Read the Gospels in 40 Days

Chapter 19

Jesus and Zacchaeus, the Rich Tax Collector.^{[a] 1} Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. ² A man there, named Zacchaeus, was a chief tax collector and a rich man. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but since he was short in stature, he could not see him because of the crowd. ⁴ Therefore, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to catch a glimpse of him for he was going to pass that way.

⁵ When he reached that spot, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him joyfully.

⁷ When the people observed this, they began to complain, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” ⁸ But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, I intend to give half of everything I possess to the poor, and if I have defrauded someone of anything, I will repay that amount four times over.”

⁹ Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man has come to seek out and to save what was lost.”

¹¹ The Parable of the Ten Gold Coins.^[b] While the people were listening to him speak, Jesus went on to tell them a parable, because now he was near Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom of God might appear immediately. ¹² He said, “A man of noble birth was preparing to go to a distant country to receive a kingdom and then return. ¹³ So he summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins,^[c] instructing them, ‘Trade with the money I have given you until I return.’ ¹⁴ But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him to give this message, ‘We do not want this man to be our king.’

¹⁵ “When he returned after having been made king, he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money to ascertain what profit they had made through their trading. ¹⁶ The first came forward and said, ‘Sir, your money has increased tenfold in value.’ ¹⁷ He said to him, ‘Well done, my good servant. Because you have proved trustworthy in this very small matter, you shall be in charge of ten cities.’

¹⁸ “Next, the second servant came forward and said, ‘Sir, your money has increased fivefold in value.’ ¹⁹ He said to him, ‘You shall be in charge of five cities.’

²⁰ “Then the third one came forward, saying, ‘Sir, here is your money. I kept it wrapped up in a handkerchief. ²¹ For I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put down, and you reap what you did not sow.’

²² “The master said to him, ‘I will condemn you by your own words, you wicked servant. You knew I was a hard man, taking out what I did not put down, and reaping what I did not sow. ²³ Why then did you not deposit my money into a bank so that on my return I could have drawn it out with interest?’

²⁴ “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take the money from him and give it to the one with the ten gold coins.’ ²⁵ They said to him, ‘But sir, he already has ten gold coins.’ ²⁶ He replied, ‘I tell you, to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he does have will be taken away. ²⁷ But as for those enemies of mine who did not want me for their king, bring them here and put them to death in my presence.’ ”

The Activity of Jesus at Jerusalem^[d]

²⁸ Jesus Enters Jerusalem as the Messiah.^[e] After he had said this, Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. ²⁹ As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent off two of the disciples, saying, ³⁰ “Go into the village directly ahead, and upon entering it, you will find tied there a colt on which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ simply say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

³² The two disciples who had been sent went off and found everything just as he had told them. ³³ As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴ They answered, “The Lord needs it.”

³⁵ Then they brought the colt to Jesus, and after spreading their cloaks over the colt, they helped Jesus to mount it. ³⁶ As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. ³⁷ And when he approached the downward path of the Mount of Olives, the entire multitude of his disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen him perform, ³⁸ proclaiming:

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” ⁴⁰ He answered, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out.”

⁴¹ The Lament over Jerusalem.^[f] As Jesus drew near and beheld the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, “If only you had recognized on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your sight. ⁴³ Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will raise up fortifications all around you and hem you in on every side. ⁴⁴ They will smash you to the ground, you and your children with you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

⁴⁵ Jesus Cleanses the Temple.^[g] Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were engaging in selling, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written,

⁴⁷ Every day he was teaching in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people plotted to kill him. ⁴⁸ However, they were unable to do so because all the people hung on his every word.

Verbal Clashes^[h]

Chapter 20

The Authority of Jesus Questioned.^{[i] 1} One day as Jesus was teaching in the temple and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and scribes, accompanied by the elders, approached and ² said to him, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things. Or who is it that gave you this authority?” ³ He said to them in reply, “I will also ask you one question. Tell me: ⁴ Did John’s baptism originate from heaven or from men?”

⁵ The question caused them to discuss it among themselves, saying, “If we say: ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say: ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.”

⁷ Therefore, they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Then neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants.^{[j] 9} Then Jesus began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenants, and went off on a journey for a long period.

¹⁰ “When the time arrived, he sent a servant to the tenants to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ Again, he sent another servant, but him they also beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. ¹² Then he sent a third servant, but him too they wounded and cast out.

¹³ “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ And so they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and put those tenants to death and give the vineyard to others.”

When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!” ¹⁷ But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken into pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests realized that this parable was directed at them, and they wanted to seize him at that very hour, but they feared the people.

²⁰ God or Caesar.^[k] So they watched him closely and sent spies who pretended to be honorable men. They intended to trap Jesus in something he might say so that they could hand him over to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. ²¹ They posed this question to him: “Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right. Moreover, you show no partiality to anyone but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. ²² Is it lawful or not for us to pay taxes to Caesar?”

²³ Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a coin.^[l] Whose image is this, and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ He said to them, “Give to Caesar what is due to Caesar, and to God what is due to God.” ²⁶ They found they could not trap him by anything he said in the presence of the people, and, stunned at his reply, they fell silent.

²⁷ Marriage and the Resurrection.^[m] Then some Sadducees, who assert that there is no resurrection, approached him and posed this question: ²⁸ “Teacher, Moses wrote down for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must marry his brother’s wife and raise up children for his brother. ²⁹ Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman but died childless. ³⁰ Then the second ³¹ and the third married the widow, and it was the same with all seven: they all died leaving no children. ³² Last of all, the woman also died. ³³ Now at the resurrection, whose wife will the woman be, inasmuch as all seven had her?”

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are judged worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection of the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. ³⁶ They are no longer subject to death, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are children of the resurrection.

³⁷ “That the dead are raised Moses himself showed in the account about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ³⁸ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for in his sight all are alive.”

³⁹ Some of the scribes then said, “Teacher, you have answered well.” ⁴⁰ And they no longer dared to ask him anything.

⁴¹ Jesus Is Lord.^[n] Then Jesus said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? ⁴² For David himself says in the Book of Psalms:

⁴⁴ David thus calls him ‘Lord’; so how can he be his son?”

⁴⁵ Denunciation of the Scribes.^[o] While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and who love to be greeted respectfully in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁷ They devour the houses of widows, while for the sake of appearance they recite lengthy prayers. They will receive the severest possible condemnation.”