Mark 11 - A Picture of Partial Recognition
Notes
Transcript
I always thought it was neat to see a lion on National Geographic eating something.
My friend, Phil, has always had exotic animals
Jakka had just arrived the night before. He hadn’t slept. He was in a new place, so he was irritated.
I came around the corner and I saw something that you don’t see the nice lions do at the zoo.
Jakka had this predator look in his eye
All that separated us was a chain link fence.
Jakka lunged forward toward us and ***I began to feel warm in my pants.***
Up to that point, I didn’t have a full view of the ferocity of a lion.
I had a weak understanding of the lion’s might.
There’s a whole different understanding of a lion when it’s looking at you.
We’re picking up our study through the book of Mark
The gospel of Mark pivots between ch. 10-11.
1-10—The life and ministry of Jesus
11-16—The last week of Jesus’s earthly life.
This is the beginning of Passion week, where Jesus is going into Jerusalem.
Jesus foretold His coming death to His disciples and everyone is having a hard time understanding Him.
No one is recognizing Jesus for who He truly is or what He has come to do yet.
Big Idea: A Picture of Partial Recognition
Big Idea: A Picture of Partial Recognition
Context:
Jesus begins the week with fulfilling Zechariah 9:9.
He has instructed His disciples to go before Him and get a colt/donkey on which no one has ever sat.
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4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
Leader: This is God’s Word
Everyone: Thanks be to God.
Jesus is making a statement by coming into Jerusalem in this way.
Up until this point, He has not revealed anything about being the King that would come from David.
The Jews were waiting for a Savior to come and purge Israel of foreign domination.
They thought the Messiah would come and kick the trash out of Rome.
They’re celebrating because they had this image of Zechariah 9:9 in their heads!
They’re thinking that Jesus riding in on a donkey was the sign of a political and military Savior.
Their understanding of God’s word was clouded.
He’s not there for purge politics; He’s here to purge His people of their sin.
Jesus is going to display His authority of creation, His authority over the Temple, and at the end of the week, His authority over death itself.
This is the Messiah, but not the one they were looking for.
The day after Jesus rides into Jerusalem we get this image:
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. 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.”
Jesus came to the Temple the night before and saw what had taken place.
He went and stewed on this. He was mortified at what He saw.
The people were selling sacrifices for profit and taking advantage of the poor.
They marked it up so that the temple priest made more money.
It was shameful and corrupt
He came back with righteous anger.
He hadn’t eaten on his way in and He marches into the Temple.
“How dare you turn this holy place, a place of worship, a place that represents the presence of God and turn it into a cesspool?!”
God’s chosen people, Israel, had lost all sight of their worship of God.
Jesus came in purify and purge the house of God of ungodliness! With zeal for the Lord, Jesus cleaned house!
He wreaked havoc as one having authority!
Like a Son in His own house!
The people had turned away from God’s Word!
They had no respect or reverence for God.
God’s Temple was to be a place of worship that attracts and blesses the nations!
But Israel missed it. They missed who God was because they did not have a clear view of God.
There was no worship here.
Instead of bringing people into God’s presence and being a blessing to the nations, His people stood in the way so no one could find Him.
Jesus says, “This charade is over. You’re done.”
Church,
When we see Jesus clearly, it’ll produce true worship.
When we see Jesus clearly, it’ll produce true worship.
God’s people did not see Him clearly.
They had forsaken His Word, the priests were corrupt, and the people were spiritually blind.
The same is true of us.
By pursuing Jesus in His Word, we can see Him clearly.
We don’t have to miss the presence of God because of an obstructed view of Him!
What is causing your spiritual cataracts?
What’s keeping you from see Jesus clearly?
Let’s resolve to seek a clear view of who Jesus is because that produces true and joyful worship of Jesus!
The people did not enjoy the presence of God when Jesus came in a threw their ungodliness out the door.
Jesus’s protest caught the attention of the powerful council, the Sanhedrin.
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.
They were astonished and not sure what to make of this teaching.
They were devising a way to kill Him.
Jesus was heartbroken over the day, so He left and went out of the city.
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.”
When a fig tree shows leaves, it should begin to show blooms.
When Jesus had passed by it the day before, there was no blooms at all.
In cursing the fig tree, Jesus is showing us what is happening with Israel.
God’s chosen people had become a barren fig tree.
They were doing religious things, going to the Temple, offering sacrifices
But they were not worshipping.
There was not love for God in their hearts.
They weren’t demonstrating God’s love for His people.
They were functional atheists, living without the presence and power of God.
They were showing leaves, but no fruit.
There are people who do Jesus things, but do not know Jesus.
There are those who claim to be Christians and so have leaves, but other than that there is no fruit.
Fruit is leading people to Jesus, growing in Christlikeness, growing in worship.
This means:
When we see Jesus clearly, it’ll produce true fruit.
When we see Jesus clearly, it’ll produce true fruit.
You are going to bear the fruit of what you’re attached to.
The fig tree withered away to its root because it was not attached to true life (v. 20)
Are you growing as a Christian?
This comes down to a matter of desire.
The only way that we bear fruit is if we see Jesus clearly.
You can’t see Jesus clearly unless you’re taking the next step.
How do we do that?
Stand on the word (Worship)—Do you love God’s Word?
Join a group (Community)—Do you engage in the church?
Grow as a disciple—Are you growing in the knowledge of God?
Share hope—Are you putting Jesus first in your life for your neighbor?
Every Christian strives to see Jesus more and more clearly each day.
To worship Him and bear fruit.
The people of Israel and the chief priests missed Him.
Then they double down.
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.”
The elders: “Who do you think you are?”
Their power was super influential, and they were super sensitive to whoever threatened their authority—Jesus was clearly a threat.
Jesus is a master chess player, so He appeals to their understanding of John the Baptist’s ministry.
John testifies to Jesus’s ministry.
31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
They refuse to acknowledge Jesus’s authority.
They chose to maintain this partial recognition of Jesus!
Those who are supposed to be leading the people to the Messiah, have no recognition of Him!
And they no intention to submit to Jesus’s authority because in their mind, they were the Messiah to the people.
They controlled the Temple.
They’d rather label Him as a heretical fanatic because He posed a threat to their religious authority.
Let that not be so of us, church.
They got in the way of other people seeing Jesus clearly.
Until Jesus returns, we’ll only understand in part. But I want you to see Jesus clearly in order to be saved.
Gospel Presentation
I want you to experience the true joy that comes from life in Jesus.
If you’re not a Christian, you can see Jesus clearly today.
The Son of God became a man to die for your sins and for my sins.
Through faith in Him, you can have eternal life and see the world with new eyes.
Turn away from your sins and believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Here at Graceland, we want to see Jesus clearly.
We’re going to stand on the word. Walk in the Spirit. Take the next step. and Share this beautiful hope that Jesus has given us.