Matthew · 46 verses

Matthew 21

Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

The chapter

What happens here

Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

When the chief priests and elders demanded Jesus’ authority, He answered with a question about John’s baptism; their deliberations ended in “We do not know,” and His answer ended there too.

A king arrives, and the temple is rearrangedvv. 1–17

Near Bethphage, Jesus sends two disciples for a donkey and her colt, with the splendidly economical instruction that “the Lord needs them.” They return with both animals, and the disciples turn their cloaks into saddles while the crowd turns the road into a carpet of cloaks and branches. Jerusalem is stirred by the arrival, though its first question is wonderfully basic: “Who is this?” The answer identifies Jesus as the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.

Then comes the less placid procession. Jesus enters the temple courts, overturns the money changers’ tables, and dislodges the sellers of doves. The blind and the lame come to Him and are healed; children shout “Hosanna,” while the chief priests and scribes are indignant. Jesus leaves the city for Bethany, where He spends the night.

A fig tree, a mountain, and an unanswered questionvv. 18–27

Returning to the city in the morning, Jesus is hungry and finds a fig tree with leaves but no fruit. It withers immediately at His word, producing from the disciples the entirely reasonable question of how it happened so quickly. Jesus answers with faith, prayer, and a mountain being told to throw itself into the sea—a notably vigorous piece of gardening.

Back in the temple courts, the chief priests and elders ask by what authority He acts. Jesus replies with a question about the source of John’s baptism. They calculate the dangers of either answer, settle on “We do not know,” and receive no answer from Jesus about His authority.

Two sons and a vineyard with terrible tenantsvv. 28–46

Jesus follows the question with two parables. In the first, one son refuses his father and then goes, while another agrees and does not; the first, rather awkwardly, is the obedient one. Jesus says that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before those who heard John and would not believe him.

The second parable begins with an impressively equipped vineyard: wall, winepress, tower, tenants. The tenants beat, kill, and stone the owner’s servants, then kill his son when he sends him. The hearers pronounce the tenants’ deserved fate themselves, after which Jesus speaks of the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone and of the kingdom being given to a people who will produce its fruit. The chief priests and Pharisees understand that the parables concern them, but the crowds make arrest inconvenient.

The text

Read it

Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

Matt 21:1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two disciples,
Matt 21:2saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to Me.
Matt 21:3If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
Matt 21:4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
Matt 21:5“Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
Matt 21:6So the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.
Matt 21:7They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.
Matt 21:8A massive crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Matt 21:9The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”
Matt 21:10When Jesus had entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
Matt 21:11The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Matt 21:12Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
Matt 21:13And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Matt 21:14The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.
Matt 21:15But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
Matt 21:16“Do You hear what these children are saying?” they asked. “Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read: ‘From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?”
Matt 21:17Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where He spent the night.
Matt 21:18In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, He was hungry.
Matt 21:19Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.
Matt 21:20When the disciples saw this, they marveled and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”
Matt 21:21“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “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.
Matt 21:22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Matt 21:23When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”
Matt 21:24“I will also ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Matt 21:25What was the source of John’s baptism? Was it from heaven or from men?” They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
Matt 21:26But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.”
Matt 21:27So they answered, “We do not know.” And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
Matt 21:28But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
Matt 21:29‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.
Matt 21:30Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing. ‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go.
Matt 21:31Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.
Matt 21:32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Matt 21:33Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.
Matt 21:34When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit.
Matt 21:35But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
Matt 21:36Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.
Matt 21:37Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
Matt 21:38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’
Matt 21:39So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Matt 21:40Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?”
Matt 21:41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”
Matt 21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Matt 21:43Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
Matt 21:44He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Matt 21:45When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them.
Matt 21:46Although they wanted to arrest Him, they were afraid of the crowds, because the people regarded Him as a prophet.

01 — Also here

Who else the chapter reaches

Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

02 — Read alongside

Where this is echoed

Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 544 passages were voted onto 46 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

5 Zechariah 9:9–10Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
42 Psalms 118:22–23The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
22 Matthew 7:7Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
16 Psalms 8:2From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise on account of Your adversaries, to silence the enemy and avenger.
22 1 John 5:14–15And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
22 Mark 11:24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
13 Jeremiah 7:11Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.
13 Isaiah 56:7I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
22 1 John 3:22and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
22 John 14:13And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
22 Luke 11:8–10I tell you, even though he will not get up to provide for him because of his friendship, yet because of the man’s persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
22 Matthew 18:19Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.
22 John 16:24Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
22 James 5:16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
22 Matthew 7:11So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
22 John 15:7If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Onward

Keep reading

Next chapterMatthew 2246 verses.Named hereOlives MountEverything the graph connects to this name.BookMatthewAll 28 chapters.Every bookThe Bible66 books, 1,189 chapters.