Study Desk

"But the owner of the estate replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

'Take what belongs to you and go, but I choose to give to this last man [hired] the same as I give to you.

But Jesus replied, "You do not realize what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup [of suffering] that I am about to drink?" They answered, "We are able."

He said to them, "You will drink My cup [of suffering]; but to sit on My right and on My left this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father."

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them].

"It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [paying the price to set them free from the penalty of sin]."

The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, Son of David (Messiah) have mercy on us!"

Jesus said to them, "It is written [in Scripture], 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN."

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful and miraculous things that Jesus had done, and heard the boys who were shouting in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple [in praise and adoration], "Hosanna to the Son of David (the Messiah)," they became indignant

Seeing a lone fig tree at the roadside, He went to it and found nothing but leaves on it; and He said to it, "Never again will fruit come from you." And at once the fig tree withered.

Jesus replied to them, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have faith [personal trust and confidence in Me] and do not doubt or allow yourself to be drawn in two directions, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen [if God wills it].

"But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the [response of the] crowd; for they all regard John as a prophet."

"And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and changed his mind and went.

"Then the man came to the second son and said the same thing; and he replied, 'I will, sir'; but he did not go.

"For John came to you [walking] in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even change your mind afterward and believe him [accepting what he proclaimed to you].

"But the tenants took his servants and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.

"But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This [man] is the heir; come on, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'

"And he who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

"And he sent his servants to call those who had [previously] been invited to the wedding feast, but they refused to come.