Read the Gospels in 40 Days

He rides into Jerusalem, drives the merchants out of the temple, curses the fig tree, and rebukes the Pharisees with the similitudes of the two sons and of the husbandmen who slew such as were sent to them.

21 When they drew near to Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ² saying to them, Go into the town that lies in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and her colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ And if anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord has need of them, and straightaway he will let them go.

⁴ All this was done to fulfil that which was spoken by the prophet, saying: ⁵ Tell ye the daughter of Zion: Behold, your king comes to you, humble and sitting upon a donkey and a colt, the foal of a donkey bred to the yoke.

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus told them, ⁷ and brought the donkey and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and set him thereon. ⁸ And many of the people spread their garments in the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and strew them in the road. ⁹ Moreover, the people who went ahead, and also those who came after, cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!

¹⁰ And when he came to Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? ¹¹ And the people said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, a town of Galilee.

¹² And Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all the people who sold and bought in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of the people who sold doves, ¹³ and said to them, It is written: My house shall be called the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves.

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

¹⁵ When the chief priests and scribes saw the marvels that he did, and the children calling out in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, they were indignant ¹⁶ and said to him, Do you hear what they say? Jesus said to them, Yea, have you never read: From the mouth of babes and sucklings, you have ordained praise?

¹⁷ And he left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, and had his lodging there.

¹⁸ In the morning, as he returned into the city again, he hungered, ¹⁹ and saw a fig tree by the road, and went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only, and said to it, Let fruit never grow on you from this time forward. And at once the fig tree withered away. ²⁰ And when his disciples saw that, they marvelled, saying, How has the fig tree withered away so suddenly? ²¹ Jesus answered and said to them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what I have done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, Take yourself away and cast yourself into the sea, it will be done. ²² And whatever you ask in prayer (if you believe), you will receive it.

²³ And when he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?

²⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, I also will ask of you a certain question, which, if you answer me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John: whence was it? from heaven, or of men?

Then they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we say from heaven, he will say to us, why did you not then believe him? ²⁶ But if we say it was of men, then we fear the people. (For everyone held John to be a prophet.)

²⁷ And they answered Jesus and said, We don’t know.

And he likewise said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁸ What do you say to this: A certain man had two sons, and went to the elder and said, Son, go and work today in my vineyard. ²⁹ He answered and said, I will not, but afterward he repented and went. ³⁰ Then the father went to the second son and said likewise. And he answered and said, I will, Sir. Yet he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of the father?

And they said to him, The first.

Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that the publicans and the harlots shall come into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the publicans and the harlots believed him. And yet you, though you saw it, were still not moved with repentance, so that you might afterward have believed him.

³³ Hear another similitude: There was a certain householder who planted a vineyard. He hedged it round about and made a winepress in it, and built a tower and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. ³⁴ And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen to receive the fruits of it. ³⁵ And the husbandmen caught his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than at the first, and they treated them likewise. ³⁷ Then last of all he sent to them his own son, saying, They will respect my son. ³⁸ But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us take his inheritance for ourselves. ³⁹ And they caught him and thrust him out of the vineyard, and slew him. ⁴⁰ Now when the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do with those husbandmen?

⁴¹ They said to him, He will miserably destroy those evil persons, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen who will render to him the fruit in their seasons.

⁴² Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the scriptures: The stone which the builders refused, the same is set in the principal part of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? ⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and will be given to the Gentiles, who will bring forth the fruits of it. ⁴⁴ And whosoever falls on this stone, he shall be broken; but whomever it falls upon, it will grind him to powder.

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and Pharisees heard these similitudes, they perceived that he was speaking of them. ⁴⁶ And they went about to lay hands on him, but they feared the people because they took him as a prophet.

The marriage of the king’s son. Tribute should be given to the emperor. Christ confutes the opinion of the Sadducees concerning the resurrection, and answers the question posed by the scribe.

22 And Jesus spoke to them again in similitudes, saying, ² The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, ³ and sent forth his servants to call those who were bid to the wedding, and they would not come. ⁴ Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell those who are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatted calves are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage.

⁵ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farmstead, another about his wares. ⁶ The rest took his servants and shamefully abused them, and slew them.

⁷ When the king heard about this, he was furious, and sent forth his warriors and destroyed those murderers and burnt up their city. ⁸ Then said the king to his servants, The wedding was prepared, but those who were bidden were not worthy. ⁹ Go therefore out into the highways, and as many as you find, bid them to the marriage.

¹⁰ The servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding was furnished with guests. ¹¹ Then the king came in to visit the guests, and spotted there a man who did not have on a wedding garment, ¹² and said to him, Friend, how did it happen that you came in here and do not have on a wedding garment? And the man was quite speechless. ¹³ Then said the king to his servants, Take and bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and took counsel, how they might tangle him in his words. ¹⁶ And they sent to him their disciples with Herod’s servants, saying, Master, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God truly, neither mind any person, for you do not consider men’s estate. ¹⁷ Tell us therefore what you think: is it lawful to remit tribute to Caesar, or not?

¹⁸ Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, Why do you bait me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Let me see the tribute coin. So they brought him a denarius. ²⁰ And he said to them, Whose image and superscription is this? ²¹ They said to him, Caesar’s. Then he said to them, Give therefore to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and give to God that which is God’s.

²² When they heard that, they marvelled, and left him and went their way.

²³ The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him, ²⁴ saying, Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies having no children, the brother should marry the widow and raise up seed for his brother. ²⁵ There were with us seven brethren. The first married and died without issue, and left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ Likewise the second and the third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ Last of all the woman died also. ²⁸ Now in the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her.

²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, You are deceived, and do not understand the scriptures, nor yet the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection people neither marry nor are married, but are as the angels in heaven. ³¹ As for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what is spoken to you by God, who says, ³² I am Abraham’s God, and Isaac’s God, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

³³ And when the people heard that, they were astonished at his teaching.

³⁴ When the Pharisees heard how he had put the Sadducees to silence, they drew together. ³⁵ One of them, who was a doctor of the law, asked him a question, testing him and saying, ³⁶ Teacher, which is the chief commandment in the law? ³⁷ Jesus said to him, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind; ³⁸ this is the first and the chief commandment. ³⁹ And there is another like this: Love your neighbour as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² saying, What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? They said to him, The son of David. ⁴³ He said to them, How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, ⁴⁴ The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool? ⁴⁵ If David calls him Lord, how is he then his son?

⁴⁶ And no one could answer him a word. Neither did anyone from that day forth dare ask him any more questions.