Mark 11:12-26
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Transcript
Intro
Intro
Theme: Who is Jesus
Theme Statement: Jesus calls us to be disciples through a relationship with Him
Recap:
Last week we saw Jesus enter Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilling prophecy spoke regarding the Messiah hundreds of years prior to His birth.
Zech. 9:9 said that the Messiah would come riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and that all people would rejoice.
In the beginning of Mark 11 we see Jesus fulfill this prophecy and the people rejoice, taking off their cloaks and grabbing palm branches and waving them in the air but they were celebrating for the wrong reasons.
In fact within one week of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem He will be falsely accused, tried by the Jewish and Roman leaders, beaten, whipped, and crucified.
Why?
Because they missed Jesus mission
They had the expectation that Jesus was going to enter Jerusalem and kick out the Romans and establish an Earthly kingdom that would last forever and He would sit as its ruler eternally.
They expected Jesus to be an outward ruler when instead Jesus was coming to establish His kingdom within their hearts.
God cares about the heart, the intention of man, not the outward actions that he does.
Time and again in scripture we see the Jews “worshipping” God outwardly but inwardly in their hearts they have no relationship with Him.
Tonight we will see one example of what it looks like to worship God outwardly but inwardly have no relationship with Him.
God desires your heart.
PRAY
PRAY
Now before we dive into the text it is important to highlight that Mark 11:12-26 is another sandwich story that Mark uses.
Remember a few weeks ago when I told you that Mark sometimes would start a story, then would shift to a different story, and then finish telling the rest of the story.
This was done as a way of giving greater explanation to the story as a whole.
it’s like when I am teaching about something in the Bible and I tell you guys a story about my life or give you an example from your life to reinforce the point I am trying to make.
That same thing is happening here in Mark 11.
He is going to start by talking about this fig tree
Then he will talk about Jesus cleansing the temple
And finally he will go back to the fig tree
And tonight I am going to show you how they all connect and what Marks message was in these two stories.
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
Jesus was staying in a little town called Bethany that was on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
It’s kind of like Jesus staying in Round Rock and then everyday going into Austin for ministry.
As Jesus is walking to Jerusalem He sees a fig tree in the distance.
For us as Americans in the 21st century, we have no idea why verse 13 is significant so when Jesus just curses the fig tree by saying “may no one ever eat fruit from you again” it might seem mean of Jesus but let’s look at the context first.
Context + Content = Meaning
Context
We know that this is around April that Jesus is here because that’s when passover happens.
Fig trees would begin producing fruit around late March early April
During late March fig trees would start producing these small edible buds that people (typically peasants or poor people) would pick and eat these little buds.
So when Jesus sees that this fig tree has leaves on it around the He would have reasonably assumed that the tree has fruit on it
BECAUSE… the tree outwardly had all the signs and indications that it should have some kind of fruit on it.
As Jesus gets closer to the tree He finds no fruit on it and He curses the tree.
This was not Jesus acting out of anger because He was hungry
He was not HANGRY Jesus
This tree will symbolize the hearts of the Jewish people at this time.
After this Jesus goes into Jerusalem
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying 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 den of robbers.”
Once again, without context this seems like Jesus is simply walking in to the temple and overthrowing tables for no reason
Context + Content = Meaning
Within the temple area there were multiple courts for people to worship God.
Each court served its purpose and it allowed the possibility for all people to worship God.
In the temple building itself was the Holy of Holies where only the high priest was allowed once a year to atone for the sins of the people.
In the holy of holies there was the arc of the covenant
In the temple building was also certain areas where the other priests would offer praise to God.
Outside the temple was a court for the priests and a court for the Israelite men could come and pray and worship God
Outside of that court area was a court for the women
Now before you go screaming sexist remember that culturally this is something that would be the norm across the world at this time.
Also many religions and cultures did not allow women to go to their places of worship
Finally on the outside of all of these courtyards was the Gentile Courtyard where gentiles could come and and worship God.
These would be gentiles that believe in and worship God.
This was done intentionally so that the whole world has an opportunity to worship the Lord.
These courts were supposed to be used for worship and prayer.
This is the setting that Jesus enters the temple in.
He is standing in the gentile court and He sees something that enrages Him.
They had turned the gentile court, a place that was intended for gentiles to come and worship God, into a market place.
During passover many people would come from all over the world and they would bring their animals for sacrifice and offering for their sins.
- They would also bring their foreign currency and when they arrived in Jerusalem they would have to go and exchange this money
- Just like today if you go to a foreign country you have to exchange your money for another currency.
All around Jerusalem they could do this but what enraged Jesus was that the priests and the Jews had turned part of the temple into a place were people were buying and selling goods.
A place meant for worship and prayer had turned into a place where people were making money off of selling items.
Not only that but often times someone would come to Jerusalem with an animal to sacrifice and they would tell that person that their animal wasn’t good enough, then they would sell them a “clean” animal at a higher price.
- they would then take their “unclean” animal from them and turn around and sell it to the next person
- Basically they were ripping people off.
This is why Jesus calls it a den of robbers.
When Jesus sees this He is enraged and He begins flipping tables and driving out the business people because they had taken a place meant for people who were far off from God to come close and worship Him and they turned it into a place where they would rob people of their money so that those people could go and make a sacrifice for their sins.
Outwardly the Jewish people were still making sacrifices for their sins, they were still going to the temple to pray.
- they were doing all the things they were supposed to do but they were doing them with a heart that did not worship the Lord.
Here Jesus is telling the people that they need to repent and turn back to God in prayer and this upset the religious leaders.
MArk 11:18-20
18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.
The chief priests were outraged by what Jesus had done because although they were outwardly worshipping God, inwardly they did not worship Him in their hearts.
They leave Jerusalem going back to Bethany and the next morning they pass by the same fig tree on the way back into Jerusalem.
So remember,
We heard the first part about the story of the fig tree.
It appeared to have fruit but it did not.
Then Mark tells about about what happens in the temple.
Israel appeared to worship God on the outside but inwardly they did not have a relationship with Him.
Now we are going back to the fig tree story.
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
So as they pass by Peter notices this fig tree and it had died, in fact it was so dead that Mark mentioned that it had withered to its roots.
Just like the fig tree outwardly appeared to have fruit but it did not, the same was true for the nation of Israel.
The nation of Israel outwardly were doing all the right things but inwardly they were not drawing close to God, they did not have a relationship with God.
It’s why they turned the worship place for gentiles into a place where people would get robbed and taken advantage of.
They did not understand that Jesus was not their to establish an Earthly kingdom but that He was going to die so that the whole world might be reconciled to God.
Now if you went to fall retreat do you remember Brandon talking about the mountain and what it symbolized?
Remember Brandon was talking about the Hebrew symbol of a mountain and that it symbolized an impossible situation or something that may seem overwhelming.
In fact the mountain that Jesus is referring to here is the Mount of Olives where in just a few days He would be praying on.
Jesus here tells us that if we pray and believe in our heart for what we pray for the mountain will be moved.
Does this mean that if you pray for a million dollars and believe that God will give it to you then you will get a million dollars?
NO!
In fact on that same mountain Jesus will pray that God would not send Him to the cross.
39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Jesus prays that God remove this massive mountain in his life but at the end He says not my will but yours be done.
When talking about prayer Jesus makes it clear that when we pray we are praying that God’s will would be done in any situation regardless of the outcome.
And at the very end of Jesus teaching here in Mark 11 He talks about forgiveness.
This is not unintentional or a side tangent.
Jesus is cutting to the very point of what this whole passage has been about.
Jesus did not come to establish and earthly kingdom and be give us all the things we want and desire.
The Jews desired Jesus to be a conquering warrior and when it became evident that He was not going to kick out Rome, when He showed them that He was unimpressed with their outward worship they desired to kill Him.
Jesus came so that the inward hearts of mankind would be changed.
He died on the cross so that Jews and Gentiles, women and children, THE WHOLE WORLD could come to Him and worship at His feet.
There would no longer be a need for the temple or the courtyards but everyone could come to Jesus and build a relationship with Him because He isn’t ruling and reigning in Jerusalem, He is ruling and reigning in their hearts.
He isn’t telling you that you have to act a certain way or be a certain person before you can come to Him He is calling all people to Him and asking them to start a relationship with Him and from that relationship God will change their hearts which in turn will change how they behave.