Read the Gospels in 40 Days
19 1-2 As Jesus was passing through Jericho, a man named Zacchaeus, one of the most influential Jews in the Roman tax-collecting business (and, of course, a very rich man), 3 tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowds. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed into a sycamore tree beside the road, to watch from there.
5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name! “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick! Come down! For I am going to be a guest in your home today!”
6 Zacchaeus hurriedly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.
7 But the crowds were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.
8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “Sir, from now on I will give half my wealth to the poor, and if I find I have overcharged anyone on his taxes, I will penalize myself by giving him back four times as much!”
9-10 Jesus told him, “This shows[a] that salvation has come to this home today. This man was one of the lost sons of Abraham, and I, the Messiah, have come to search for and to save such souls as his.”
11 And because Jesus was nearing Jerusalem, he told a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away.
12 “A nobleman living in a certain province was called away to the distant capital of the empire to be crowned king of his province. 13 Before he left he called together ten assistants and gave them each $2,000 to invest while he was gone. 14 But some of his people hated him and sent him their declaration of independence, stating that they had rebelled and would not acknowledge him as their king.
15 “Upon his return he called in the men to whom he had given the money, to find out what they had done with it, and what their profits were.
16 “The first man reported a tremendous gain—ten times as much as the original amount!
17 “‘Fine!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good man. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, and as your reward, you shall be governor of ten cities.’
18 “The next man also reported a splendid gain—five times the original amount.
19 “‘All right!’ his master said. ‘You can be governor over five cities.’
20 “But the third man brought back only the money he had started with. ‘I’ve kept it safe,’ he said, 21 ‘because I was afraid you would demand my profits, for you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and even confiscating the crops that others plant.’ 22 ‘You vile and wicked slave,’ the king roared. ‘Hard, am I? That’s exactly how I’ll be toward you! If you knew so much about me and how tough I am, 23 then why didn’t you deposit the money in the bank so that I could at least get some interest on it?’
24 “Then turning to the others standing by he ordered, ‘Take the money away from him and give it to the man who earned the most.’
25 “‘But, sir,’ they said, ‘he has enough already!’
26 “‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘but it is always true that those who have, get more, and those who have little, soon lose even that. 27 And now about these enemies of mine who revolted—bring them in and execute them before me.’”
28 After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking along ahead of his disciples. 29 As they came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead, 30 with instructions to go to the next village, and as they entered they were to look for a donkey tied beside the road. It would be a colt, not yet broken for riding.
“Untie him,” Jesus said, “and bring him here. 31 And if anyone asks you what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs him.’”
32 They found the colt as Jesus said, 33 and sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners demanded an explanation.
“What are you doing?” they asked. “Why are you untying our colt?”
34 And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs him!” 35 So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw some of their clothing across its back for Jesus to sit on.
36-37 Then the crowds spread out their robes along the road ahead of him, and as they reached the place where the road started down from the Mount of Olives, the whole procession began to shout and sing as they walked along, praising God for all the wonderful miracles Jesus had done.
38 “God has given us a King!” they exulted. “Long live the King! Let all heaven rejoice! Glory to God in the highest heavens!”
39 But some of the Pharisees among the crowd said, “Sir, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”
40 He replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones along the road will burst into cheers!”
41 But as they came closer to Jerusalem and he saw the city ahead, he began to cry. 42 “Eternal peace was within your reach and you turned it down,” he wept, “and now it is too late. 43 Your enemies will pile up earth against your walls and encircle you and close in on you, 44 and crush you to the ground, and your children within you; your enemies will not leave one stone upon another—for you have rejected the opportunity God offered you.”
45 Then he entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants from their stalls, 46 saying to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple is a place of prayer; but you have turned it into a den of thieves.’”
47 After that he taught daily in the Temple, but the chief priests and other religious leaders and the business community[b] were trying to find some way to get rid of him. 48 But they could think of nothing, for he was a hero to the people—they hung on every word he said.
20 On one of those days when he was teaching and preaching the Good News in the Temple, he was confronted by the chief priests and other religious leaders and councilmen. 2 They demanded to know by what authority he had driven out the merchants from the Temple.
3 “I’ll ask you a question before I answer,” he replied. 4 “Was John sent by God, or was he merely acting under his own authority?”
5 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say his message was from heaven, then we are trapped because he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say John was not sent from God, the people will mob us, for they are convinced that he was a prophet.” 7 Finally they replied, “We don’t know!”
8 And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t answer your question either.”
9 Now he turned to the people again and told them this story: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to some farmers, and went away to a distant land to live for several years. 10 When harvest time came, he sent one of his men to the farm to collect his share of the crops. But the tenants beat him up and sent him back empty-handed. 11 Then he sent another, but the same thing happened; he was beaten up and insulted and sent away without collecting. 12 A third man was sent and the same thing happened. He, too, was wounded and chased away.
13 “‘What shall I do?’ the owner asked himself. ‘I know! I’ll send my cherished son. Surely they will show respect for him.’
14 “But when the tenants saw his son, they said, ‘This is our chance! This fellow will inherit all the land when his father dies. Come on. Let’s kill him, and then it will be ours.’ 15 So they dragged him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What do you think the owner will do? 16 I’ll tell you—he will come and kill them and rent the vineyard to others.”
“But they would never do a thing like that,” his listeners protested.
17 Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does the Scripture mean where it says, ‘The Stone rejected by the builders was made the cornerstone’?” 18 And he added, “Whoever stumbles over that Stone shall be broken; and those on whom it falls will be crushed to dust.”
19 When the chief priests and religious leaders heard about this story he had told, they wanted him arrested immediately, for they realized that he was talking about them. They were the wicked tenants in his illustration. But they were afraid that if they themselves arrested him, there would be a riot. So they tried to get him to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor as reason to arrest him.
20 Watching their opportunity, they sent secret agents pretending to be honest men. 21 They said to Jesus, “Sir, we know what an honest teacher you are. You always tell the truth and don’t budge an inch in the face of what others think, but teach the ways of God. 22 Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?”
23 He saw through their trickery and said, 24 “Show me a coin. Whose portrait is this on it? And whose name?”
They replied, “Caesar’s—the Roman emperor’s.”
25 He said, “Then give the emperor all that is his—and give to God all that is his!”
26 Thus their attempt to outwit him before the people failed; and marveling at his answer, they were silent.
27 Then some Sadducees—men who believed that death is the end of existence, that there is no resurrection— 28 came to Jesus with this:
“The laws of Moses state that if a man dies without children, the man’s brother shall marry the widow, and their children will legally belong to the dead man, to carry on his name. 29 We know of a family of seven brothers. The oldest married and then died without any children. 30 His brother married the widow and he, too, died. Still no children. 31 And so it went, one after the other, until each of the seven had married her and died, leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman died also. 33 Now here is our question: Whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all of them were married to her!”
34-35 Jesus replied, “Marriage is for people here on earth, but when those who are counted worthy of being raised from the dead get to heaven, they do not marry. 36 And they never die again; in these respects they are like angels, and are sons of God, for they are raised up in new life from the dead.
37-38
39 “Well said, sir!” remarked some of the experts in the Jewish law who were standing there. 40 And that ended their questions, for they dared ask no more!
41 Then he presented them with a question. “Why is it,” he asked, “that Christ, the Messiah, is said to be a descendant of King David? 42-43 For David himself wrote in the book of Psalms: ‘God said to my Lord, the Messiah, “Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies beneath your feet.”’ 44 How can the Messiah be both David’s son and David’s God at the same time?”
45 Then, with the crowds listening, he turned to his disciples and said, 46 “Beware of these experts in religion, for they love to parade in dignified robes and to be bowed to by the people as they walk along the street. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and at religious festivals! 47 But even while they are praying long prayers with great outward piety, they are planning schemes to cheat widows out of their property. Therefore God’s heaviest sentence awaits these men.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.