²⁵ When people rise from the dead, they won’t marry nor will they be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like God’s angels. ²⁶ As for the resurrection from the dead, haven’t you read in the scroll from Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God said to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?^{[d] 27} He isn’t the God of the dead but of the living. You are seriously mistaken.”

God’s most important command

²⁸ One of the legal experts heard their dispute and saw how well Jesus answered them. He came over and asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “The most important one is Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord, ³⁰ and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength.^{[e] 31} The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself.^[f] No other commandment is greater than these.”

³² The legal expert said to him, “Well said, Teacher. You have truthfully said that God is one and there is no other besides him. ³³ And to love God with all of the heart, a full understanding, and all of one’s strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself is much more important than all kinds of entirely burned offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered with wisdom, he said to him, “You aren’t far from God’s kingdom.” After that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Jesus corrects the legal experts

³⁵ While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “Why do the legal experts say that the Christ is David’s son? ³⁶ David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said, The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right side until I turn your enemies into your footstool.’^{[g] 37} David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ so how can he be David’s son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight.

³⁸ As he was teaching, he said, “Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They want to be greeted with honor in the markets. ³⁹ They long for places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. ⁴⁰ They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off they say long prayers. They will be judged most harshly.”

A poor widow’s contribution

⁴¹ Jesus sat across from the collection box for the temple treasury and observed how the crowd gave their money. Many rich people were throwing in lots of money. ⁴² One poor widow came forward and put in two small copper coins worth a penny.^{[h] 43} Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than everyone who’s been putting money in the treasury. ⁴⁴ All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had, even what she needed to live on.”

The temple’s fate

13 As Jesus left the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What awesome stones and buildings!”

² Jesus responded, “Do you see these enormous buildings? Not even one stone will be left upon another. All will be demolished.”

³ Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen? What sign will show that all these things are about to come to an end?”

Keep watch!

⁵ Jesus said, “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶ Many people will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the one!’ They will deceive many people. ⁷ When you hear of wars and reports of wars, don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet. ⁸ Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be earthquakes and famines in all sorts of places. These things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end.

⁹ “Watch out for yourselves. People will hand you over to the councils. You will be beaten in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me so that you can testify before them. ¹⁰ First, the good news must be proclaimed to all the nations. ¹¹ When they haul you in and hand you over, don’t worry ahead of time about what to answer or say. Instead, say whatever is given to you at that moment, for you aren’t doing the speaking but the Holy Spirit is. ¹² Brothers and sisters will hand each other over to death. A father will turn in his children. Children will rise up against their parents and have them executed. ¹³ Everyone will hate you because of my name. But whoever stands firm until the end will be saved.

¹⁴ “When you see the disgusting and destructive thing standing where it shouldn’t be (the reader should understand this), then those in Judea must escape to the mountains. ¹⁵ Those on the roof shouldn’t come down or enter their houses to grab anything. ¹⁶ Those in the field shouldn’t come back to grab their clothes. ¹⁷ How terrible it will be at that time for women who are pregnant and for women who are nursing their children. ¹⁸ Pray that it doesn’t happen in winter. ¹⁹ In those days there will be great suffering such as the world has never before seen and will never again see. ²⁰ If the Lord hadn’t shortened that time, no one would be rescued. But for the sake of the chosen ones, the ones whom God chose, he has cut short the time.

²¹ “Then if someone says to you, ‘Look, here’s the Christ,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. ²² False christs and false prophets will appear, and they will offer signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, those whom God has chosen. ²³ But you, watch out! I’ve told you everything ahead of time.

²⁴ “In those days, after the suffering of that time, the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. ²⁵ The stars will fall from the sky, and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. ²⁶ Then they will see the Human One^[i] coming in the clouds with great power and splendor. ²⁷ Then he will send the angels and gather together his chosen people from the four corners of the earth, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.

A lesson from the fig tree

²⁸ “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that he’s near, at the door. ³⁰ I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.

³² “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows. ³³ Watch out! Stay alert! You don’t know when the time is coming. ³⁴ It is as if someone took a trip, left the household behind, and put the servants in charge, giving each one a job to do, and told the doorkeeper to stay alert. ³⁵ Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know when the head of the household will come,whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows in the early morning or at daybreak. ³⁶ Don’t let him show up when you weren’t expecting and find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to all: Stay alert!”