On their way to Jerusalem, they arrived at Bethphage on Mount Olivet. Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead of them. “Go into the village there and you’ll find a donkey tied up. It will have its foal with her. Untie them both a bring them to me. If anyone asks what you are up to, tell them their Lord needs the animals. The person will immediately let you take the animals.” 

This all happened to make what the prophet said come true: “Tell the daughter of Zion that your King is coming, and he is gentle and riding on a donkey and on a foal, the offspring of a working animal.” 

The disciples did what Jesus told them to do. They brought the donkey and the foal back. They saddled them with cloaks and Jesus sat on them. A big crowd laid their coats on the road. Others cut down branches and laid them on the road. 

The crowds went in front of and behind Jesus and yelled out, “The Son of David will save us! Praise him for coming in the Lord’s name. He is our saviour! Yell from the heavens that we will be saved!” 

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, everyone in the city became agitated. They asked each other, “Who’s this guy?”  

The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” 

Jesus went to the temple and threw out everyone who was selling and buying in there. He tipped over the money exchanger’s tables and the seats of the dove sellers. 

“It’s been written that my house will be called a house of prayer,” Jesus said. “You’ve all turned it into a place for robbers to hangout!” 

The blind and disabled in the temple came to Jesus and he healed them. 

The chief priests and academics saw Jesus’ miracles and heard the children in the temple yelling out, “The Son of David will save us!”. 

They were very annoyed. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” 

“Yes, I do, Jesus replied. “Didn’t you read, ‘Perfect praise comes out of the mouth of children and babies.’?” 

Jesus left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he stayed the night. 

In the morning, Jesus came back into Jerusalem and was hungry. He saw a fig tree on the side of the road, but couldn’t find any fruit on it, only leaves. He said to the tree, “You will never produce any more fruit.” The tree immediately died. 

The disciples saw this and were amazed. “How did that fig tree die so quickly?” 

Jesus answered, “I’m honestly telling you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you can not only do miracles like what I just did to this fig tree, but even if you tell a mountain to get up and jump into the sea, it will happen. If you believe, you will receive everything you ask for in prayer.” 

Jesus went into the temple and started teaching. 

The chief priests and elders of the people came to him and asked, “What power do you have to do you what you do? Who gave you the power?” 

“I also want to ask you something. If you answer me, I will tell you who gives me the power to do what I do. Did the baptism of John come from heaven or from people?” 

They started debating amongst themselves. “If we say heaven, he will ask why we don’t believe him. But, if we say from people, we should be worried about the crowds. They all believe that John is a prophet.” They finally answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” 

“Then I’m not going to tell you who gives me the power to do what I do,” Jesus replied. “But what do you think of this? A man had two sons. He said to the first son, ‘Go work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘Sir, I’m not going to.’ But he said sorry afterwards and did as he was told. The man went to his second son and said the same thing as he said to his first son. The second son said, ‘I will, sir’. But he didn’t go to work. Which of these two sons did what the father wanted?” 

“The first one,” the chief priests and elders answered. 

“I’m honestly telling you,” Jesus said, “The tax collectors and prostitutes will get into God’s kingdom before you. John came to you to show you the right way to live but you didn’t believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Even when you this all happening you did not change your minds and believe him. 

“Listen to another story: A master of a house planted a vineyard and put a fence around it. He built a wine press and a watch tower and rented it out to farmers while he lived in another place. When it was harvest time, the owner sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of their fruits. But the farmers captured the servants and beat one, killed one and then stoned another. 

The owner sent more servants, and the farmers did the same to them. 

The owner sent his son to the farmers. “They will respect my son,” he assumed. 

The farmers saw the son coming. “That is the owner’s son. Let’s kill him and steal his inheritance.” 

They captured the son, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 

So, when the owner of the vineyard comes back home, what will he do to the farmers?” 

The chief priests and elders replied, “He will destroy the horrible people and rent out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.” 

“Didn’t you ever read the scriptures?” Jesus asked. “‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the foundation stone. This came from the Lord and looks amazing to us.’ So, I’m telling you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you and it will be given to the people who are producing its fruits. Whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but whoever the stone falls on it will be crushed into a powder.” 

The chief priests and the Pharisees heard the stories and knew Jesus was talking about them. They considered getting Jesus arrested, but they were worried about the crowds because the crowds believed he was a prophet. 

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Continue exploring Matthew 21

If you’d like to read Matthew 21 in other translations, here are a few BibleHub links:
For a translation that aims to be word-for-word, try Matthew 21 in the English Standard Version.
For a translation that aims to be more thought-for-thought, try Matthew 21 in the New International Version.
For a translation that aims to communicate the overall meaning, try Matthew 21 in the Contemporary English Version.

If you prefer to read the Bible in a hard-copy format, here are cheaper versions from Amazon:
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For a translation that aims to be word-for-word, ESV Economy Bible
For a translation that aims to be more thought-for-thought, NIV, Economy Bible, Paperback: Accurate. Readable. Clear.
For a translation that aims to communicate the overall meaning, Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version

If you’d like to explore Matthew in more depth, here are some commentaries I would recommend:
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Easy to access commentaries that include life applications:
The NIV Application Commentary: Matthew
Matthew (The Story of God Bible Commentary)
For a commentary that goes into more depth:
The Gospel of Matthew (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)