Read the Gospels in 40 Days
The Triumphal Entry
21 And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village before you, and right away you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie them[a] and[b] bring them[c] to me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you will say, ‘The Lord needs them,’[d] and he will send them at once.” 4 Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,
5 “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
and[e] on a colt, the foal of a pack animal.’”[f]
6 So the disciples went[g] and did[h] just as Jesus directed them, 7 and[i] brought the donkey and the colt and put their[j] cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 And a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them[k] on the road. 9 And the crowds who went ahead of him and the ones who followed were shouting, saying,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord![l]
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”[m]
10 And when[n] he entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee!”
The Cleansing of the Temple
12 And Jesus entered the temple courts[o] and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling doves. 13 And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’[p] but you have made it a cave of robbers!”
14 And the blind and the lame came up to him in the temple courts[q] and he healed them. 15 But when[r] the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children shouting in the temple courts[s] and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant. 16 And they said to him, “Do you hear what these children[t] are saying?” So Jesus said to them, “Yes, have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing babies you have prepared for yourself praise’?”[u] 17 And leaving them, he went outside of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.
A Barren Fig Tree Cursed
18 Now early in the morning, as he[v] was returning to the city, he was hungry. 19 And seeing a single fig tree by the road, he went to it and found nothing on it except leaves only. And he said to it, “May there be no more fruit from you forever,[w] and the fig tree withered at once. 20 And when they[x] saw it,[y] the disciples were astonished, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and[z] said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will do not only what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” it will happen! 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, if you[aa] believe, you will receive.”
Jesus’ Authority Challenged
23 And after[ab] he arrived at the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him while he[ac] was teaching, saying, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” 24 And Jesus answered and[ad] said to them, “I also will ask you one question. If you tell the answer[ae] to me, I also will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 From where was the baptism of John—from heaven or from men?” And they began to discuss[af] this[ag] among themselves, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the crowd, because they all look upon John as a prophet.” 27 And they answered and[ah] said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “Now what do you think? A man had two sons. He approached[ai] the first and[aj] said, ‘Son, go work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered and[ak] said, ‘I do not want to!’ But later he changed his mind and[al] went. 30 And he approached the second[am] and[an] said the same thing. So he answered and[ao] said, ‘I will, sir,’ and he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his[ap] father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God! 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him. And when[aq] you saw it,[ar] you did not even change your minds later so as to believe in him.
The Parable of the Tenant Farmers in the Vineyard
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a man—a master of a house—who planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey. 34 And when the season of fruit drew near, he sent his slaves to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit. 35 And the tenant farmers seized his slaves, one of whom they beat, and one of whom they killed, and one of whom they stoned. 36 Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first ones, and they did the same thing to them. 37 So finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when[as] the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance!’ 39 And they seized him and[at] threw him[au] out of the vineyard and killed him.[av] 40 Now when the master of the vineyard arrives, what will he do to those tenant farmers?” 41 They said to him, “He will destroy those evil men completely and lease the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruits in their season.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures,
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
this has become the cornerstone.[aw]
This came about from the Lord,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?[ax]
43 For this reason, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a people[ay] who produce its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls—it will crush him!” 45 And when[az] the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them, 46 and although they[ba] wanted to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds, because they looked upon him as a prophet.
The Parable of the Wedding Celebration
22 And continuing, Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man—a king—who gave a wedding celebration for his son. 3 And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the wedding celebration, and they did not want to come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding celebration!”’ 5 But they paid no attention and[bb] went away—this one to his own field, that one to his business. 6 And the others, seizing his slaves, mistreated them[bc] and killed them.[bd] 7 And the king was angry and sent his troops and[be] destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding celebration is ready, but those who had been invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore, go out to the places where the roads exit the city and invite to the wedding celebration as many people as you find.’ 10 And those slaves went out into the roads and[bf] gathered everyone whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding celebration was filled with dinner guests.[bg] 11 But when[bh] the king came in to see the dinner guests,[bi] he saw a man there not dressed in wedding clothes. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here, not having wedding clothes?’ But he could say nothing.[bj] 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot[bk] and[bl] throw him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 14 For many are called but few are chosen.”
Paying Taxes to Caesar
15 Then the Pharisees went and consulted[bm] so that they could entrap him with a statement. 16 And they sent their disciples to him with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and you do not care what anyone thinks,[bn] because you do not regard the opinion of people.[bo] 17 Therefore tell us what you think. Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 18 But because he[bp] knew their maliciousness, Jesus said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me? 19 Show me the coin for the tax!” So they brought him a denarius. 20 And he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” 21 They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore give to Caesar the things of Caesar, and to God the things of God!” 22 And when they[bq] heard this,[br] they were astonished, and they left him and[bs] went away.
A Question About Marriage and the Resurrection
23 On that day Sadducees—who say there is no resurrection—came up to him and asked him, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said if someone dies without having children, his brother is to marry his wife and father[bt] descendants for his brother. 25 Now there were seven brothers with us. And the first died after[bu] getting married, and because he[bv] did not have descendants, he left his wife to his brother. 26 So also the second and the third, up to the seventh. 27 And last of all the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her as wife.”[bw] 29 But Jesus answered and[bx] said to them, “You are mistaken, because[by] you do not know the scriptures or the power of God! 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God[bz] in heaven. 31 Now concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, who said, 32 “I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”?[ca] He is not the God of the dead, but of the living!” 33 And when[cb] the crowds heard this,[cc] they were amazed at his teaching.
The Greatest Commandment
34 Now when[cd] the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled at the same place.[ce] 35 And one of them, a legal expert, put a question to him[cf] to test him: 36 “Teacher, which commandment is greatest in the law?” 37 And he said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[cg] 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[ch] 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”
David’s Son and Lord
41 Now while[ci] the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus asked them, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “David’s.” 43 He said to them, “How then does David, by the Spirit, call him ‘Lord,’ saying,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your feet”’?[cj]
45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask him any more questions.[ck]
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software