Mark 1-8 is largely about Jesus’ ministry in the northern part of Israel, while Mark 8-10 shows Jesus heading toward Jerusalem. Now the rest of Mark’s gospel focuses on the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, beginning with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the cursing of the fig tree, and the cleansing of the Temple. Jesus’ “diverse excellence” (Tim Keller’s quote / Jonathan Edwards’ sermon) is revealed throughout the chapter. He teaches His disciples about the power of prayer and then about the foolishness of rebellion against divine authority as He refuses to answer the religious leaders regarding His authority, just as they refuse to answer His question about the origin of John’s baptism. Let’s take a look:
The Triumphal Entry
1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' "
4They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
"Hosanna![1] "
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"[2]
10"Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"
11Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
We allude to Jesus as the King here, as the triumphal entry into Jerusalem is meant as a coronation of sorts. As King, Jesus has complete knowledge, a humble authority, and He is most deserving of praise. Notice first in v1-6 the perfect knowledge of the King. His knowledge is unlimited and complete and clearly divine. While there are times in Jesus’ humanity that He claims not to know something (namely when He will return), there’s a balance to find between His divine omniscience and His human wisdom and foresight. This passage does not give us an opportunity to explain His knowledge away as mere foresight. There’s no indication that Jesus prearranged all of these things. And that leads us to understand that the King has all authority. He is always in complete control; there is never an instance when Jesus lacks understanding and authority to bring to pass all that He has planned. That is evident here: when those asking what the disciples were doing by untying the colt, the explanation, “The Lord needs it,” was met with zero pushback. “The Lord” has all authority; He is supreme yet carries Himself with amazing humility.
The fulfillment of prophecy seems always to be on Jesus’ mind, and this event is no exception. We read in Zechariah 9:9-10, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Jesus certainly makes it obvious in v7 that He’s fulfilling this imagery, with perfect and complete authority, yet humble and lowly and meek. He rides not on a majestic elephant or white steed, but on a donkey, a beast of burden, because He comes to serve and bear the burden of all who pledge allegiance to Him and enter His kingdom by grace through faith. He comes in poverty rather than great wealth, and He comes not to wage war but with an offering of peace, remarkably even to His enemies. Jesus comes in meekness to forgive those who have sinned against God, to die for their sins and bring them to repentance and glory. And that’s why He is deserving of all praise.
In v8-10, it’s as if the red carpet is unrolled before Jesus as He enters the city. The praise chorus is honoring to Him; the crowd is submitting to Him and welcoming Him as their King! “Hosanna” is a praise to the Lord for providing salvation and deliverance. It literally means, “Save us we pray!” And in this scenic moment, there’s both brilliant clarity and bewildering confusion: Jesus is the King and the Christ, but He isn’t going to complete His mission the way anyone present that day expected. Finally, in v11, notice that Jesus, upon entering the city, doesn’t go to visit the state house or the county clerk or the governor’s mansion. He goes to the Temple (Malachi 3:1-3), and because it’s late in the day, He looks around and departs. He will save His work there for the next day.
Jesus Clears the Temple
12The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.
15On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written:
" 'My house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations'[3] ? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'[4] "
18The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
19When evening came, they[5] went out of the city.
This passage provides moral clarity that shows the integrity and stability of Jesus, as He removes the hindrance of the false appearance of life, making way for sinners to find true life. The fig tree, as an image of Israel, the people of God, is meant to help us see what is going on at the Temple. The tree had leaves but no fruit; it appeared to be vibrant, but it wasn’t the season for figs. That’s what Jesus saw at the Temple. There was hustle and bustle and plenty of excitement and activity, but there was no authentic worship. And furthermore, the location of the Temple marketplace was in the only space that Gentiles could access within the Temple grounds, so Jewish robbery was prohibiting the nations from drawing near to God. Jesus was hungry for fruit, but there was none on the tree; He wanted to see righteousness in the house of the Lord, but there was none. So Jesus cursed the fig tree, and He cleansed the Temple. Some complain that Jesus would dare to kill a tree, but commentator Morgan says, “There is no more warrant for criticizing our Lord for destroying a tree for the purpose of teaching, than there is for objecting to a Christmas tree for our children, or the plucking of petals from a flower in a lesson on botany.” Recognize that even the withered tree proved fruitful for this purpose of Jesus to instruct His disciples on true life.
When Jesus cleanses the Temple (twice in John’s gospel, as in Jeremiah 7 and 26), He uses force to end inauthentic activity (robbery and greed) with a desire to usher in rightful activity (prayer and genuine love). Prayer is free access, real access to God, whereas the theft and fraud that was taking place there offered paid but fake access to God. Just as the Old Testament shepherds of Israel were mistreating the sheep for their own selfish and greedy gain, so these religious leaders of Jesus’ day were doing the same, and Jesus wouldn’t stand for it. Notice that “true love” can’t tolerate wickedness! Jesus wasn’t cleansing the Temple for ongoing use; He was ending the purpose of the Temple, showing that He would replace it Himself with a once-for-all sacrifice. And this work enabled the least of these – the blind and the lame (foreigners and eunuchs in the Old Testament) – to enter the presence of God with joy to be healed. Jesus was removing obstacles to enable restoration and forgiveness.
The Withered Fig Tree
20In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"
22"Have[6] faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself 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, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."[7]
Jesus tells the disciples to “have faith in God.” He goes on to explain the power of sincere prayer (v23-24). Unfortunately, many Christians have taken this way too far, to the point of the “name it and claim it” movement, or the prosperity gospel. Taking Jesus’ instruction too far here can also lead to guilt, for anyone who doesn’t get what they ask for ends up blaming their own weak faith. So what is Jesus teaching in these verses? One commentator says, “If the withered fig tree is an illustration of the coming destruction of the temple, then Jesus’ side-track into faith seems random. But it’s not. The temple has been the focal point of communion with God, and atonement for sin, for hundreds of years. This changes with the resurrection, resulting in faith in Christ bringing complete forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 2:8–9). Jesus may be referring to the prophecy in Zechariah 14:1–5 that says at the end of the tribulation, the Mount of Olives will split from east to west, and the people will flee Jerusalem through the newly-made valley.”
Commentator Barclay says, “The phrase about removing mountains was a quite common Jewish phrase. It was a regular, vivid phrase for removing difficulties.” Of course, in cleansing the Temple, Jesus was removing a primary difficulty for all people! And Warren Wiersbe adds, “Nor should we interpret Mark 11:24 to mean, ‘If you pray hard enough and really believe, God is obligated to answer your prayer no matter what you ask.’ That kind of faith is not faith in God; rather it is nothing but faith in faith, or faith in feelings.” We must have faith in God! With all of these thoughts, I think John Piper’s explanation is the best:
“When Jesus says, ‘Whatever you ask,’ does he mean we can ask for absolutely anything? Are there no restrictions? Do answers to prayer not depend at all on what we ask for? And when Jesus says that we must not doubt but believe that what we say will come to pass, does he mean that, in order to have our prayers answered, we must have undoubting faith that God will give us the very thing we ask? In other words, in what sense do answers to prayer depend on faith? Let's start with v24, ‘Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.’ It sounds absolute and all-inclusive. But there are three reasons why we should not think Jesus intended to give a blank check to us. The first has to do with the nature of language. The second has to do with the other teachings in the New Testament. The third has to do with the immediate context.
“There are texts elsewhere in Scripture which teach that there are things we won't get, even if we ask for them. I'll mention two such texts. James 4:2-3 says, ‘You do not have because you do not ask, you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions.’ You won't get whatever you ask for, no matter how much you believe you will, if what you’re asking for is simply for your own private satisfaction. Prayers should always be acts of love and so they should always aim not merely at our own satisfaction, but also at the benefit of others. 1 John 5:14-15 is another text that limits what we can ask for: ‘This is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.’ This is an especially helpful text because the word ‘whatever’ in v15 seems to be used just as absolutely as in Mark 11:24. But v14 makes it crystal clear that ‘whatever’ in v15 means ‘whatever we ask according to God’s will.’ The right things to ask for are things that accord with God's will. When Jesus said, ‘Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours,’ he meant whatever you ask that accords with God’s will, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.
“Now that brings us to the second word in Mark 11:23-24 which needs to be clarified, namely, the word ‘believe,’ ‘Believe that you have received it and it will be yours.’ Or, as v23 says, ‘Whoever does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.’ The crucial question that rises out of such statements is, ‘How is such undoubting faith possible?’ The only answer I can think of is that such undoubting faith is only possible if we know what God intends to do for those who believe. Or to put it another way, we can have undoubting faith if we know what God’s will is in a particular situation. In summary, then, we understand ‘whatever’ to mean ‘whatever accords with God's will.’ And we understand that undoubting faith is only possible where God reveals what he wills to do in response to faith. And we understand that in the Scripture God has revealed his intention to save, sanctify, and supply the material needs of those who call upon him. And finally, the greatest promise of all revealed in Scripture is that God will work in everything together for our good. And this means that, even though we may have doubts that many of our specific requests will be granted, yet we need have no doubt at all that God will always give us what is best for us.”
Finally in v25 and the footnoted v26, which is only found in some manuscripts, Jesus effectively repeats His instruction from the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, stating that we must forgive those who sin against us, just as God forgives us (or even in order for God to forgive us) when we sin against Him. It’s not works forgiveness, but it is an explanation of the reality of changed lives. When a sinner understands the forgiveness provided to him or her, that sinner rightfully extends the same forgiveness to those who have wronged them. It’s not always easy or automatic, but it must be the trajectory, as evidence of genuine faith.
The Authority of Jesus Questioned
27They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28"By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you authority to do this?"
29Jesus replied, "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30John's baptism--was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!"
31They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?' 32But if we say, 'From men'...." (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)
33So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."
Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."
This passage really extends over to the first 12 verses of Mark 12. We get the front end of the story here, where the religious leaders confront Jesus over His actions from the previous day, cleansing the Temple. They want to know who gave Jesus permission to forcefully drive out the money changers and overthrow the tables of those selling the animal sacrifices. By what authority did He engage in such behavior? As is often the case with the questioning of the religious leaders to Jesus, this seems reasonable and sincere at first. But as the narrative flows, we can figure that their motive was selfish. Remember from v18, they were seeking a way to kill Jesus, because He was a significant threat to their authority and reputation. In reality, by suppressing the truth in their unrighteousness, they are rebelling against the authority of God. And Jesus, with utmost skill, exposes their insincerity. Jesus answers their inquiry with a question about John’s baptism. Was John’s ministry true, from heaven? Or was John’s ministry a false one that could rightly be ignored? The religious leaders took a moment to privately discuss the two choices before them.
John the Baptist called Jews to repentance and baptism, which was a revelation that they were outside of a wholesome relationship with God. John also proclaimed Jesus’ identity as Messiah, which the religious leaders, of course, rejected. But denying John’s ministry would have risked their position of authority and reputation among the people. Therefore, in claiming uncertainty, their hearts are exposed. Their choices were effectively to accept Jesus’ identity as the Christ or to deny Jesus’ authority altogether. These were lose/lose options from their perspective. They think they win by remaining neutral, but that’s an option that wasn’t granted. It may appear the humble response, acknowledging uncertainty, akin to claiming agnosticism today in a battle between professing atheists and any form of belief in a supernatural being. But the reality is that neutrality is actually denial. The religious leaders deny Jesus’ identity and authority. So Jesus refuses, at first, to answer their question about the source of His authority. But as noted above, this is only part one of the confrontation. For part two, let’s take a look at Mark 12:1-12.
Footnotes
- 11:9 A Hebrew expression meaning "Save!" which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 10
- 11:9 Psalm 118:25,26
- 11:17 Isaiah 56:7
- 11:17 Jer. 7:11
- 11:19 Some early manuscripts he
- 11:22 Some early manuscripts If you have
- 11:25 Some manuscripts sins. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins.
Bible text from
Gospelcom.net. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society.