MATEO 21

V.— JESÚS EN JERUSALÉN (21—28)

Acciones simbólicas y controversias (21—25)

Entrada triunfal

(Mc 11,1-11; Lc 19,28-38; Jn 12,12-19)

1 Cerca ya de Jerusalén, al llegar a Betfagé, junto al monte de los Olivost, Jesús envió a dos de sus discípulos

2 con este encargo:
— Vayan a la aldea que está ahí enfrente, y en seguida encontrarán una borrica atada, y a su lado un pollino. Desátenlos y tráiganmelos. 3 Y si alguien les pregunta algo, díganle que el Señor los necesita y que en seguida los devolverá.

4 Esto sucedió en cumplimiento de lo dicho por medio del profetat:

5  Digan a Jerusalén, la ciudad de Sión:
Mira, tu Rey viene a ti lleno de humildad,
montado en un asno, en un pollino,
hijo de animal de carga. t
6 Los discípulos fueron e hicieron lo que Jesús les había mandado. 7 Le llevaron la borrica y el pollino, pusieron sobre ellos sus mantos, y Jesús montó encima. 8 Un gran gentíot alfombraba con sus mantos el camino, mientras otros cortaban ramas de los árboles y las tendían al paso de Jesús.

9 Y los que iban delante y los que iban detrás gritaban:
—¡Viva el Hijo de David*! ¡Bendito el que viene en nombre del Señor! ¡Gloria al Dios Altísimot!t

10 Cuando Jesús entró en Jerusalén, hubo gran agitación en la ciudad. Unos a otros se preguntaban:
— ¿Quién es este?

11 Y la gente decía:
— Este es el profeta Jesús, el de Nazaret de Galilea.t

Los comerciantes del Templo

(Mc 11,15-19; Lc 19,45-48; Jn 2,13-22)

13 increpándolos:
— Esto dicen las Escrituras: Mi casa ha de ser casa de oración; pero ustedes la han convertido en una cueva de ladrones.t
14 Más tarde se acercaron a Jesús, en el Templo, algunos ciegos y tullidos, y él los curó. 15 Pero los jefes de los sacerdotes y los maestros de la ley se sintieron muy molestos al ver los milagros que Jesús había hecho y al oír que los niños gritaban en el Templo dando vivas al Hijo de David.

16 Por eso le preguntaron:
— ¿No oyes lo que estos están diciendo?
Jesús les contestó:
— ¡Claro que lo oigo! Pero ¿es que nunca han leído ustedes en las Escrituras aquello de: sacarás alabanza de labios de los pequeños y de los niños de pecho?

17 Y dejándolos, salió de la ciudad y se fue a Betaniat, donde pasó la noche.

La higuera sin fruto

(Mc 11,12-14.20-24)

19 Al ver una higuera junto al camino, se acercó a ella; pero únicamente encontró hojas. Entonces dijo a la higuera:
— ¡Que nunca más vuelvas a dar fruto!
Y en aquel mismo instante se secó la higuera.t

20 Al ver aquello, los discípulos se quedaron atónitos, y decían:
— ¿Cómo ha podido secarse de repente la higuera?

21 Jesús les contestó:
— Les aseguro que, si tienen fe y no dudan, no solamente harán esto de la higuera, sino que si dicen a este monte que se quite de ahí y se arroje al mar, así ocurrirá.t

22 Todo cuanto pidan orando con fe, lo recibirán.t

La autoridad de Jesús

(Mc 11,27-33; Lc 20,1-8)

23 Jesús entró en el Templo y mientras enseñaba se le acercaron los jefes de los sacerdotes y los ancianos del pueblo y le preguntaron:
— ¿Con qué derecho haces tú todo eso? ¿Quién te ha autorizado para ello?t

24 Jesús les contestó:
— Yo también voy a preguntarles una cosa. Si me responden, les diré con qué derecho hago todo esto.

25 ¿De quién recibió Juan el encargo de bautizar: del cielot o de los hombres?
Ellos se pusieron a razonar entre sí: “Si contestamos que lo recibió de Dios, él nos dirá: ‘¿Por qué, pues, no le creyeron?’t 26 Y si decimos que lo recibió de los hombres, corremos el peligro de la reacción del pueblo, porque todos tienen a Juan por profeta”.t

27 Así que respondieron a Jesús:
— No lo sabemos.
A lo que él replicó:
— Pues tampoco yo les diré con qué derecho hago todo esto.

Parábola de los dos hijos

31 Díganme, ¿cuál de los dos cumplió el mandato de su padre?
Ellos respondieron:
— El primero.
Y Jesús añadió:
— Pues les aseguro que los recaudadores de impuestos y las prostitutas van a entrar en el reino de Diost antes que ustedes.t

32 Porque vino Juan* mostrando con su vida cómo se debe cumplir la voluntad de Diost, y ustedes no le creyeron; en cambio, sí le creyeron los recaudadores de impuestos y las prostitutas. Y ustedes lo vieron, pero ni aun así cambiaron de actitud dándole crédito.t

Parábola de los labradores criminales

(Mc 12,1-12; Lc 20,9-19)

40 Por tanto, cuando venga el dueño de la viña, ¿qué hará con aquellos labradores?

41 Contestaron a Jesús:
— Son unos miserables; los hará perecer sin compasión y confiará la viña a otros labradores que le entreguen a su tiempo el fruto que le corresponda.

42 Añadió Jesús:
— ¿Acaso no han leído ustedes en las Escrituras:
La piedra que desecharon los constructores,
se ha convertido en la piedra principal.
Esto lo ha hecho el Señor,
y nos resulta verdaderamente maravilloso ?t
43 Por eso, les digo que el reino de Diost se les quitará a ustedes y será entregado a un pueblo que produzca los frutos que corresponden al Reino.

44 [En cuanto a la piedra, el que caiga sobre ella, se estrellará, y a quien la piedra le caiga encima, lo aplastará]t.
45 Cuando los jefes de los sacerdotes y los fariseos oyeron estas parábolas de Jesús, comprendieron que se refería a ellos. 46 Por eso buscaban la manera de apresarlo; pero temían a la gente, porque muchos lo consideraban profeta.t

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.