Matthæus 21
Messias' indtog i Jerusalem
1 Da de nåede landsbyen Betfage på Olivenbjergets skråning tæt ved Jerusalem, sagde Jesus til to af sine disciple:2 Gå hen til den landsby, I ser foran jer. Der vil I med det samme få øje på et æsel, som står bundet med sit føl ved siden af. Løs dem og kom hen til mig med dem.
3 Hvis nogen stiller jer spørgsmål, skal I bare sige: Herren har brug for dem, men han vil straks sende dem tilbage.
4 På den måde gik det i opfyldelse, som Gud havde talt gennem profeten:
5 Sig til Jerusalems indbyggere:
Se, jeres konge er på vej!
Han er ydmyg og rider på et hanæsel -
det er et æselføl. t6 De to disciple gjorde, som Jesus havde sagt.7 De hentede hunæslet og det unge hanæsel og lagde deres kapper på dem, hvorefter Jesus satte sig op på æselføllet.8 Mange mennesker i mængden bredte deres kapper ud på vejen foran ham, mens andre lagde palmegrene ud, alt sammen for at hylde ham.9 Og både de, der gik foran, og de, der gik bagved, råbte:
Hoshana,t Davids Søn!
Velsignet være den, som kommer i Herrens navn!
Hoshana til Gud i det Højeste!10 Der blev røre i hele Jerusalem, da Jesus kom ind i byen. Hvem er han? spurgte folk.
11 Det er Jesus, lød det fra dem i optoget, profeten fra Nazaret i Galilæa!
Den sidste tempeludrensning
12 Jesus gik først ind på tempelpladsen og begyndte at jage alle de handlende og deres kunder ud. Han væltede valutahandlernest borde og duesælgernes bænke og råbte til dem:
13 Skriften siger, at mit hus skal være et bønnens hus ,t men I gør det til et tilholdssted for røvere .t
14 Derefter blev blinde og lamme mennesker ført hen til ham på tempelpladsen, og han helbredte dem.15 Men da ypperstepræsterne og de skriftlærde så de mange helbredelsesmirakler og hørte børnene løbe omkring og råbe: Priset være Davids Søn! , blev de rasende og sagde til Jesus:16 Hører du ikke, hvad børnene råber?
Jo, det har jeg hørt, sagde han. Men I har måske aldrig læst det sted i Skrifterne, hvor der står: Du har fået småbørn til at lovprise din herlighed ? t
17 Så forlod han dem og gik ud af byen til Betania, hvor han overnattede.
Figentræet uden frugt
18 Tidligt om morgenen, da de var på vej ind til Jerusalem, blev Jesus sulten.
19 Han fik øje på et figentræ, der stod ved vejen, og gik hen for at se, om der var nogen frugter på det. Men der var kun blade. Så sagde han til træet: Aldrig mere skal du bære frugt! t Og straks visnede træet.
20 Da disciplene så det, var de forbløffede. Hvordan kunne det træ visne så hurtigt? spurgte de.
21 Jesus svarede: Det siger jeg jer: Hvis I tror uden at tvivle, så vil I ikke blot kunne gøre sådan med et figentræ, men I vil endog kunne sige til det bjerg her: Flyt dig ud i havet! Og så vil det ske.
22 I skal få alt, hvad I beder om, hvis I tror.
De jødiske lederes uærlighed
23 Da Jesus var nået frem til templet og var i gang med at undervise, kom ypperstepræsterne og andre af de jødiske ledere hen og konfronterede ham. Hvem har givet dig lov til at gøre det, du gør her i templet?
24 Lad mig først stille jer et spørgsmål, svarede Jesus. Hvis I svarer mig på det, skal jeg gerne fortælle jer, hvem der har givet mig lov til at gøre det, jeg gør her.
25 Hvem gav Johannes Døber ret til at døbe? Var han udsendt af Gud, eller var han ikke?
26 Og hvis vi siger, at han ikke var sendt af Gud, så falder hele hoben over os, for de tror alle sammen, at Johannes var en profet.
27 Til sidst sagde de: Det ved vi ikke.
Så vil jeg heller ikke fortælle jer, hvem der har givet mig lov til at gøre det, jeg gør her.
De jødiske lederes hykleriske ulydighed
28 Hvad mener I så om følgende historie? fortsatte Jesus: Der var en mand, der havde to sønner. En dag sagde han til den ene af sønnerne: Gå ud og arbejd i vingården.29 Nej, det vil jeg ikke, svarede sønnen, men lidt senere ombestemte han sig og gik alligevel derud.30 Faderen gik også til den anden søn med den samme anmodning. Det skal jeg nok! svarede sønnen, men han gik alligevel ikke derud.31 Hvem af de to gjorde, hvad faderen havde bedt dem om?
Det gjorde den første, svarede de.
32 For Johannes Døber forkyndte, at I skulle ændre jeres indstilling, men det ville I ikke. Derimod var både bedragere og prostituerede villige til at ændre indstilling. Det så I godt, men alligevel ombestemte I jer ikke.
Jesus afslører de jødiske lederes ondskab
33 Lad mig fortælle jer en anden historie, fortsatte Jesus. Der var en landmand, som ville dyrke vindruer på sin mark. Han tilplantede marken, lavede et stengærde omkring den og byggede et vagttårn for at beskytte den mod røvere. Så udhuggede han et bassin i klippegrunden, hvor saften kunne presses af druerne. Derefter lejede han sin vinmark ud til nogle forpagtere og rejste selv til udlandet.34 Ved høsttid sendte han nogle af sine folk derhen, for at de kunne få udleveret den del af druehøsten, der tilfaldt ham.
35 Men forpagterne overfaldt dem. En slog de til jorden, en anden dræbte de, og en tredje stenede de.
36 Så sendte ejeren endnu flere af sine folk af sted, for at de kunne opkræve hans del af høsten. Men resultatet var det samme.37 Til sidst sendte han sin søn, for han tænkte: Min søn må de da respektere.38 Men da forpagterne fik øje på sønnen, sagde de til hinanden: Der har vi ham, der skal arve det hele. Kom, lad os gøre det af med ham, så vi kan få arven.
39 Så greb de ham, trak ham uden for vingården og slog ham ihjel.
40 Jesus afsluttede historien med et spørgsmål: Når nu ejeren selv kommer, hvad vil han så gøre med forpagterne?
41 De svarede: Han vil slå de onde mennesker ihjel, og så vil han forpagte ejendommen bort til andre, som vil give ham hans del af høsten, når tiden er inde.
42 Så spurgte Jesus dem: Har I aldrig læst, hvad der står skrevet:
Den sten, bygmestrene kasserede,
blev selve hjørnestenen.
Den kom fra Herren,
og den er forunderlig at se på. t43 Og han fortsatte: Derfor siger jeg jer: Guds rige skal tages fra jer og gives til et folk, som vil gøre, hvad Gud beder dem om.
44 De, der snubler over denne sten, vil slå sig fordærvet, men dem stenen falder på, vil blive knust.
45 Ypperstepræsterne og farisæerne forstod udmærket, at historierne handlede om dem.
46 De ville gerne have anholdt ham på stedet, men de var bange for, hvad folkeskaren så ville gøre, for alle anså ham for at være en profet.
Matthew 21
The Triumphal Entry
1 Nowt when they approached Jerusalems and came to Bethphage,s at the Mount of Olives,s Jesus sent two disciples,2 telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you.t Right away you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.3 If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,’s and he will send them at once.”
4 Thist took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:t
5 “Tell the people of Zion,t
‘Look, your king is coming to you,
unassuming and seated on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”t
6 Sot the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloakst on them, and he sat on them.8 At very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting,t “Hosannats to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!sHosanna in the highest!”10 As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar,t saying, “Who is this?”
11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareths in Galilee.”
Cleansing the Temple
12 Thent Jesus entered the temple areats and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts,ts and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.
13 And he said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’s but you are turning it into a dentof robbers!”s
14 The blind and lame came to him in the temple courts, and he healed them.15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the lawt saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts,t “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant16 and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself’?”s
17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.
The Withered Fig Tree
18 Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry.19 After noticing a fig treets by the road he went to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “Never again will there be fruit from you!” And the fig tree withered at once.20 When the disciples saw it they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”21 Jesust answered them, “I tell you the truth,t if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do 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 believe,t you will receive.”
The Authority of Jesus
23 Now after Jesust entered the temple courts,t the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authorityt are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”24 Jesust answered them, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.25 Where did John’s baptism come from? From heaven or from people?”ts They discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’26 But if we say, ‘From people,’ we fear the crowd, for they all consider John to be a prophet.”
27 Sot they answered Jesus,t “We don’t know.”s Then he said to them, “Neither will I tell yous by what authorityt I am doing these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “Whatt do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’29 The boy answered,t ‘I will not.’ But later he had a change of heartt and went.30 The fathert went to the other son and said the same thing. This boy answered,t ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go.31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.”s Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth,t tax collectorss and prostitutes will go 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 prostitutes did believe. Althought you saw this, you did not later change your mindss and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landownert who planted a vineyard.s He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Thent he leased it to tenant farmerss and went on a journey.34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slavests to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop.t35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one,s killed another, and stoned another.36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way.37 Finally he sent his son to them,s saying, ‘They will respect my son.’38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’39 Sot they seized him,t threw him out of the vineyard,s and killed him.40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.ts
This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?s
43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a peoplet who will produce its fruit.44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”ssts45 Whent the chief priests and the Phariseess heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.
46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowdst regarded him as a prophet.