The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

^20 (A)As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹ And Peter remembered and said to him, ^(B)“Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” ²² And Jesus answered them, “Have ^(C)faith in God. ^23 (D)Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ^(E)‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not ^(F)doubt in his heart, but ^(G)believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, ^(H)whatever you ask in prayer, ^(I)believe that you ^(J)have received^[a] it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And whenever ^(K)you stand praying, ^(L)forgive, ^(M)if you have anything against anyone, so that ^(N)your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”^[b]

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^27 (O)And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, ²⁸ and they said to him, ^(P)“By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Was the baptism of John ^(Q)from heaven or from man? Answer me.” ³¹ And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^(R)‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—^(S)they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was ^(T)a prophet. ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”