Matthew 20:29 – 21:22

Matthew 20

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁹ As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. ³⁰ There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be quiet. But they shouted even louder, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!”

³² Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?”

³³ They told him, “Lord, open our eyes.”

³⁴ Jesus was moved with compassion and touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight, and they followed him.

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem

Matthew 21

¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. Immediately you will find a donkey tied there along with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”

⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

⁶ The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their outer clothing on them, and he sat on it. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their outer clothing on the road. Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them out on the road. ⁹ The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed kept shouting,

¹⁰ When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, asking, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses His Father’s House

¹² Jesus entered the temple courts ^[4] and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. ¹³ He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ ^[5] but you are making it a den of robbers!” ^[6]

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the experts in the law saw the wonders he performed and heard the children calling out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant. ¹⁶ They said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus told them, “Have you never read,

The Withered Fig Tree

¹⁸ As he returned to the city early in the morning, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “May there never be fruit from you again!”

Immediately the fig tree withered away. ²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

²¹ Jesus answered them, “Amen I tell you: If you have faith, and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it would be done. ²² Whatever you ask for in prayer, as you believe, you will receive.”