The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (50 page)

11
 And he entered Jerusalem, and went into the temple; and when he had looked round at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Beth'any with the Twelve.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

12
 On the following day, when they came from Beth'any, he was hungry.
¹³
And seeing in the distance
a fig tree
in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
¹⁴
And he said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

15
 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began
to drive out
those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons;
¹⁶
and he would not allow any one to carry anything through the temple.
¹⁷
And he taught, and said to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a
house of prayer
for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers."
¹⁸
And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and sought a way to destroy him; for they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.
¹⁹
And when evening came they
 
^u
went out of the city.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

20
 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, "Master,
 
^v
look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered."
²²
And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.
²³
Truly, I say to you, whoever says to
this mountain
, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.
²⁴
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will.
²⁵
And whenever you
stand praying
, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."
 
^w

Jesus' Authority Is Questioned

27
 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, "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 a question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
³⁰
Was
the baptism of John
from heaven or from men? Answer me."
³¹
And they argued with one another, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'
³²
But shall we say, 'From men'?"—they were afraid of the people, for all held that John was a real 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."

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

12
  
And he began
to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a pit for the wine press, and built a tower, and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.
²
When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
³
And they took him and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
⁴
Again he sent to them another servant, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully.
⁵
And he sent another, and him they killed; and so with many others, some they beat and some they killed.
⁶
He had still one other, a beloved son; finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
⁷
But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
⁸
And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
⁹
What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants, and give the vineyard to others.
¹⁰
Have you not read
this Scripture:

  
'The very stone which the builders rejected

  
has become the cornerstone;

¹¹
this was the Lord's doing,

  
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

12
 And they tried to arrest him, but feared the multitude, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them; so they left him and went away.

The Question about Paying Taxes

13
 And they sent to him some of the
Pharisees and some of the Hero'dians
, to entrap him in his talk.
¹⁴
And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?
¹⁵
Should we pay them, or should we not?" But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why put me to the test? Bring me a coin,
 
^x
and let me look at it."
¹⁶
And they brought one. And he said to them, "
Whose likeness
and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's."
¹⁷
Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at him.

The Question about Man's Resurrection

18
 And
Sad'ducees
came to him, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying,
¹⁹
"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that
if a man's brother dies
and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man
 
^y
must take the wife, and raise up children for his brother.
²⁰
There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no children;
²¹
and the second took her, and died, leaving no children; and the third likewise;
²²
and the seven left no children. Last of all the woman also died.
²³
In the resurrection whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife."

24
 Jesus said to them, "Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?
²⁵
For
when they rise
from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
²⁶
And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, '
I am the God
of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?
²⁷
He is not God of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong."

The First Commandment

28
 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"
²⁹
Jesus answered
, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one;
³⁰
and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'
³¹
The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
³²
And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he;
³³
and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole
burnt offerings and sacrifices
."
³⁴
And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any question.

A Question about the Christ

35
 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, "How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
³⁶
David himself, inspired by
 
^z
the Holy Spirit
, declared,

  
'The Lord said to my Lord,

  
Sit at my right hand,

  
till I put your enemies under your feet.'

³⁷
David himself calls him Lord; so how is he his son?" And the great throng heard him gladly.

Jesus Denounces the Hypocrisyof the Scribes

38
 And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes, and to have salutations in the market places
³⁹
and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,
⁴⁰
who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation."

The Widow's Offering

41
 And he sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the multitude putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.
⁴²
And a poor widow came, and put in two
copper coins
, which make a penny.
⁴³
And he called his disciples to him, and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.
⁴⁴
For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she
out of her poverty
has put in everything she had, her whole living."

The Destruction of the Temple Foretold

13
  
And as he came
out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher,
what wonderful stones
and what wonderful buildings!"
²
And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here
one stone upon another
, that will not be thrown down."

3
 And as he sat on the
Mount of Olives
opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
⁴
"Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign when these things are all to be accomplished?"
⁵
And Jesus began to say to them, "Take heed that no one leads you astray.
⁶
Many will come
in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray.
⁷
And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is not yet.
⁸
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famines; this is but the beginning of the sufferings.

Persecutions Foretold

9
 "But take heed to yourselves; for they will deliver you up to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them.
¹⁰
And the gospel must first be preached
to all nations.
¹¹
And when they bring you to trial and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
¹²
And brother will deliver up
brother to death, and the father his child, and children
will rise against parents and have them put to death;
¹³
and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.