Mark 11

The True King v.1-11

v.1-10

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Jesus is now letting the Messianic Secret out of the bag! No more hiding His identity as Israel’s true King.

the deity of Jesus

v.3 The term for Lord “kyrios” refers to the personal name for God in the OT (YHWH). Jesus divinity is clearly being put on display with the use of Lord.

Isaiah 42:8 “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”

Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

the confusion of the crowd

v.8-10

2 Kings 9:13 ESV

Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.”

Ezekiel 37:24–25 ESV

“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever.

What were they looking for in their Messiah?

What is going to be many of the crowds response come Friday of passion week?

Most people love Jesus and may even praise Him as long as He is meeting their expectations. As soon as Jesus is delivered to be crucified, many in this crowd will turn their backs on Him. They will reveal that they have not recognized Jesus as King of their heart.

These people are failing to see Jesus from the correct eternal perspective. One day Jesus is going to rule over His Kingdom, but only after He judges the world and eradicates sin. Receiving Jesus as the King/Lord of your life means acknowledging His eternal Kingship and your willingness to submit to His rule.

Jesus is the eternal ruler of the world, not a cosmic vending machine to give you what you want. Are you following King Jesus or the watered down, fake version that meets our wants and expectations? The next week of Jesus life makes it very clear where this crowd stands.

v.11 Jesus takes a trip to the temple and observes all that was going on. The observations gathered at this time probably set off the events that are recorded in this chapter.

2. True Worship v.12-19

Looks are deceiving v.12-24

The fig tree looked like it was productive and healthy because it had leaves adorning it, but the reality was that their was no fruit. The tree was useless. This was a symbolic teaching of Israel. They were adorned by their religious ceremonies, feasts, and sacrifices but they bore no real spiritual fruit. They looked alive but were actually dead!

Revelation 3:1–2 ““And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.”

How easy it is for us to play “christian”, to go through all the motions and be found lacking in God’s eyes! If this is you, I say “Wake UP!”, repent of your half hearted worship and begin to honor God the way He deserves to be honored! Give Him your very best.

House of Prayer

v.15-19 Jesus is irate with those in the temple complex because they have turned the place of worship into a place of scheming, deception. and business. They had made a mockery of God’s temple and Jesus would not have any of it!

The temple was to be a place where foreigners would be drawn to worship the Lord. Instead of the Jews leading the nations to worship the Lord, they were ripping them off and drawing them away from the Lord!

Isaiah 56:6–8

““And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.””

Jeremiah 7:11 “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.”

The temple was supposed to be a house of prayer for the nations. The temple during Jesus day was a large complex that took up a large portion of the city. It was a multi layer complex and the Jews saw it as the closer you got to the sanctuary the more holy you were. What these people were doing was creating a hindrance to the Gentile worshippers of the Lord.

The Jews were up-charging the price for animals designated for sacrifices, up-charging the exchange rate for temple coins and were moving things through the temple complex so they didn’t have to walk around it. Could you imagine trying to worship in that environment! It is virtually impossible. They were pushing the Gentiles away from the Lord instead of helping them to draw near to Him!

How guilty can we be of doing this today! We turn church into a holy huddle that shuns those most in need of Jesus and have the audacity to call it worship! We get so distracted with programs, making ourselves comfortable that we neglect our job to draw the nations to the Lord!

3. True Prayer v.20-26

Peter is shocked at how quickly the tree had been destroyed. Jesus is using the withering of the fig tree as a symbolic lesson regarding prayer.

pray big - don’t be guilty of making God small. He is able to do far more than we can ever imagine! The idea here is not to ask God for ridiculous things but to trust that God will do mighty things for His glory. He accomplished these things for us and through us.

pray often - I am constantly guilty of undervaluing prayer and its power. We should be a people who prays big and prays often!!

pray in God’s will - prayers that get answered are those that align with God’s heart and desire.

pray in faith - believe that God is able and loves to answer our prayers. We are not making wishes to a genie but to the Lord of the universe!

4. Unfaltering Commitment v.27-33

Are you in or out?

Jesus puts the ball fully in the religious leaders court. Will you trust in me and submit to my authority or will you reject it? The fear of the religious leaders kept them committing their lives to Jesus. What gets in our way?

I am afraid to commit fully to Jesus because...

the person I am called to minister to is “extremely lost”

I don’t “know enough”

I am afraid of messing everything up. What if I fail?

social rejection

I am messed up! Who can I help others?

the task I feel called to seems too hard, too far, or uncertain

I am “too young”

Application

Acknowledge the true King

Evaluate the condition of your worship (Am I actually bearing spiritual fruit/pleasing God or going through the motions?)

Dream big things for God. Do not be guilty of making God small. (Sadly, I am often guilty of this. Are we doing this as a student ministry?)

Be fully committed to Jesus