Mark | Chapter 11

Mark 11:1-11

“The Triumphal entry”

  1. Introduction
  2. Vs. 1-6 The timing of the event
  3. Vs. 7 The behavior of a colt
  4. Vs. 8-10 The response of the crowd
  5. Vs. 11 The response of the religious leaders

Introduction

    We move forward in the time line of Jesus earthly life, as we enter the 11th chapter of Mark’s gospel and moved into His final week. The final 6 chapters are divided into four events that fit into that final week:

    1. 11:1-13:37 From the temple to the Mount of Olives
    2. 14:1-14:52 From the upper room to the garden of Gethsemane
    3. 14:53-15:20 From His arrest to His sentence
    4. 15:21-16:20 From the cross to the great commission     

    There is in each gospel account by design a disproportional amount of time spent in the final week of Jesus’ earthly life. As noted above we are about to investigate the event known as Palm Sunday or the triumphal entry. One of the interesting things to me is how easy it is to misdiagnose the miraculous of this scene. For example, there is a tendency to assign the miraculous to the “finding of the colt” while not recognizing how utterly miraculous the response of the multitude was to Jesus ridding on that colt. As I analyze that fact I wonder if the same could not be said of our lives as a whole? Do we assign some events of our lives as “miraculous” that in reality aren’t, while missing our Lord showing up at other times? Though the study at hand is a historical narrative it may very well be more than that as the Lord is at all times desiring to make a “triumphal entry” into our everyday life.

    The story at hand appears to be simple and straight forward at first glance but like everything about our Lord there is nothing about Him that doesn’t surprise even the slightest investigation. The 12 with the multitude have come up from Jericho all following Jesus as they arrive a week early for the Passover feast.

    Geographically, a person could go to Jerusalem and enter the temple a few different ways. What we read is that Jesus went up to Jerusalem through Bethphage which tells us that His approach was going to be through the main gate. This is the route that dignitaries and important people would enter the City and temple. It is believed that most of the time that Jesus had previously entered the city He had done so through the opposite way through the “sheep gate”. Clearly Jesus did this as He wanted to make an entrance. As you ascend the Mount of Olives you leave the little village of Bethany and at the top of the Mount is Bethphage (house of figs) the larger better known village. Than you start your dissent into the Garden of Gethsemane. Right after this you would cross the little Brooke of Kidron in the valley and go into the temple. From Bethany to the Temple would only be about 3 miles. Bethany was the place where the colt was to be picked up and Bethphage was the place where Jesus mounted it and road it down towards the temple on the descent from the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. In John chapter 10 verse 22 we learn that three months earlier Jesus in January, during the Feast of Dedication known today as Hanukkah, was in this very area. As such it seems obvious to me that the instructions given by Jesus in verses 2-3 and what the two disciples discovered in Bethany in verse 4-6 need not be attributed as a miracle. It most likely was planned back in January by Jesus in anticipation of His Triumphal entry. Further more I believe that Jesus did this because He was very aware of the prophecy in Zechariah chapter 9 verse 9 where we read “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The reluctance of some to have this interpretation is they feel that in holding it that in some way it lessons Jesus. The argument goes like this: “If Jesus engineered this just to fulfill a prophecy, that is not fulfilling a prophecy it is manufacturing a prophecy?” My answer to that is; “Arranging for your transportation in line with the prophecy, is not the same thing as manufacturing the event!” There are four things that Jesus could not have manufactured:


    Vs. 1-6 The timing of the event

    Jesus knew the exact day that this event was to take place. So we can get the timing of events down: This would have been the Saturday the Sabbath which means that there would have been no money changers only priests and Jesus’s arrival would have been as if He was the Great High Priest. Sunday the first of the week would have been when Jesus cleanses the temple spoken of in verses 15-19, it is where Jesus revealed himself as the King with authority. Then on Monday according to Luke 19:41 Jesus goes back into the city and weeps over it before again cleansing the temple, where He presents himself as a prophet. As interesting as those details are they are only a part of the picture along with ridding the colt. Zechariah’s prophecy is placed in the middle of a prophecy where the prophet is speaking about the land of Syria. When Matthew recorded that the triumphal entry was done to fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy he deliberately leaves out two phrases from Zechariah’s words “Rejoices greatly” and “He is just and having salvation”. The reason for this is the difference between Jesus’ 1st coming and His 2nd coming. But what this prophecy points towards is another prophecy, Daniel 9:25 “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.” The time tables importance was discovered by the former director and detective of the Scotland Yard in the 1900’s who was not only a brilliant detective but also an avid bible student. Sir Robert Anderson put all this in a book called “The Coming Prince” where he pieces together the exact date of the fulfillment of Daniel’s and Zechariah’s prophecies. The key to unraveling this date was finding the time when the “command to restore and build Jerusalem” was issued. You find that answer in Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1 where we are told that it was issued in the “Twentieth year of King Artaxerxes”. What Sir Robert Anderson discovered by analyzing the book of Daniel as well as factoring in the fact that in the day that Daniel wrote this prophecy they used a 360 day’s a year calendar; was that the date of King Artaxerxes decree was March 28th, 445 B.C. Next he looked at the specific phraseology of “seven weeks and sixty-two weeks”. The word used for “weeks” is “sevens” and in Hebrew literature it refers to years. So that would make the math out to be 49 years and 434 years for a total of 483, using the 360 day years or 173,880 days from the date of the decree “Until Messiah the Prince”. If you count out those days it places the date at April 6th, 32 A.D. which just so happens to be this very day when Jesus road into Jerusalem on a colt.    

    Vs. 7 The behavior of a colt


      Matthew records for us that there were two donkeys where as Mark just mentions the colt. But there is no contradiction here as Jesus rode the colt and the colt’s mother came along. Also of interest is that a donkey is an animal of peace where as a horse is the animal of war and in Revelation chapter 19 verse 11 we will see Jesus riding a horse upon His return. There is no way in which Jesus could have pre-engineered the behavior of this colt as they do not enjoy the first experience of being ridden. They will buck and kick in the process known as “breaking”. Yet we read of none of this with regards to this colt, it was docile, responsive, and obedient which completely contradicts the animal’s natural instincts. I submit to you that the procurement of the colt was not miraculous but it’s behavior sure was! The only conclusion I can make is that the rider that day was none other than the very person who created the colt and the very one that even the wind and the waves must obey!


      Vs. 8-10 The response of the crowd

      This event that had been prophesied for 483 years went largely unnoticed by the people of Jerusalem. John in chapter 12 verse 12 tells us that the “great multitude had COME to the feast…and had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him.” According to Matthew we know that those that spread out their clothes and tree branches that day were not the inhabitance of Jerusalem as the people of the city asked “Who is this?” and the answer came back from those from the surrounding areas of Galilee “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” The citizens of Jerusalem were going about their normal business and were completely oblivious to the fact that Jesus was that very day fulfilling a 483-year-old prophesy. It was the strangers and pilgrims that day that fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 118:22-26 a psalm which Jesus ascribes to himself. They began to praise Jesus as He road that colt down the Mount of Olives because of “all the mighty works they had seen.” So powerful was this praise that it drew the anger of the Pharisees who told Jesus to rebuke the crowd of followers and Jesus told them that “If these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” Now that is miraculous, the heart of people praising Jesus and a warning that if they stopped a “rock concert was about to break out, staring the stones”! There was no way Jesus could have orchestrated that, the spontaneous praise of people over His mighty works singing Hosanna, “Save now, save now!” 

         

      Vs. 11 The response of the religious leaders

        Historian’s tell us that at this time Jerusalem had a population of around 80,000 but during religious feasts the population would swell to over 250,000. Yet with this said as the opposite of those singing praise songs to him the people of Jerusalem were disinterested and the religious leaders were antagonistic. Here the Lord was about to fulfill a 483-year-old prophecy as Jesus was riding into the city on a colt as people praised Him. Unwillingly they also fulfilled prophecies as Psalm 118:22-26reminds us “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.” Here were the “builders rejecting the chief cornerstone” and on Monday as Jesus again approached the city we are told in Luke 19:41-44He wept over it
        saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Forty years from this pronouncement the Roman general Titus armies laid siege to the city. Titus gave a command not to burn the Temple but the soldiers violated that order which caused the gold in the temple treasury to melt and run through the cracks of the stones. When the fire had gone out the soldiers dismantled the temple to get the gold that not one stone was left upon another. And this was done because they hadn’t known the time of their visitation!

        I find it interesting that when Jesus made it into the temple that Saturday “He looked around at all things” then He just left with the 12. I think that our Lord often comes into our lives like this, looks around when we can’t put on our Sunday best inspecting what we ought to have been asking Him to reveal in our blindness about ourselves. Spiritual blindness is a preventable disease if we will simply be open to Him revealing it to us and not be all caught up in making “finding our colt” a miracle! 


        Mark 11:12-19

        “Cursing and cleansing”

        1. Introduction
        2. Vs. 12-14 Fruitless fig trees
        3. Vs. 15-19 Corrupt commercialism and religious rituals

        Introduction

          We come now to verses 12-26 of Mark chapter 11 and two incidents that took place on the 2nd day (Monday) of the passion week:

          1. The cursing of the fig tree: This is divided into two segments: Verses 12-14 the cursing of the fig tree and verses 20-26 the lessons of the withered fig tree as it relates to prayer and fruitlessness. 
          2. The cleansing of the temple: In between these two sections is verses 15-19 and Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. This serves as an illustration of the cause of fruitlessness.  

          This passage presents many challenges as to both the proper interpretation as well as personal application. The reason for this is the forgetfulness of the context. As I have said all along in our study; Mark’s readers were the Romans. His perspective is the contrast between the “son of God” that the Romans were very familiar with and Jesus as the true Son of God. Nothing could have demonstrated that better than the way the Roman Caesar would have entered a city and the way Jesus just done in the so called “Triumphal Entry”. Had Caesar entered Jerusalem that day everybody would have been lining the streets, he would have been riding a golden chariot pulled by a perfect stallion. The people that would have been praising him that day would have been the very people he had imposed his will upon when His armies invaded their world with forced oppression. Not so with our Lord He has come unto His own and His own has known Him not even though the event was foretold 483 years to the day earlier. He is ridding a colt that has never been broken to the shouts of Hosanna from those outside the region. Those that should have been most excited to see him at best asked “who is this” before they demand that those singing His praise be silent. Jesus’ entrance was nothing short of a “parade of the poverty of spirit” from a Roman perspective! It would have been impossible for the Roman mind to comprehend the people publically rejecting their Caesar as Jerusalem had just done Jesus. What Mark records is that as the nation rejects their long awaited promised King, the King will finally reject the nation. Jesus would say this very passion week in Matthew 21:43 “I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” 


          Vs. 12-14 Fruitless fig trees

            Vs. 12-14 This is a very difficult section as it is the only account given of Jesus exercising His power that has a destructive outcome. Though you could argue the destruction of the pigs into the Sea of Galilee but it must be remembered that such an act led to the deliverance of the demon possessed man. This incident causes two challenges as it relates to Jesus:

            • His knowledge: Did Jesus know or didn’t He know that the fig tree had no figs upon it? If He knew it had no figs than why did He go hoping to find something on it? And if He didn’t know that it hadn’t any figs how can He be the all knowing, God the Son? The answer to that is to comprehend that Jesus was both full man and fully God. It was not His Deity that hungered but His humanity who had humbled Himself and became a man that did. This reveals to us that this story is presented to us from the vantage of His humanity and not His deity. He has come to His own as the long awaited Messiah who they saw as a man not, God the Son.   
            • His action: The 2nd difficulty requires us investigate Middle Eastern botany as we are told that “seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it, but He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.” So then why did Jesus curse a poor fig tree for being fruitless when “..it was not the season for figs?” We have never witnessed or heard of Jesus doing a single thing that would benefit Himself, let alone punish a tree for not providing for His necessities, when it wasn’t even it’s season to do so. Further more sense Jesus had the power to curse and wither the fig tree could He not have just as easily caused the fig tree to instantly produce figs? There are two things that shed light upon Jesus’ action:
            • The timing of the event: It transpires two days into His final week of His earthly life! This was the week where Jesus had predicted in the parable just before His Triumphal Entry that the nation would say “We will not have THIS MAN reign over us.” The “Man Christ Jesus” who was the one that was told was coming 483 years earlier. 
            • The nature of Middle Eastern fig trees: Jesus Himself gives us a little Middle Eastern botany lesson in Mark 13:28 when He said, “learn this parable from the FIG TREE: When it’s branches has already become tender, and put forth leaves, you know that summer is near.” Typically, the fig tree produced leaves in March or April and then started to bear fruit in June. Often a 2nd crop would come in August and possibly a third crop in December. As such the presence of leaves would mean the presence of fruit was coming, or possibly that fruit was “left over” from the previous season. We know that the date of this was early in Spring as it was the 7th of April but it “was not the season for figs.” There is one other thing of note concerning fig tress is that they require “cross pollination” to bear fruit. And based upon the Greek in Matthew’s account this fig tree was all by it’s self and had no possibility to “cross pollinate” in order to bare fruit.

            Putting these two things together it is clear that Jesus had an expectation that this fig tree should do as it was called to do in Genesis 1:11 “bear fruit after its kind”. Further more the condition in which he saw the fig tree was twofold and exactly illustrated the condition of Israel at the final week of earthly life:

            1. Promise without performance: The leaves of the fig tree had the promise of fruit and like the nation of Israel it had been created to bear fruit after it’s kind. But there would be no fruit and in Israel’s case their whole history had been pointing to the coming of Jesus the Messiah, as recorded to the day in their own scriptures. Their complete existence was waiting for this very moment and they became like so many in life as they fulfilled the tragic three stages of life: Those that WILL DO SOMETHING, those that COULD DO SOMETHING, and those that MIGHT HAVE DONE SOMETHING! This tree held the promise to do what it had been created to do, bear fruit but it “stood alone” while still publically demonstrating that it was going to do something.
            2. Profession without practice: This tree, with it’s leaves, professed to offer something that it didn’t have and could not produce. Like Israel it had the “Leaves” of religious ceremonies and traditions but produced no fruit. The tree and Israel had spent there inter existence producing luxuriant foliage, so that it looked healthy but it was never productive in it’s true calling. The cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple are the same message: Fruitless is unacceptable as God has given us everything necessary to do what He has created us to do, “bear fruit”. Jesus found the fig tree and the nation had the same condition the profession of foliage without fruit.

            The fig tree was a symbol of the nation and its curse was a judgment at it’s roots. The central part of this is the principal that “faith is key to fruitfulness”! At the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry, John the Baptist had warned the nation that the ax was already at the foot of the tree and now life had departed because the nation had refused to believe God. In the corresponding interpretation to what Peter observed the next morning with the withered fig tree Jesus teaches them NOT on the “secret of destroying fruitless tress and people” but rather the “secret of making the removal of such completely unnecessary”. The secret is faith that God can remove the “mountains of unbelief”. Jesus charged them to pray that they and the church not fall into the same state. Prayer and Faith are God’s secret for a life of fruitfulness.  

               

            Vs. 15-19 Corrupt commercialism and religious rituals

              Vs. 15-19 This is the 2nd time Jesus cleansed the temple, having done so at the start of His ministry 3 ½ years earlier, yet in that time they had not changed their practice so Jesus again goes into the temple. This time we see that he repeats the first action of “driving out those who bought and sold in the temple, and over turned the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.”  But we also notice in verse 16 that Jesus “would not allow ANYONE to carry wares through the temple.” Jesus completely stopped all traffic in the temple area including the priests. The temple was laid out into four precincts that filled up the 30-acre temple mount area:

              1. The outer space was called the court of the Gentiles. It was here that the tables would have been set up and money changers would be located.
              2. The court of the women as they were not allowed to go further than this court even if they wished to offer a sacrifice.
              3. The court was called the court of the Israelites; it was here that the men would gather to hand the offerings to the priests.
              4. The inner most court was called the Court of the priests: It is here where the sacrifices took place and only the priests were allowed to enter.   

              The incident took place in the court of the Gentiles where over time this area had become completely commercialized. This was the very area that had been designed to be a place where “light could come to the Gentiles” through prayer and preparation. So much commercial traffic was being done here that it was impossible for prayer and devotion to take place. Not only was in being used as a place of commerce it was being used as a road way so that people could pass easily between the courts for convenience. There was a greater possibility of being robbed in the temple from the commerce then there was of the road up from Jericho to Jerusalem. Jesus was angry for two reasons:

              • The exploitation of the people: The religious community were treating these people not as worshippers, not even as people they were treating them as a commodity, exploiting then for their own gain. God has always been against the exploitation of people especially under the religious banner.
              • The desecration of God’s purpose: The nation had deposed of the presence of God through the commercialization of God’s Holy place. The temple was designed as a meeting place for God and man but they had turned it into Walmart.     

              Jesus took two significant actions that were symbolic to what had just transpired at the curing of the fig tree:

              1. He cleansed it: Jesus drove out those that bought and sold in the temple, He over turned the tables of the money changers and knocked over the seats of those who sold doves. Jesus stopped the commercialization including that of the selling of the sacrificial offerings. The merchants were offering a convenience for the worshippers but it became extortion as they were making an excessive amounts and money changers were employed by he High Priests family as a business. So Jesus came in swept out the whole mess for the 2nd time in three years. He said that all their activity was not profitable except to be a habitation for robbers.  
              2. He cleared it: Second, Jesus stopped all traffic through it.  The Greek is very specific here saying that He stopped “anyone” carrying “wares” and the word is “Vessel” which refers to “instruments essential for worship”. Jesus not only shut down commerce in the temple He shut all religious rituals as well. In the books of Leviticus and Numbers we read of God instituting rituals sacrifices in the temple and there was a continual procession of priests passing trough the temple every day. But on this day Jesus stopped it, refusing to allow the empty religious activity to continue as it had all been pointing him and they had rejected Him and His sacrifice to He stopped the religious activity.

              Looking at these two events together and the picture is that Jesus saw the nation as both spiritually fruitless and bankrupt. The temple was the heart of the nation and now it produced nothing but empty leaves becoming nothing more that corrupt commercialism and religious rituals. When the religious leaders had learned of Jesus’ activities they were filled with a murderous rage and they met together to see how they may destroy Him. There was no longer any discussion on what they may do to reduce His popularity the only question was how they could kill Him in the name of God. They had reached like the fig tree the point of no return when Jesus cleansed and cleared the temple four day later they would see Him hang of a cross. 


              Mark 11:20-26

              “Have faith in God”

              1. Introduction
              2. Vs. 20-21 Dried figs
              3. Vs. 22-24 How to avoid withered roots
              4. Vs. 25-26 Our greatest obstacle

              Introduction

                Last week started looking at the cursing of the fig tree, the strangest miracle done by Jesus. Not only is it the only miracle he did that has a negative outcome, it also is the only miracle done that didn’t directly benefit others. Another oddity is that the explanation given by Jesus to Peter’s observation of the fig tree the next day being “dried up from its roots” doesn’t seem to fit the curse. That will be the text under our examination today as we will be looking at Jesus’ explanation in the context of the cursing of the fig tree. Peter was amazed at Jesus ability to destroy and Jesus answered him with the secret of making destruction unnecessary and the secret of removing the obstacles to fruitfulness. Jesus doesn’t make His answer national but moral as He tells His disciples how to avoid fruitlessness and lack of spiritual progress.


                Vs. 20-21 Dried figs

                  Vs. 20-21 This reverence to Peter is only in Mark’s account and Mark is very specific by telling us that Peter observed this “in the morning”. The point is that it was both clearly visible as well as could have happened quicker but wouldn’t have been visible when they went through he same area in the evening. Also the words “dried up from the roots” is in a Greek verb tense that means that it was completely withered and dead. This miracle, albeit a negative one, had nothing to do with this fig tree’s health it was instead a question only its productivity. It is completely outside the normal possibility for this tree to have gone from healthy foliage to dead from its roots in 24 hours or less. One of the things about fig trees is that they are very difficult to kill, you can cut them done only leaving a stump and they will quickly send up shoots from the stump and soon you will have a weird looking fig tree on your hand. It is no wonder Peter exclaimed in surprise at the demise of this fig tree and recalled Jesus words towards it of “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”

                              Then we have Jesus seemingly disconnected answer to Peter’s observation. There are some who have wrestled Jesus’ words away from the context of the cursing of the fig tree and used then to support a “formula for working miracles”; as if Jesus is saying in response to Peter, “Why Pete, you too can curse fig trees and cause them to die because you have faith in God!” There are even those who stretch this further to suggest that like Jesus we have “power in our words” that what ever we say will come to pass Just like Jesus did here, so we need to go around pronouncing the things we want to happen materially and avoid negative speech. There was no secret formula given by Jesus on how to “speak things into being” but instead the secret Jesus was communicating was how to live a Christian life that will always be fruitful and productive. Israel’s fruitlessness was a direct result of substituting, meaningless religious rituals and commercialism instead of practicing a true loving, obedient relationship with God. They had been going through the motions of performance as an outward show but in reality the priests were corrupt who were only as Jesus called them “blind guides”. The life of the nation was an example of fruitfulness as Jesus had warned and now He takes the opportunity to teach these men whom He was entrusting with being a blessing to the world so that they may avoid the same outcome.


                  Vs. 22-24 How to avoid withered roots

                    Vs. 22-24 Jesus doesn’t explain to Peter the lesson to be learned from the fate of the tree but instead He deals with the lesson of the importance of prayer. The test of faith is that we who pray see the fulfillment before it happens not after.  Fruit wasn’t found in Israel, because life had departed from the roots; and life had departed because they had replaced obedient trust in God for religious rituals and commerce. So Jesus charged these men to exhibit the expression of faith, prayer. And that prayer must be aimed at the mountains of lack of compassion, pride, lack of forgiveness etc. True prayer purifies the person that prays. Where faith is exercised fruitfulness will always be visible! Indirectly this was a word not just for Israel but for the individual believer, the church and our nation!  

                    Jesus continues on in the context of how to avoid being fruitless by having faith in God by talking about moving mountains. There are again those that want to wrestle these verse away from the context and say that it can be done if you just have “enough believing faith”. Yet I have never heard of these faith healers ever actually moving a mountain into the sea. I believe that what Jesus is trying to explain is that He knows that at times simply trusting in God is a mountainous obstacle. There are always going to be opposition and obstacles that stand in the way of our faith in God. Israel at the time of Jesus’ words faced a mountain called the occupying force of the Roman army and its enslavement of the nation. There is the normal doubts and fears of every day life but all of these drive us to a decision: Are we going to chose to use the mountains to interpret who God is, or are we going to chose to interpret the mountain by who we know God to be? The secret of “mountain removal” in our lives is to always start with what you know is true about God. Truths like: He is all knowing, He is perfect in all His ways, He loves me enough to send His Son to save me while I was still a practicing sinner. He is every where present and nothing escapes His loving eyes or hands. He will never leave me of forsake me. As we go through the list of truths that we know to be true about our God, that we have experienced in our relationship with Him time after time, something happens in our hearts as we realize that what ever mountain is in front of us isn’t as big as we thought it was as we have faced mountain’s like this before and nothing we have ever faced was able to separate us from the love of God!


                    Vs. 25-26 Our greatest obstacle

                      Vs. 25-26 There is one mountain in particular that is the most difficult to overcome in our journey of faith. Our greatest Himalayan obstacle is one of our own making it’s the “mountain of our own pride.” Our pride is what keeps us from trusting in God as we won’t pray for those who have offended us, our thinking that we deserve better and are in fact better than someone else. I know of nothing I wrestle against more in my life than my pride manifested in nothing forgiving those who have offended me at some time. What is even more damming in my case is that I want and expect that others should not have pride towards me and forgive me when I’ve wronged them. The mountain of forgiveness and pride must be removed in our lives if we are going to regularly experience fruitfulness and spiritual health. The basis of this forgiveness as Jesus tells us in verse 26 is the realization of the fact that Jesus do easily and readily forgave us our sins. He assumed our debt and paid the price; He didn’t wait until we came groveling up to Him begging, no why we were still practicing our rebellion He laid down Hs life on our behalf. There is not a one of us that deserved such forgiveness so how come we want to apply a new spread sheet for those that have offend us?  This passage has three rules for prayer as well as four truths about our faith:

                      1. Vs. 22-23 Prayer to be effective must be according to faith: The phrase about moving mountains was a common Jewish phrase, as it was widely used for removing difficulties. Good Rabbi’s were said to be able by their teaching to remove the difficulties in the minds of the students and were called “mountain-removers”. The prayer of faith requires two things from the person who offers it:
                      2. That we are willing to take that which hinders us to God: There are times when what we are asking of God is not something that He would have for us. So we either don’t ask Him for what we know He won’t give us or we ask Him for it and become disillusioned when He doesn’t grant us for us that which would only ruin us.
                      3. That we are willing to apply God’s answer to our lives once He has given it: It is common for folks to ask God for things that they have no intention to take. It is useless to ask God for guidance unless we are willing to be humble and obedient enough to apply it.
                      4. Vs. 24 Prayer must be expectant: Prayer must never be a formality, a ritual with out hope! Like anything we must have an attitude of expectant confident hope increases the likelihood of success. Prayer must always be expectant; far to often what we want from God is OUR ANSWER and when God’s comes first, as it always does, we don’t recognize it.
                      5. Vs. 25-26 Prayer must be directed to personal transformation: If we are going to accomplish God’s purposes in our life than we need to aim our prayer at the areas we need to be changed in. If what separates us from our fellow man isn’t dissolved we will never have any answers to prayers, so we ought to start there first.                                           

                      Jesus goes on to tell His disciples four truth to avoid becoming dried up:

                      1. Vs. 22 Object of your faith: Jesus didn’t tell them to just have faith or to have faith in faith as the key is the object of your trust not your trust.
                      2. Vs. 23 Outworking of your faith: Jesus didn’t say, study the problem, or even pray about the problem. No, Jesus said “Who ever SAYS to this mountain” This requires action not theory. The object of our faith must come into contact with the obstacle to our faith and that will require the working out our faith. Prayer doesn’t change THINGS, prayer changes me while the object of my faith; God, changes things.
                      3. Vs. 24 Obtaining faith: Next Jesus tells us what do if we lack the faith to remove the obstacles to our faith, ask the Father to grant us the faith. You may recall the request of the father when Jesus came down from the Mount of Transfiguration and confronted the scene of the demon possessed young man and the unbelief of the father, where he said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” Jesus didn’t teach that obtaining faith was the way to GET things you wanted, He taught that obtaining faith was the way of REMOVING the the things that kept you from enjoying the relationship with the Lord already had for you! The faith healers have it all wrong, we need to be asking the lord to remove the mountains of the flesh, the obstacle’s that keep us fruitless instead of fruitful!

                      Vs. 25-26 Obstacle to faith: The last thing Jesus does as He gives us the path to fruitfulness in our lives is mention our greatest foe, PRIDE and nothing reveals this clearer that our lack of forgiveness towards those who have offended us. Faith is always short-circuited because of our pride.  


                      Mark 11:27 – 12:12

                      “Who’s in charge”

                      1. Introduction
                      2. Vs. 27-33 Who’s on trial?
                      3. Vs. 1-12 The answer to your questions

                      Introduction

                        Having just finished the statements with regards to the fallen fig tree and how to avoid the same fate as the fig tree. The remainder of chapter 11 and on through chapter 12 we see that Jesus will face a series of questions concerning His authority, but what his interrogators will fail realize is that they are the ones being questioned. Indirectly these interrogators are like the priests who would examine the sacrificial lambs on Passover making sure that they were without spot or blemish. Jesus made the same observation in Matthew chapter 8:5-13 when the Roman Centurion came to Jesus requesting that his servant be healed; though willing to go physically at this request the Centurion said, “Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority…” Jesus marveled at this understanding and commented saying that He had not “found such faith, not even in Israel!” Ezekiel the prophet declared God’s process in dealing with leaders who forget whose authority they are under in chapter 21:26-27 “Remove the turban, and take off the crown; Nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted. Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.” As we look at the verses over the next few weeks each of the stories at hand will deal specifically with authority and how we should live under it.


                        Vs. 27-33 Who’s on trial?

                          Vs. 27-28 This would have been Tuesday of the passion week and the third strait day that Jesus had visited the temple. We have several things to investigate in these verses:

                          • We will need to look at the obvious two questions asked by this group: “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
                          • We will need to relook at what had brought about this public inquiry
                          • We will also benefit from understanding who made up this delegation

                          We will address the obvious questions at the end. First we will need to remember why the delegation was questioning Jesus and who made up this delegation:

                          1. The reason for their confrontation that day was what had transpired on Monday a day earlier when Jesus did two things in the temple.
                          2. First, like He had done three years earlier Jesus halted all commerce in the temple area, specifically the court of the gentiles. What is interesting to note is that Jesus’s cleansing the temple three years earlier had no lasting effect on this practice as it had again reached a frenzy. The commerce that was being done in this area was under the banner of convenience but it must be understood that the convenience was only being done in the area of the court of the gentiles and secondly it was being done under the direct control of the religious ruling parties ownership and they were making a considerable profit for providing this convenience. Why was the so called “convenience” at the expense of the very people who they were called to be a “light unto”? And why was such a “convenience” making the religious elite wealthy?
                          3. Secondly, He single-handedly thwarted all religious activity by not allowing people to pass through where they shouldn’t have been passing through in the first place, the court of the gentiles. This had never been done before and apparently had went on for most if not all of the day until Jesus and His disciples left the temple area for the evening.
                          4. To answer who made up this delegation we need to compare the other accounts of this scene in both Matthew and Luke we gain a greater understanding of who confronted Jesus this day in the temple with their two questions with regards to His authority. This delegation made up the three higher classes of Jewish society: The religious class, the upper class and the ruling class. As such they were to represent the nation but were like most Politian’s and only represented themselves and their desire to stay in power. Mark tells us that it included the chief priests and immediately I note that it is “priests” plural, not “priest” singular. There was only one “chief” priest and that would have been Caiaphas but the fact that Mark mentions two informs us that Annas, his father-in-law, was also present. Annas had been appointed as High Priest by the Romans where he served for 10 years but had been deposed but remained in control by having Caiaphas placed as High Priest in his stead after having gone through his sons. This was the wealthy politically powerful family that ran the commerce in the temple. Next we are told that the “scribes” were present and they were the ones that had the responsibility to interpret the laws of Moses. We are also told that the “elders” were present and these men were officially appointed to serve in the Sanhedrin which was the ruling body of the nation. This entire group answered to no one except to the occupying forces of Rome, they were the people in authority over the nation. It was this group who confronted Jesus publically this day in the temple area demanding answers to their two questions. 
                          5. They already knew the answers to their questions but wanted to publically indict as we are told in verse 18 they had already decided to “destroy Him” now they were just looking for a reason that hold up to the people and clearly they felt that the the issue of Jesus lack of authority was justifiable grounds. Politically Jesus would have had to of gone through them to get such authority or through Rome and they knew he had done neither. But they weren’t anticipating Jesus’ questioning of their authority.

                          Vs. 29-30 Jesus completely and utterly turned the tables on them as He demanded the credentials on those who were interrogating Him. What’s even more impressive to me is that He did so with such a calm and commanding manner. They were so convinced that they had Jesus on the spot only to realize that they were the ones on the defensive. That in and of its self should have been enough to show them by what authority and how He came about obtaining this authority. Also notice that Jesus’ offer to answer their interrogation was only partial as they wanted to know both: “by what authority He was doing these things” and “who gave Him this authority”. His offer only included answering “by what authority” as that would have answered who gave Him that authority. Jesus’ question brilliantly placed this band of interrogates impaled on the horns of a dilemma.

                          Vs. 31-33 The test question was regarding their view of the baptisms performed by the martyred John the Baptist; was it from God or was it the mere religion of man? This question went right too the very act of cleansing and closing the temple to which action and authority they questioned. The baptism which John had been engaged in doing was controversial in Israel, baptisms or ceremonial washing were common place in the Levitical system. They were performed privately and when done publically were done so in the temple area by a priest. John was not a priest and he wasn’t doing them either in the temple nor privately. As such John’s baptisms were very controversial were did John receive the authority to do what He had been doing, he hadn’t been a priest, he hadn’t received the authority from the religious leaders yet the populace was very supportive of John’s public display of personal repentance and challenge to greater commitment to God. So as they huddled together seeking the right answer they realized that if they said from God, then Jesus would have answered, “Why then didn’t you support John?” But if they said that John’s baptism’s were from man them they would alienate the very people they were trying to try Jesus before as the general population regarded John as a reformer sent by God. So they answered, “We don’t now” but that answer not only got Jesus off the hook it placed them on it as clearly they looked like they had no authority. So Jesus simply said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do theses things.”


                          1-12 The answer to your questions

                            Vs. 1-12 This is an unfortunate chapter division as it makes it appear as these two statements weren’t connected or that there was a time delay between them. The word “THEN” informs the reader that Jesus’ parable followed immediately after His refusal to answer their questions. Jesus followed the delegations silence with three parables each of them spoken against their authority. Matthew records all three, where as Mark and Luke only choose to record the middle one leaving out the parable of the “Two sons” and the parable of the “Wedding feast”. 

                            To understand Jesus’ use of this parable we first must examine this delegation’s reaction to it in verse 12 where we read that, “They sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.” What stands out to me is that “they knew He had spoken the parable against them.” What was it about this parable that caused them to know that it was about them? The answer to that isn’t going to be found in the text in Mark, but there are two reasons that they knew this parable was about them:

                            1. First we need to examine this parable next to the accounts in Matthew’s account. What we discover is that after Jesus told this parable He asked the delegation the question of verse 9 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” And it was the delegation then answered what we have recorded in the 2nd part of verse 9, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” It is right after this that Luke’s account tells us that right after some of that delegation made that statement others began to realize that they were speaking against themselves in their own answer and exclaimed “Certainly not!” It is then that Jesus responded with verse 10-11 with a direct quote of Psalm 118:22-23, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” Then Jesus gave them the prophetic warning recorded in Matthew’s account of, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
                            2. There is a second reason why at least some of the delegation would have known that Jesus was speaking this parable about them and that is it was familiar as God had used it before it speaking against the religious rulers of old. It is a very close quote of Isaiah 5:1-7 where we read, “Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.” For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.” In fact, Jesus’ parable adds onto Isaiah’s speaking of God’s further effort to show His authority and ownership over the vineyard and those He had entrusted to care for the vineyard the vinedressers.

                            This religious delegation wanted to know “By what authority Jesus was doing theses things?” And Jesus said I’m the vineyard Owner’s Son; “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’S doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” Further more because of their actions Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” What Jesus predicted that day would happen 40 years later as Jesus would say after His resurrection in Mathew 28:18 “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” Jesus is the Lord of Lord’s and the King of King’s; best that every person who had authority remembers that when they rule over others. Their authority at best is delegated and temporary as the “powers-that-be” will become the “powers-that-were”!  


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