Mark - Chapter 11

11:1-11

The Entry Into Jerusalem:

John provides the only account of this entry in which palm branches are laid before Jesus as he enters the Holy city. Mark makes no mention of this fact on which Christians celebrate as “Palm Sunday”.  Mark simply brings to our attention that Jesus and His disciples are now drawing near to Jerusalem. Here is a preview of the setting at the Mount of Olives where Zechariah 14:4 foretells that the Lord would appear at that place on what the prophet calls “that day” on His second coming.

Jesus tells the disciples that a colt is needed for a sacred purpose, which seems to be a filling of several OT passages as well as Zechariah 9:9 which tells of a messianic king to come in that way. The main point of this portion of the story is that Jesus took the initiative to arrange every step of the preparation to assure it fit within the plan foretold. Mark shows us an entry into the city that is according to scripture but also is one where His disciples have not yet understood His destiny as Son of Man. For Jesus, it is an entry into suffering and death and in Mark's writing He seems to make no response to a royal entry into the city gate. His disciples are right to hold hope that He is the Messiah, but the kingdom He brings is both other and more than they can possibly imagine at this point.

11:12-26

The Temple and the Fig Tree:

The story of the cleansing of the Temple appears in all four gospels, with the fig tree story appearing in two. In Mark these two are woven together to bring added meaning to each. This story comes just after the entry into the city and it introduces the theme of conflict that will remain for the entire week in Jerusalem.

The fig tree is a symbol for Israel noting the Temple and its leaders. Both the Temple and the tree appear to be thriving but neither is bearing the desired fruit and both are condemned by Jesus. The first part of this story is directed against a sterile religion and the last part is directed to His disciples to instruct them further on faith, prayer, and forgiveness. 

Jesus attacks the use of the place of prayer for commercial purposes.

He does not attack the Temple itself, but the Temple leaders understand His attack is on their way of running it, their leadership and teaching. They have established a temple currency in which money changers overcharge those who need to purchase animals for sacrifice and the overcharge is seen as profit to the Temple leaders. There is corruption and poor spiritual leadership at the root of the Temple worship. The leaders react to the words and actions of Jesus with fearful anger and intend to destroy Him. But the crowd around Jesus is astonished at His teaching.

In our own time, this same story may be seen in the spiritual barren way that certain mega churches seem to dwell on profit rather than the truth of the Word and its primary purpose.  But the Lord teaches in this story His disciples to believe, pray, and to forgive which is as valid for us today as it was the day Jesus taught it. The power of God that withered a fig tree can also bring new life to a church and its leaders, even if they seem to be dry from the roots up as was the case in the Temple. Our text here calls for us to believe that and to pray for it in faith.

11:27-33

The Question About Authority:

Now comes a question about Jesus Himself:

By what authority are you doing these things?

The question posed to Jesus by the Temple leaders brings Him to return a question instead of giving them a direct answer. He asks them if the baptism by John was of God or of man? Their verbal trap is reversed on them by the Lord. If they say it was of God, then why did they not believe it and embrace it? If they say of man will the people see Jesus as the man John was foretelling and that John was indeed a prophet. So they decide not to answer Jesus and therefore He responds that he will not answer them.

If those who are rejecting Jesus did not recognize John, what good would it do to give them another testimony? The entrance to the kingdom is by faith and  the Jesus we see in Mark continually teaches of faith. This story is also our story. Jesus says to those without faith that he will not answer and he moves onward to the week of His suffering, the week of His cross, His tomb, and His rising. His silence to those without faith is more eloquent than any answer they demand. It is by His actions that He expresses His authority over all lives. Each of us must decide to accept His authority by faith, for without faith He provides no answers.