During the final week before Passover, Jesus spent each day teaching in Jerusalem and returned each night to stay in a nearby village.

On the second morning, as he and his disciples were walking into the city, Jesus saw a fig tree in the distance. He went to it looking for fruit, but found only leaves. Then he said to the tree, “May you never bear fruit again.” The disciples heard his words and were astonished.

When they entered Jerusalem, Jesus went into the temple courts and saw people selling animals for sacrifice and exchanging money. He overturned the tables and drove them out, declaring, “It is written: My house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.”

He then taught the people in the temple.

The religious leaders were furious. They saw how the crowds were following him and began to look for ways to destroy him.