Mark · chapter 11 of 16
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Mark 11 tells of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a colt while the crowd hails him, the cursing of a fruitless fig tree, the cleansing of the temple, teaching on faith, prayer and forgiveness, and the Jewish leaders' question about the authority by which he acts.
With Mark 11 the last week of Jesus begins. After so many chapters on the road, he reaches Jerusalem, and the pace of the Gospel slows and grows more detailed: every day counts. Jesus acts publicly and symbolically, and his authority is questioned by the leaders who will decide his fate.
Near Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sends two disciples to bring a colt that no one has ridden. They bring it, spread their cloaks on it, and Jesus enters Jerusalem. People spread cloaks and branches on the road and shout hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Jesus enters the temple, looks around at everything and goes out to Bethany with the twelve since it is already late.
The next day, seeing a fig tree in leaf from afar but with no figs, Jesus curses it: may no one ever eat fruit from you again. They come to the temple and Jesus drives out those buying and selling, overturns the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling pigeons, and does not allow anyone to carry goods through the temple. He teaches that it is written that God's house shall be a house of prayer for all nations, and that they have made it a den of robbers. The chief priests and scribes look for a way to destroy him, but they fear the crowd, which is amazed at his teaching.
The next morning the disciples see the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter points it out, and Jesus tells them to have faith in God: whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and thrown into the sea, without doubting, will receive it. He adds that when they pray they should believe that they have received it, and that when they pray they should forgive if they have anything against anyone, so that their Father in heaven may forgive them too. Back in the temple, the chief priests, scribes and elders ask him by what authority he does these things. Jesus answers with a question: was John's baptism from heaven or from men? They fear answering and say they do not know, so Jesus does not tell them by what authority he acts either.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The crowd shouts hosanna and blesses the one who comes in the Lord's name and the coming kingdom of David. They hail Jesus as the expected king, though their idea of the kingdom differs from the one Jesus will fulfill.
Jesus declares that the temple was meant to be a house of prayer for all nations and that they had made it a den of robbers. His action confronts the injustice and the contempt for the Gentiles who had a place of worship in the temple.
Jesus teaches that whatever they ask in prayer, if they believe they will receive it, will be granted. It is an invitation to pray with confidence in God, not a formula for getting any desire.
Whoever prays must forgive if they have anything against another, so that their Father in heaven may forgive them too. Prayer and forgiveness cannot be separated.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: A colt that no one had ridden. — Mark 11:2-7
Answer: Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, and blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. — Mark 11:9-10
Answer: The next morning the disciples saw it withered from the roots. — Mark 11:20
Answer: He drove out those buying and selling and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of the pigeon sellers. — Mark 11:15
Answer: Forgiving anyone you have something against. — Mark 11:25
Answer: Because if they said it was from heaven Jesus would ask why they did not believe, and if they said from men they feared the crowd. — Mark 11:30-32
Mark 11 asks what kind of king we welcome. The crowd hailed Jesus but days later abandoned him. In a small group you can reflect on what we expect from Jesus and whether we are willing to follow him when he does not meet our expectations.
The fig tree and the temple warn against a religion of appearances, with leaves but no fruit. We can also check whether our church is a house of prayer for all nations, open to the one who comes from afar. And the teaching on praying and forgiving reminds us that we cannot ask of God while holding a grudge.
Mark 11 ends with the leaders unable to answer Jesus' question. In Mark 12 Jesus replies with a parable about wicked tenants, and keeps facing questions about taxes, the resurrection and the greatest commandment.
Mark says it was not the season for figs, and the scene is understood together with the cleansing of the temple, which Mark places between the two halves of the story. Many interpreters see in the fig tree a symbolic act about judgment on a religion with appearance but no fruit. The text gives no further explanation.
It is a Hebrew word that originally meant save us, taken from Psalm 118, and had come to be a shout of praise. By shouting it to Jesus, the crowd acknowledges him as the one who comes in the Lord's name.
It is a figure of speech, common in Jewish teachers' language, for what is impossible. Jesus calls the disciples to trust God and not their own abilities. The faith he teaches does not manipulate God but depends on him and is tied to forgiveness.