Mark 11 study: Nine months before we began the meandering journey from Galilee, through Samaria, then Perea, and finally to Judea, ministering in at least 35 localities and yet timing the journey purposefully to end up in Jerusalem for the Passover. Passover season was the delight of the Jews, and the despair of the Romans. Thousands of devout Jews from all over the world arrived in the Holy City, filled with excitement and nationalistic fervor. The population more than tripled, putting the Roman military on special alert. Josephus records that in A.D. 65, over 255,000 lambs were offered; if there were ten offerers for each lamb, that would suggest over 2.5 million celebrants in Jerusalem. Unparalleled tensions were in the air; and riots or insurrections could ruin an entire Roman career... The Triumphal Entry 1As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, 2and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 3“If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.” 4They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it. 5Some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6They spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. 7They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it. 8And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; From worshipped by all to crucified in 3 days...the great hypocrisy in people is showed at the highest level. About two miles east of Jerusalem. From the peak at 2600 feet, there is a breathtaking panorama of this fabled city. Here the Lord will do something He had never allowed before: He would present Himself as the Meshiach Nagid, the Messiah the King, in accordance to the Old Testament prophecies, on the very day that the angel Gabriel had prophesied to Daniel over 500 years earlier (Daniel 9:25). “Palm Sunday,” Palm branches had become a nationalistic symbol when Simon Maccabaeus delivered Jerusalem 150 years earlier (1 Maccabees 13:51). The palm frond was the symbol of the 2nd Maccabean Revolt.) The Passover crowd had heard about Lazarus (Jn. 12:12-18). The spreading of outer garments before a king was not uncommon (2 Kgs. 9:13). “Hosanna:” Save now. Psalm 118:25, 26. “Stone which the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner” (Ps 118:22, 23; Mt. 21:42-44; Acts 4:11). The Greek indicates that those who followed repeatedly shouted. This was probably an antiphonal chant between those in front and those behind... 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!” 11Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late. He surveyed the scene at the temple and did nothing the first time. Jesus actually wept for them all, and predicted the coming destruction which took place 38 years later. Details in Luke 19:29-48. Jesus held them accountable to know the relevance of this very day: Luke 19:39-44. 12On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. The fig represents Israel...beautiful from afar, but no fruit being produced. Both the condemning of the tree and the cleansing of the Temple were both symbolic acts that illustrated the sad spiritual condition of the nation of Israel: fruitless and corrupt. John 12:35-41. He was making a lesson on failure to be fruitful. Something we should take note of in a BIG way! Jesus Drives Money Changers from the Temple 15Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 17And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.” The Temple was incredibly important at this time in history because it represented their God like the ark of the covenant before. It was a social, political, financial part of their culture and it had become something completely different than what was first intended. Jesus had cleansed the Temple during his 1st Passover visit (Jn. 2:13-22), but it was not long before the religious leaders had permitted the money changers and merchants to return. The selling of doves was emphasized by Mark because it was one of the few sacrifices that poor people could afford (Lev. 14:22). It was the sacrifice that Joseph and Mary brought at Jesus’ dedication (Lk. 2:24). Jesus was always especially sensitive to the poor. The carrying of the merchandise was because the court had become a convenient cross-town short cut to the Mount of Olives. Even the Mishnah contained an ordinance at aimed at curbing traffic by forbidding anyone to enter the Temple Mount carrying his staff or sandal or wallet, or to use it as a shortcut, but people still did so. It became a huge religious circus. 18The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. 19When evening came, they would go out of the city. 20As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21Being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” The fig tree representing Israel is symbolism of the fact that they started as the chosen people but missed it. Now you have lost Him, for now. 22And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. 23“Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. This should not imply that God is obligated to answer your prayers, no matter what you request. True faith in God is based on His Word (Jn. 15:7; Rom. 10:17) and His Word reveals His will to us. The purpose of prayer is not to get man’s will done in heaven but to get God’s will done on earth. Prayer is God’s way of enlisting you in what He is doing! 25“Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. Prayer also involved forgiveness as well as faith. I must be in fellowship with both my Father in heaven and my brethren on earth if God is to answer my prayers (Mt. 5:21-26; 6:14-15; 18:15-35). The first word in the “Lord’s Prayer” is Our: “Our Father which art in heaven.” No Christian ever prays alone; for all of God’s people are part of a worldwide family that unties to seek God’s blessing (Eph. 3:14-15). 26“ ◙ But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.” Jesus’ Authority Questioned 27They came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him, 28and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30“Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” Why take them all the way back to John the Baptist? God does not teach us a new truth if we have rejected the truth He has already revealed! Jesus is not refusing to answer their question: He only refused to accept and endorse their hypocrisy. We have many in our day asking ridiculous questions while refusing to accept anything God has said in His Word. Wanting us to stand up and be perfect but not allowing any truth to be said to the masses. We live in a world full of hypocrisy, demanding things they are not willing to accept. 31They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32“But shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. 33Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 16:10:26 +0000
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