Matthew 21:18-28

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18 ¹In the morning, as he was returning to the city, ²he became hungry.

19 ³And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again! ”And the fig tree withered at once.

20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once? ”

21 And Jesus answered them, ⁴“Truly, I say to you, ⁵if you have faith and ⁶do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ⁷‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea, ’ it will happen.

22 And ⁸whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ⁹if you have faith. ”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 ¹⁰And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ¹¹as he was teaching, and said, ¹²“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? ”

24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.

25 The baptism of John, ¹³from where did it come? ¹⁴From heaven or from man? ”And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven, ’ he will say to us, ¹⁵‘Why then did you not believe him? ’

26 But if we say, ‘From man, ’ ¹⁶we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ¹⁷a prophet. ”

27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know. ” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 ¹⁸“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ¹⁹the vineyard today. ’