Chronological Plan

¹When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples

²and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.

³If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this? ’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.’”

⁴So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it,

⁵and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”

⁶They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go.

⁷They brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it.

⁸Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields.

⁹Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

¹⁰Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!

¹¹He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

¹²The next day when they went out from Bethany, he was hungry.

¹³Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs.

¹⁴He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his disciples heard it.

¹⁵They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves,

¹⁶and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple.

¹⁷He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!”

¹⁸The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching.

¹⁹Whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.

²⁰Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.

²¹Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”

²²Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God.

²³Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

²⁴Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for  —  believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

²⁵And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”

²⁶

²⁷They came again to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came

²⁸and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?”

²⁹Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

³⁰Was John’s baptism from heaven or of human origin? Answer me.”

³¹They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’

³²But if we say, ‘Of human origin’” — they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was truly a prophet.

³³So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

¹Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead.

²So they gave a dinner for him there; Martha was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him.

³Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was about to betray him), said,

⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

⁶He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.

⁷Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial.

⁸For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

⁹Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.

¹⁰But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also,

¹¹because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.

¹²The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

¹³they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord — the King of Israel!”

¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written:

¹⁵Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.

¹⁶His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

¹⁷Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify.

¹⁸This is also why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign.

¹⁹Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

²⁰Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival.

²¹So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”

²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

²³Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

²⁴Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.

²⁵The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

²⁶If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

²⁷“Now my soul is troubled. What should I say — Father, save me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour.

²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

³⁰Jesus responded, “This voice came, not for me, but for you.

³¹Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

³²As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.”

³³He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die.

³⁴Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going.

³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.

³⁷Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him.

³⁸This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said: Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

³⁹This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said:

⁴⁰He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.

⁴¹Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him.

⁴²Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue.

⁴³For they loved human praise more than praise from God.

⁴⁴Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me.

⁴⁵And the one who sees me sees him who sent me.

⁴⁶I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.

⁴⁷If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.

⁴⁸The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

⁴⁹For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said.

⁵⁰I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”