Mark 11:1-25
Introduction
A week or so ago, I was in a
seminar with a group of pastors and we were asked to identify the
characteristics of a certain religious group. We noted that they believed in
God, were diligent students of the Word of God, tried hard to obey everything
they learned from the Word of God, were faithful in attending worship services
and were absolutely convinced that they were the faithful people of God. As we
made the description, we agreed that it could easily describe us, but in fact
the group we were identifying were the Pharisees - the Jewish religious leaders
who wanted to kill Jesus. So what was wrong with them? II Timothy 3:5 may have the
answer when it describes people in the last days as "holding to the
outward form of godliness but denying its power." The Pharisees gave the
right impression, but when God Himself showed up, they did not recognize Him or
honor Him. They were steeped in religion, but lacked knowledge of God and trust
in God. Could that also be true of us?
We have been on a journey to
Jerusalem in our study of Mark which began in the northern part of Galilee in Mark 8:27 . Although two weeks
ago we were already in Jerusalem and talked about the trials of Jesus and the
disciples, this morning we will step back to the point on this journey at which
Jesus first stepped into Jerusalem. If you look at 10:32 it says, “They were on
the road, going up to Jerusalem.” Then in 10:46, we read that “They came to
Jericho.” which is about 26 km east of Jerusalem and then in Mark 11:1 , we read, “When they
were approaching Jerusalem.” What happened when Jesus came into Jerusalem? In Mark 11:1-25 we read that the
conflict with the religious leaders became more focused and their opposition
intensified. Jesus, the one who had come from God came to the dwelling of God,
but did not find a reception there. The coming of Jesus as King to the temple
and His rejection at the temple was the occasion at which Jesus not only
denounced what was happening in the temple, but also declared the end of
religion. But this chapter also invites us to think about what takes the place
of religion. It teaches us, reflecting on II Timothy 3:5 , to hold to godliness and also to hold to its
power.
I. Jesus Came to His Temple
As Jesus entered into Jerusalem
As they approached
Jerusalem from the East, from the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples to
get a colt for him to use to ride into the city. It is clear that there was
something very deliberate about this. Jesus had just walked almost 200km and it
was certainly not because he was tired that he needed to ride the last few
kilometers. The conversation about how the disciples were to acquire the colt
is interesting in that Jesus predicted that they would have trouble getting
permission from the owners, but that the phrase, “the Lord needs it and will
send it back here shortly” would be enough to get permission.
They got
the colt and Jesus sat on it and as He entered the city, people threw their
cloaks on the road and also threw branches from the field on the road in front
of him and shouted the words from Psalm
118 . This was one of the Psalms of approach which were often sung
by pilgrims entering into Jerusalem
In order to
understand the importance of what was happening here, we need to remember
several things.
Jerusalem
and the temple in it were significant places. At least since the time of
Solomon, the temple in Jerusalem had been the place where God was present with
His people. When Solomon built the temple, he dedicated it to the Lord and part
of the dedication prayer included these words from1 Kings 8:29, "...that your
eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said,
‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays
toward this place." Ever since that time God's people had directed their
eyes towards the temple when they prayed, for God was present there. If they
were a long way away from the temple, they would direct their eyes towards
Jerusalem, which represented the temple and the presence of God. So, for
example, when Daniel was far away in Babylon , we
read in Daniel 6:10 , "…Daniel…continued
to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open toward Jerusalem
The temple
in Jerusalem was the place where God was present. Now Jesus, who we know is the
Son of God, was coming to the place where God lives. The singing of Psalm 118 at this point
reinforces all of the significance of Jesus coming home. This was an occasion
of powerful symbolism conveying a whole range of important meanings. The Psalm
celebrates the coming of the one sent from God. Now Jesus, the one sent from
God was coming to the place of God’s presence. It spoke of the entrance of God
into human affairs to accomplish the promises God had made a long time ago. It
celebrated the consummation of all the hopes of Israel, indeed all the hopes of
mankind. It was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Malachi 3:1 , where we read,
"the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of
the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts." As Jesus rode into Jerusalem
The meaning
is true and so powerful that we would expect a great celebration, a wonderful
acknowledgement, a confident hope loudly proclaimed. Over the last few weeks as
the Catholic Church has elected a new pope, we have seen many images of crowds
welcoming the new pope and celebrating his appointment. But in Mark 11:11 , contrary to what we
should expect, we get something that is quite anti-climactic. Jesus entered the
temple, looked around and left because it was already late. Where was the
acknowledgment? Where was the celebration? It seems rather lame that Jesus came
to the temple and looked around and left.
It was a
significant letdown, but not without significance. In Jeremiah 7:11 we read about a
temple inspection by God. There it says, “You know, I too am watching, says the
Lord.” As Jesus looked around, he
was coming as God to make an inspection of God’s dwelling. What did his
inspection reveal?
II. The End of Religion
A. Jesus Cursed Fruitlessness
Jesus and the disciples left the
temple and spent the night in Bethany
I don’t know about you, but that
seems uncharacteristic. Jesus had been kind and gentle all along. In spite of
all He was about to face, it seems hard to believe that he was getting edgy and
that He cursed this tree in a fit of anger. The Expositors Bible Commentary
points out that, “It is the only miracle of destruction attributed to Jesus in
the Gospels.” What do we make of it?
One of the themes in Mark is the
theme of hearing. Jesus told parables because they hid the truth from those
whose hearts were not ready to hear and opened the truth to those who both
heard and saw. The mention that the disciples “heard him say it” seems more
than coincidental in the context and given the difficulty of interpreting this
event, it therefore seems most likely that this was intended as an acted
parable.
If we understand this event as a
parable, what is the meaning of it? The image of a “fig tree” is used for
Israel in the Old Testament. In Hosea
9:10 we read, “I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig
tree." In that verse, Israel is described as a fruitful tree. But in Hosea 9:15 , 16 we read, “Because of the wickedness
of their deeds I will drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all
their officials are rebels. Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they
shall bear no fruit." In the context of the temple inspection which Jesus
did at the end of the triumphal entry and in the context of what happens next,
it is not difficult to understand that when Jesus cursed the fig tree, it was
not the fig tree itself which he was judging, but rather that he was judging what
was happening in the temple and what the religious leaders were doing.
B. Jesus
Cleansed the Temple
With the curse ringing in our ears,
we follow Jesus into the temple. As He came into the temple he noticed three
problems. One was that there were people who were buying and selling
merchandise. Second, that there were people exchanging money and third, that
there were people carrying merchandise through the temple.
On the one hand, we could suggest
that it wasn't as bad as it might seem. The business that was taking place was
related to the work of the temple. People came from far away to offer
sacrifices in the temple and needed to bring an unblemished sacrifice. The
people who were buying and selling could provide what they needed. Instead of
bringing their animal all the way from Galilee ,
or further, and risk damage to it, they could bring money and buy the needed
sacrifice right where they needed it and assure themselves of an appropriate
sacrifice. Furthermore, a half shekel tax was required annually from all those
who were 20 years old and older. Since people came from many countries, they
needed to get the right currency to pay this tax and the money changers could
provide it, conveniently right there in the temple. The other thing was that
the shortest distance to Jerusalem on the road down from the Mount of Olives,
went right through this area of the temple. Many people coming into the city
with all their goods found this the most convenient way to go.
It all seemed reasonable enough,
but Jesus began to chase them out and turned over the tables of the money
changers and prevented people from taking a short cut through the temple. Why was
He so upset about what was happening?
As Jesus drove them out, He also
taught them the meaning of his actions. In His teaching, He quoted Isaiah 56:7 , “My house will be
called a house of prayer for all peoples.” The problem was that with all the
commotion going on, the atmosphere was not one in which worship could take
place. It was to be a place of prayer, but prayer was impossible with all the
activity.
In the other gospels the quote
stops after the word “prayer,” but Mark completes the quote adding the words,
“for all nations.” The area in which this was happening was the court of the
Gentiles. This was the only place where Gentiles could come into the temple. By
doing all these things in this area of the temple, they were excluding the
Gentiles. God wanted the temple to be a place where people could meet Him and
worship Him and He wanted this to happen for all nations. So the problem was
that it had become a place where people from all nations could not meet God.
The other verse Jesus quoted was from
Jeremiah 7:11 , “you
have made it a den of robbers.” A den of robbers is the place where robbers go
to hide. In saying this, he was not necessarily suggesting that the money
changers and the animal salesmen were cheating the people to whom they sold. It
seems more likely that he was referring to the religious leaders who had robbed
the people of a place of prayer and the Gentiles of a place of access to God.
The temple had become a hideout for robbers and those robbers were the Jewish
religious leaders. This is where the religious leaders could hide out in
safety. They would claim, as Jeremiah
7:4 does, “the temple of the Lord,” implying that they were safe
from all trouble because the temple was the place where God lived and therefore
a place of safety. But Jesus calls it a den of robbers, saying that instead of
leading people to God, they were stealing access to God from the people.
By cleansing the temple, Jesus did not
make a complete change in the way the temple worked. Likely the next day things
were back to the way they had been. Rather, Jesus was being prophetic. His
action was to communicate God's judgment that this was not right. He was saying
that although the functions of the temple were intact, the religious leaders
had taken away any real opportunity for people to meet God. They had a well
structured religion, but the power and presence of God were absent. This was
not what God intended. It was, as the parable of the fig tree implied, all
leaves and no fruit.
The religious leaders certainly
realized that Jesus was speaking against them and attacking what they were
doing, and they repeated their intention to put Jesus to death.
III. Jesus Pointed to the Way to God
Later in the day, Jesus left the
city for the night, but the next morning they once again went into Jerusalem
If we look at the dried up fig tree
and the words of Jesus which follow as a method for getting what we want from
God, as some do, it just doesn't fit the context logically. So instead, we need
to understand these words in light of the acted parable and in light of the
context of all that has just happened. Jesus came into Jerusalem and was
proclaimed as the one whom God had sent. He came to the place where God lived
among his people. As he looked around, he realized that the intent of the
temple was not being carried out. As He demonstrated against the abuse of the
temple and was rejected by the religious leaders, it became clear that God was
not welcome in His own home and we realize why Jesus ended up on a cross. We
could say that God was rejected in the place where people should meet God. This
was a significant rejection. Instead of the temple being a place where one
could meet God, the religious leaders had allowed it to deteriorate into a
place where they could perpetuate their God dishonoring religious system - a
religious system loaded with ritual but devoid of meaning. It had become a
system of ceremony, with no opportunity to really worship or pray. It had
become a religious system that took away opportunity to meet God from anyone
who was not a Jew. The building was great. The positions were all filled. The
ceremonies and sacrifices were happening every day, but the opportunity to meet
God was gone. The fig tree was dried up.
What Jesus goes on to say in Mark 11:22-25 is therefore
not so much a comment on how to have power to dry up fig trees, but a word
about how to meet God. If the fig tree is dried up, how does one meet God? If
the place where one is supposed to meet God is not a place to meet God any
more, where can one go to meet God? If religion does not bring us to God, what
will?
Later on, when Jesus was on trial,
the phrase, “destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days” became
one of the phrases which they tried to use as an accusation against Jesus. It
is, in fact, an explanation of what happened in the temple on these days. With
the cursing of the fig tree, the cleansing of the temple and the picture of the
dried up fig tree, Jesus was teaching that the temple would not be the place to
meet God any more. The warning of temple destruction was given and in less than
50 years the temple was actually destroyed. But the implications are even
greater. Jesus was declaring the end of religion and pointing to a new way to God.
The new way to God is now through Jesus
who is the new temple
of God
So now what? How do we meet God in
this new temple? The answer to that question is found in the words of Jesus in
this section where He mentions three things.
1. Faith Instead of Formalism
Those who seek God now meet God by
faith. Jesus said in verse 22, “Have faith in God.” Because of Jesus, we do not
come to God by ritual or because everything is clearly understood. We come to
God by faith. Hebrews 11:6
says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would
approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek
him."
Instead of meeting God through
prescribed rituals or obedience to certain forms, we are invited to meet God
through faith in Jesus.
2. Asking Instead of Incantations
Those who seek to meet God will
also meet him by asking, that is by prayer. The temple was supposed to be a
house of prayer, but it was no longer that. However, prayer is still possible
and seeking God is still possible. Now we go to God, "In Jesus name."
If we want to know God and walk with Him and do His work, we need to come to
Him in prayer.
Prayer, however, is not a magic
incantation used to force God to do our will. In the Harry Potter movies, the
characters use words as magic incantations to make things happen. Some people
use prayer that way, but that is not the prayer which brings us to God. True
prayer is offered in the context of a relationship with God and in the confidence
that God is love and that He has all power.
3. Forgiveness Instead of Acrimony
The third way to find God is through
a restored relationship with those around us. Forgiveness is the path to God.
If we are wronged, we must forgive others. Notice that the text does not say if
someone asks forgiveness or if they are worthy of forgiveness. The only
condition to forgiveness in this verse is that “if you hold anything against
anyone.” Our being forgiven by God is conditional on our forgiving others,
therefore, forgiveness is not an option. Sometimes in life, wherever we live
it, we meet people with whom we do not agree or who are annoying or who hurt
us. The answer to every one of those situations is that we need to forgive. The
church is not perfect and sometimes we get tired of all the imperfections, but
the solution is not to disappear and try to find a perfect church or just to meet
with people we agree with. The solution is to live with an attitude of
forgiveness.
What is the way to meet with God?
It is to trust God, to seek God and to love others as we have been loved.
Conclusion
This text in Mark is an important
point in the history of God’s work on earth. It indicates a significant shift
in the way God meets with His people. Jesus' coming announced the end of
religion and the beginning of a new relationship with God through Jesus.
Yet it sometimes seems that the
church has restored all the trappings of religion. It seems that we have often
ended up with something very similar to the attitudes and ways of doing things
that were current among the Pharisees, priests and in the temple worship. Are
we in danger of "holding to the form of godliness but denying its
power?" If Jesus came and made an inspection tour of our church or of our heart,
what would He find?
We need to consider carefully
whether we have returned to religion without power or if we are truly living in
the life and power of Jesus who is present with us. Remember, we serve the one
who came as God's chosen, as King. He reigns in heaven at the right hand of God
and is with us in power by His Spirit. Therefore, we have access to God through
faith, through prayer and through right relationships. So the things to think
about as we reflect on this passage are not only to rejoice at our access to
God through Jesus, but also to make sure that ritualism and maintaining a
system are not preventing us from having access to God. Therefore we need to
ask, "Do we have faith in God? Do we pray? Are we forgiving others?"
May God help us to live the
abundant life which is ours in Christ!
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