Chronological
The Teachers of the Law and the Proud Religious Law-Keepers (A)
23 Then Jesus talked to the many people and to His followers. 2 He said, “The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers have put themselves in Moses’ place as teachers. 3 Do what they tell you to do and keep on doing it. But do not follow what they do. They preach but do not obey their own preaching. 4 They make heavy loads and put them on the shoulders of men. But they will not help lift them with a finger. 5 Everything they do, they do to be seen of men. They have words from the Holy Writings written in large letters on their left arm and forehead and they make wide trimming for their clothes. 6 They like to have the important places at big suppers and the best seats in the Jewish places of worship. 7 They like to have people show respect to them as they stand in the center of town where people gather. They like to be called teacher.
8 “But you are not to be called teacher. There is only one Teacher, and all of you are brothers. 9 Do not call any man here on earth your father. There is only one Father and He is in heaven. 10 You are not to be called leader. There is only one Leader and He is Christ.
11 “He who is greatest among you will be the one to care for you. 12 The person who thinks he is important will find out how little he is worth. The person who is not trying to honor himself will be made important.
Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Proud Religious Law-Keepers
13 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You keep men from going into the holy nation of heaven. You are not going in yourselves, and you do not allow those to go in who are about to go in. 14 It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! (*You take houses from poor women whose husbands have died. Then you try to cover it up by making long prayers. You will be punished all the more because of this.) 15 It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You go over land and sea to win one follower. When you have him, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are.
16 “It is bad for you, blind leaders! You say, ‘Whoever makes a promise by the house of God, his promise is worth nothing. But whoever makes a promise by the gold of the house of God, then his promise has to be kept.’ 17 You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gold or the house of God that makes the gold holy? 18 You say, ‘Whoever will promise by the altar, his promise does not have to be kept. But whoever makes a promise by the gift on the altar, then his promise has to be kept.’ 19 You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 Whoever makes a promise by the altar, promises by it and by everything on it. 21 Whoever makes a promise by the house of God, promises by it and by Him Who is in it. 22 Whoever makes a promise by heaven, promises by the throne of God and by Him Who sits there.
23 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You give one-tenth part of your spices, and have not done the most important things of the Law, such as thinking what is right and wrong, and having pity and faith. These you should have done and still have done the other things also. 24 You blind leaders, you take a small bug out of your cup but you swallow a camel!
25 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You clean the outside of the cup and plate, but leave the inside full of strong bad desires and are not able to keep from doing sinful things. 26 You blind proud religious law-keepers! Clean the inside of the cup and plate, then the outside will be clean also.
27 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You are like graves that have been made white and look beautiful on the outside. But inside you are full of the bones of dead men and of every sinful thing. 28 As men look at you, you seem to be good and right but inside you are full of sin. You pretend to be someone you are not.
29 “It is bad for you, teachers of the Law and proud religious law-keepers, you who pretend to be someone you are not! You make buildings for the graves of the early preachers, and you make the graves beautiful of those who are right with God. 30 You say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our early fathers, we would not have helped kill the early preachers.’ 31 In this way, you are showing that you are the sons of those who killed the early preachers. 32 You might as well finish what your early fathers did. 33 You snakes! You family of snakes! How can you be kept from hell?
34 “Because of this, I am going to keep on sending to you men who speak for God and wise men and teachers of the Law. Some of them you will kill and nail to a cross. Some of them you will beat in your places of worship. You will make it very hard for them as they go from city to city. 35 Because of this, you will be guilty of the blood of all those right with God on the earth. It will be from the blood of Abel who was right with God to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachias. He was the one you killed between the house of God and the altar. 36 For sure, I tell you, all these things will come on the people of this day.
Jesus Sorrows Over Jerusalem
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the men who speak for God and throw stones at those who were sent to you. How many times I wanted to gather your children around Me, as a chicken gathers her young ones under her wings. But you would not let Me. 38 See! Your house is empty. 39 I say to you, you will not see Me again until you will say, ‘Great is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
They Ask Jesus Who Gave Him the Power to Do These Things (A)
20 As He was teaching and preaching the Good News, the religious leaders and the teachers of the Law and the elders came. 2 They said to Him, “Tell us, by what right and power are You doing these things? Who gave You the right and the power?” 3 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question also. You answer Me. 4 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?”
5 They said to themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ then all the people will throw stones at us because they believe John was one who spoke for God.” 7 They said that they did not know where John’s baptism came from. 8 Jesus said to them, “And I will not tell you where I get the right and the power to do these things.”
The Picture-Story of the Grape-Field (B)
9 Jesus began to tell the people a picture-story, saying, “There was a man who planted a grape-field. He rented it to farmers. Then he went to a country far away for a long time. 10 At the time of gathering fruit he sent one of his servants to the farmers to get some of the fruit. But the farmers beat him and sent him away without fruit. 11 He sent another servant. The farmers beat him also. They made it very hard for him and sent him away without fruit. 12 He sent a third servant. They hurt him and threw him out of the grape-field.
13 “Then the owner of the grape-field said, ‘What should I do? I will send my much-loved son. They might respect him.’ 14 The farmers saw the son. They said to themselves, ‘This is the one who will get everything when the owner dies. Let us kill him, and we will get everything.’ 15 They put him out of the grape-field and killed him. Now what will the owner of the grape-field do to them? 16 He will come and kill those farmers. Then he will rent the grape-field to other farmers.”
When they heard this, they said, “May this never be done!” 17 Jesus looked at them and said, “What does this writing mean, ‘The Stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important Stone in the building’? (C) 18 Whoever falls on this Stone will be broken. And on the one it falls, it will make him like dust.” (D)
They Try to Trap Jesus (E)
19 At this time the religious leaders and the teachers of the Law tried to take Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. These leaders knew Jesus had told this picture-story against them. 20 They watched Jesus and they sent men who pretended to be good people to watch Him. They wanted to trap Him in something He said. Then they could give Him over to the leader of the people who had the right and the power to say what to do with Him.
21 These men who were sent asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know what You say and teach is right. We know You do not show more respect to one person than to another. We know You teach the truth about God. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 23 Jesus knew they were trying to trap Him. He said, 24 “Show Me a piece of money. Whose picture is this? Whose name is on it?” And they said, “Caesar’s.” 25 Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. Pay to God the things that belong to God.” 26 They could find nothing wrong with what He taught. They were surprised and wondered about what He told the people, so they said nothing more.
They Ask about Being Raised from the Dead (F)
27 Some people from the religious group who believe no one will be raised from the dead came to Jesus. They asked Him, 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us in the Law, ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, then his brother must marry her. He should have children for his brother who died.’ (G) 29 There were seven brothers. The first had a wife but died without children. 30 The second brother took her for his wife. He died without children. 31 The third brother took her for his wife. In the same way all seven took her for a wife. They all died without children. 32 Then the woman died also. 33 When people are raised from the dead, whose wife will she be? All seven brothers had her for a wife.”
34 Jesus said to them, “People of this earth marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who have the right to have that life and are raised from the dead do not marry and are not given in marriage. 36 They cannot die anymore. They are as the angels and are sons of God. They are children who have been raised from the dead. 37 As for the dead being raised, even Moses spoke of that when he told of the burning bush. There he calls the Lord, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 For He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. All live for Him.”
39 One of the teachers of the Law said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 After that they were afraid to ask Him anything.
Jesus Asks the Teachers of the Law about the Christ (H)
41 Jesus said to them, “How do they say that Christ is the Son of David? 42 For David himself said in the Book of Psalms, ‘The Lord said to My Lord, “Sit at my right side 43 until I make those who hate You a place to rest Your feet.”’ (I) 44 David calls Him, ‘Lord!’ Then how can He be his son?”
False Teachers (J)
45 All the people were listening. He said to His followers, 46 “Look out for the teachers of the Law. They like to walk around in long coats. They like to have people speak words of respect to them in the center of town where people gather. They like the important seats in the places of worship. They like the important places at big suppers. 47 They take houses from poor women whose husbands have died. They cover up their actions by making long prayers. They will be punished all the more.”
A Woman Whose Husband Had Died Gave All She Had (K)
21 Jesus looked up and saw rich men putting their money into the money box in the house of God. 2 He saw a poor woman whose husband had died. She put in two very small pieces of money. 3 He said, “I tell you the truth, this poor woman has put in more than all of them. 4 For they have put in a little of the money they had no need for. She is very poor and has put in all she had. She has put in what she needed for her own living.”
Jesus Tells of the House of God (L)
5 Some people were talking about the house of God. They were saying that the stones were beautiful and that many gifts had been given. Jesus said, 6 “As for these things you see, all these stones will be thrown down. Not one will be left on another.” 7 They asked Jesus, “Teacher, when will this take place? What are we to look for to show us these things are about to happen?” 8 He said, “Be careful that no one leads you the wrong way. For many people will come in My name. They will say, ‘I am the Christ.’ The time is near. Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and fighting in different places, do not be afraid. These things have to happen first, but the end is not yet.”
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Nations will have wars with other nations. Countries will fight against countries. 11 The earth will shake and break apart in different places. There will be no food. There will be bad diseases among many people. Very special things will be seen in the sky that will make people much afraid.
12 “But before all this happens, men will take hold of you and make it very hard for you. They will give you over to the places of worship and to the prisons. They will bring you in front of kings and the leaders of the people. This will all be done to you because of Me. 13 This will be a time for you to tell about Me. 14 Do not think about what you will say ahead of time. 15 For I will give you wisdom in what to say and I will help you say it. Those who are against you will not be able to stop you or say you are wrong.
16 “You will be handed over by your parents and your brothers and your family and your friends. They will kill some of you. 17 All men will hate you because of Me. 18 Yet not one hair of your head will be lost. 19 But stay true and your souls will have life.
Days of Trouble and Pain and Sorrow
20 “When you see armies all around Jerusalem, know that it will soon be destroyed. 21 Those in the country of Judea must run to the mountains. Those in the city must leave at once. Those in the country must not go into the city. 22 People will be punished in these hard days. All things will happen as it is written.
23 “It will be hard for women who will soon be mothers. It will be hard for those feeding babies in those days. It will be very hard for the people in the land and anger will be brought down on them. 24 People will be killed by the sword. They will be held in prison by all nations. Jerusalem will be walked over by the people who are not Jews until their time is finished.
Jesus Will Come Again in His Shining-Greatness
25 “There will be special things to look for in the sun and moon and stars. The nations of the earth will be troubled and will not know what to do. They will be troubled at the angry sea and waves. 26 The hearts of men will give up because of being afraid of what is coming on the earth. The powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and much greatness. 28 When these things begin to happen, lift up your heads because you have been bought by the blood of Christ and will soon be free.”
The Picture-Story of the Fig Tree
29 Jesus told them a picture-story. He said, “Look at the fig tree and all the other trees. 30 When you see their leaves coming out, you know summer is near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know the holy nation of God is near. 32 For sure, I tell you, that the people of this day will not die before all these things happen.
33 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will not pass away. 34 Watch yourselves! Do not let yourselves be loaded down with too much eating and strong drink. Do not be troubled with the cares of this life. If you do, that day will come on you without you knowing it. 35 It will come on all people over all the earth. 36 Be sure you watch. Pray all the time so that you may be able to keep from going through all these things that will happen and be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
37 Everyday Jesus taught in the house of God. At night He went to the Mount of Olives and stayed there. 38 Early in the morning all the people came to the house of God to hear Him.
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