Mác 11

Hosanna on the road to Jerusalem

¹As they were approaching Jerusalem and came near Bethphage and Bethany, by the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent off two of his disciples ²with these instructions: “Go to the village ahead of you. The moment you go in, you will find a colt tied up there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³Should anyone ask you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell them, ‘The Lord needs it, and he will send it back here without delay.’”^{a 4}They went off and found a colt tied by a doorway, out in the street, and they untied it. ⁵Some of the people standing nearby asked them, “What do you mean by untying that colt?” ⁶The disciples answered as Jesus had told them, and the people let them go. ⁷They brought the colt to Jesus and laid their cloaks over its back, and he sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹The people walking in front and those coming behind kept shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the Lord’s name!^{b 10}Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, now coming! Hosanna in highest heaven!”

¹¹Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple courts. He looked all around at everything, but because it was already late in the day, he left for Bethany with the Twelve.

A fig tree with nothing but leaves

¹²The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³Seeing at a distance a fig tree covered in leaves, he went over to find out whether there was anything on it. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the time of year for figs.^{c 14}He told the tree, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And his disciples heard it.

A house of prayer for all the nations

¹⁵Then they came into Jerusalem. He went into the temple courts and began driving out the people who were selling and buying there. He turned over the money changers’ tables and the benches of the dove sellers, ¹⁶and he would not let anyone carry goods through the temple courts. ¹⁷Then he taught them, saying, “Does Scripture not say, ‘My house will be known as a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have turned it into a hideout for bandits.” ¹⁸When the chief priests and the scribes heard about this, they began looking for a way to do away with him. They feared him, since the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.

¹⁹And each evening they went out of the city.

Have faith in God

²⁰Early the next day, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. ²¹Peter remembered and said to him, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed is all dried up.” ²²Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.^{de 23}Truly I tell you, if anyone tells this mountain, ‘Rise up and be hurled into the sea,’ and does not waver in their heart, but believes that what they say is taking place, it will be done for them. ²⁴So I tell you: everything you request when you pray, believe that you received it, and you will have it. ²⁵And whenever you stand up to pray, if you are holding anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your wrongdoings as well.”^f

By what authority?

²⁷They came back into Jerusalem once more. As he was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the scribes and the elders came up to him ²⁸and demanded, “What authority do you have for doing these things? Or who is it that gave you this authority to do them?” ²⁹Jesus said to them, “I will put one question to you. Answer me, and then I will tell you what authority I have for doing these things. ³⁰John’s baptism: did it come from heaven, or from human beings? Answer me!” ³¹They talked it over among themselves: “What are we to say?^g If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will reply, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ³²But suppose we say, ‘From human beings’ . . .” They were afraid of the crowd, because everyone held that John was truly a prophet. ³³So they replied to Jesus, “We do not know.” Jesus said to them, “Then I am not telling you what authority I have for doing these things, either.”