Mark 11 - Reading the Bible

Good morning and welcome everyone if you’re new thank you for joining us. You’re watching online. Thank you for joining us. Quick update. We are pleased to announce that Spence Lynch will be joining the leadership team after we concluded the voting.

The data proves we cannot just treat the Bible like a textbook we check out once a week for a little bit of information. The Center for Bible Engagement conducted a massive study and proved that if you only read this book 1 to 3 times a week, it has zero measurable statistical impact on your habits, your anger, or your loneliness. It bounces right off you.

But 4 times a week is the tipping point where the Word finally gets past your filters, gets into your gut, and begins to transform your life. Look at what happens when someone hits that 4-day threshold:

Feeling spiritually stagnant drops by 60%.

Viewing pornography drops by 61%.

Alcoholism and substance abuse drop by 57%.

Bitterness in relationships drops by 40%.

Anger issues drop by 32%.

Loneliness drops by 30%.

Not only do negative behaviors drop, but outward mission spikes.

Sharing your faith with others jumps up by 200%

Commitment to discipling others climbs by 230%.

That is why we are giving you practical tools today—so you can build a 4-day-a-week habit that actually empowers change.

Our Mission here at Journey is to Encounter God, Engage Together, and Empower Change.

One of the primary ways we live out this mission is through Scripture. We read it, pray it, worship as we encounter God through it, and then walk in obedience to what the Spirit reveals.

Notice that Scripture is involved in every single part of that process. We encounter God as we read, which leads to engaging together as a community, which leads to us being empowered by the Holy Spirit to effect change in our lives.

We do not worship the Bible that is called, Bibliolatry.

Instead, we understand that the Bible is our source for God’s revealed will. We worship the God who has revealed Scripture to us. We approach Scripture with an understanding that it is God’s word to us about how to interact with Him, how to be saved, how to interact with others, and how to live rightly.

We worship the God who has revealed Scripture to us.

2 Timothy 3:16 CSB

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,

If we do not include Scripture in our lives, then eventually we begin creating a god in our own image rather than submitting ourselves to the God who has revealed Himself.

When we approach the Bible we read it exegetically and not eisegesis.

Exegesis means drawing meaning out of the text.

Eisegesis means reading your own ideas into the text.

Exegesis good, eisegesis bad. We let Scripture speak to us, we do not tell it what to say.

Today, we want to use Mark 11 as a masterclass on how to read Scripture exegetically. There are three ways we can approach the Bible: for Information, Application, and Transformation. One is not superior to another; they all have their place and can happen simultaneously. But this morning, we are going to look at them individually.

There are three ways we approach the Bible.

We can read the Bible for: Information, application, and transformation.

What is Informational Reading?

The goal of information is exactly what you’d think. We approach the Bible trying to understand the facts: the people, the concepts, the locations, and the history.

Information simply asks: 'What does this text actually say?'

This is important for a few reasons. One is the Bible was written to people in a different time and place. While it is still true we are separated from the original audience so we do not have the same presuppositions they did. Second is that we have presuppositions. While we do not want we will bring things to the Bible. We want to minimize that but we do.

For example, I am a white American man in my mid-40s. I own a home, I have student debt, and I’m married with children. I naturally bring all of who I am and how I think into my reading.

Wherever you come from and whatever your background, you are going to bring your own lens to the Bible. Informational reading is the process of trying to look past our own lenses and ask: 'What does the text actually say?' Not what do I want it to say, not what do I think it says, but what is objectively on the page. This is where tools like study Bibles, commentaries, and Bible dictionaries become incredibly helpful.

*Have my books with me

For an Informational reading we will use F.A.C.T.

F - Framework What is the literary genre, the timeline, and the overarching history surrounding the text?

A - Actors Who are the key figures, characters, or cultural groups present, and what are their motivations?

C - Cross-Reference Where does this connect to the broader mosaic of Scripture? Where else do we see these ideas?

T - Terrain What is the geographical, political, or cultural context? (e.g., Jerusalem, the high-margin temple tax market)

Let’s practice this by looking at Mark 11:15–19 through an informational lens.

Mark 11:15–19 CSB

They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!” The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching. Whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.

Unpacking the Information

So what is going on in this story?

If we look back just a few verses to verse 11, we find a massive clue: Jesus had actually gone into the temple the previous evening, looked around at everything, and left. He didn't just walk in blindly on a Tuesday morning and lose His temper. He knew exactly what was happening. The corruption at the money-changer tables was common knowledge, and it appears Jesus premeditated this entire scene.

Next, we can gather from the context that this event occurred in the Court of the Gentiles. As you can see on the map behind me this was the massive, outermost courtyard. It was an open, all-access area where anyone—including non-Jews—could go.

We also know it happened there because of the specific Scriptures Jesus quotes in verse 17. He weaves two Old Testament passages together: Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.

Mark 11:17 CSB

He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!”

This is a quote from Isaiah 56:7

Isaiah 56:7 CSB

I will bring them to my holy mountain and let them rejoice in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

and Jeremiah 7:11

Jeremiah 7:11 CSB

Has this house, which bears my name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen it. This is the Lord’s declaration.

Isaiah is talking about brining all the people together to worship God. So when we put all this together we can get an idea that this happened there.

But who were these money changers? Unger’s Bible Dictionary gives us a great historical breakdown:

They were essentially bankers who sat in the Court of the Gentiles to change foreign coins into the official sanctuary currency. Every Jewish male over the age of twenty was required by law to pay a temple tax of a half-shekel. This tribute had to be paid in exact Hebrew currency. Because travelers arrived from all over the Roman Empire with different foreign coins, the money changers provided a service—but they assessed a mandatory, fixed fee for it. This system generated massive revenues. Furthermore, people needed to buy animals for sacrifices, which were sold right there inside the temple area.

These merchants offered a necessary convenience, but they were exploiting a captive market. Because worshippers had to have the temple coin and had to buy approved animals, the merchants could inflate the prices and exchange rates however they wanted. What was supposed to be a sacred space of worship became a corrupt, high-margin business.

And that brings us to our final piece of information: the fallout. Look at verse 18:

Mark 11:18 CSB

The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching.

Why were they so afraid? Because the massive crowds were astonished by Jesus and began shifting their allegiance to Him.

To understand the crowds, you have to understand the social brackets of Jesus' day. Broadly speaking you had the religious elites (the Pharisees and Scribes), the aristocrats (the Sadducees who maintained political ties to Rome), the tax collectors (who profited off the people), and finally, the regular, everyday people.

These everyday people were just like most of us: trying to honor God, provide for their families, and stay out of trouble. They had the least amount of institutional power, but they had the largest numbers. And they were completely captivated by Jesus. This terrified the corrupt religious leaders, who realized their grip on power—and their lucrative temple business—was slipping away.

That is information.

We are moving from Information to Application.

What is Applicational Reading?

As we mentioned at the start, Information, Application, and Transformation all have their place, and they often happen at the exact same time.

Applicational reading doesn't throw out information. In fact, information is a strict prerequisite. You need the facts first.

Having historical and contextual information is the guardrail that stops us from falling into the dangerous trap of asking: 'What does this passage mean to me?'

We don’t want to ask that question. The text means what the author intended it to mean. Instead, the real question of application is:

'What do I do with what this text says?'

There are a few great ways to do this, but I want to share a incredibly simple tool with you this morning called the S.O.A.P. method. As you can see on the screen, SOAP stands for:

S – Scripture

O – Observation

A – Application

P – Prayer

You'll notice some natural overlap here. We still start with the Scripture and the historical context, but our primary focus is pressing heavily into that third letter: What do I do with this? Let’s turn to Mark 11:20–25 and run it through the SOAP method together.

Mark 11:20–25 CSB

Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”

Step 1: Scripture (S)

That’s our Scripture step. We’ve selected our passage and we’ve read it. If you're doing this at home in a journal, you could physically write down the verse or two that caught your attention.

Step 2: Observation (O)

Next up is Observation. We ask the basic questions: What is going on? Who is speaking? What is the main theme?

In this passage, Peter notices that the fig tree Jesus cursed the previous day is now completely dead from the roots up. He’s shocked. He points it out, and Jesus uses it as a massive teaching moment about faith. Jesus tells them that if they have faith without doubt, they can move mountains. He then hitches that giant promise to a crucial condition: when you pray, you must forgive others so that your Father will forgive you.

That’s a quick summary. Now, as you look at those verses, what jumps out to you?

It could be the fact that all the disciples saw the tree, but only Peter spoke up.

It could be the shocking speed at which the tree withered.

It could be Jesus' direct command to 'have faith.'

It could be the warning against doubting in your heart.

It could be the mind-blowing promise about receiving what we ask for.

Or it could be the heavy call to absolute forgiveness.

Right there, we just pulled out six distinct observations. For the sake of our exercise this morning, let’s grab hold of just one: the call to pray without doubt.

Step 3: Application (A)

"Now we move to Application. This is where we consider how this specific truth relates to our actual, messy, daily lives. How do I put this into action? What changes do I need to make in my mindset or my daily behavior?

To do this, we have to sit with the text. We have to quietly look up and ask, 'God, what do I do with this?' Usually, if we are being quiet and waiting, something hits.

Using our example of 'not doubting,' a real, honest application might sound like this:

'Man, I realize that I constantly doubt when I pray. I think I'm just being humble, or trying to give God an "out" just in case He doesn’t answer it. But if I'm being brutally honest with myself, I'm actually just unsure if He really hears me, or if He even wants to move on my behalf.'

Ouch. That hurts a little bit. I thought I was just being spiritually mature and protecting God’s reputation by praying safe, doubtful prayers. But the truth is, God doesn't need me to protect His reputation. He's doing just fine. He needs me to have radical faith, believe Him at His word, and let the chips fall where they may."

Step 4: Prayer (P)

"Which leads us naturally to the final letter: Prayer. We take that raw, painful application and we turn it right back into a highly personal conversation with God.

It can be as brief and direct as this:

'Lord, help me have real faith. Help me to let go of my doubts. Stop me from using false humility as an excuse to avoid fully standing on your promises in prayer. Amen.'

That is the SOAP method. You can use it on a single verse, a whole chapter, or an entire book of the Bible. God genuinely wants to speak to you through His Word, and there is always fresh ground to grow in.

That is Application, now let’s look at our last one, Transformation.

What is Transformational Reading?

Transformational reading is about entering into the stream of God’s love.

For transformational reading, our goal is a little different. Information is still important because we don’t want to create something out of nothing—whatever we glean must line up with the revealed character of God. Application is still important because we need to do something with what we read. But the heavy focus here is on being radically transformed by God.

Transformation asks: 'How is God using this text to shape my heart and make me more like Christ?'

This is about having an intimate conversation with God and letting Him speak directly into your soul. It is about moving to a place where you use the Word of God to encounter God in a way that touches your very depths. It is like eating the Word. Transformational reading is about entering into the stream of God’s love. Look at how Ezekiel chapter 3 describes this process:

Ezekiel 3:1–3 CSB

He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. “Son of man,” he said to me, “feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

And look at the matching vision given to John in Revelation chapter 10:

Revelation 10:9–10 CSB

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” Then I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter.

When we approach the Word this way, we want to let it get into us like food gets into us. We want it to be metabolized until it becomes a permanent part of our identity.

To do this, we use the R.E.A.P. method that you see on the screen:

R – Read

E – Encounter

A – Accept

P – Prayer

When we practice this, we are not so much interrogating the text with questions; instead, we are making quiet space for God to speak into us. When we read, we read slowly and intentionally, listening for His voice. We see what specific phrase jumps out to us, and then we spend time in silent reflection.

Let’s look at Mark 11:27-33 as an example of how to do this. We will read the passage three times with a pause after each reading.

Mark 11:27–33 CSB

They came again to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; then answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism from heaven or of human origin? Answer me.” They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ ”—they were afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought that John was truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

For me, as I sat with this passage earlier this week, I noticed the phrase “I do these things” each time I read the verses. It got me thinking about how God created all things. Sitting in that I could almost see God creating the universe, the earth, the sky, everything. Like brush strokes from a master painter He is speaking and light takes it place. Wild beasts are formed and they know their place. Grass and wheat sway in the breeze that is His love and goodness. There is no worry or question. All things find their being in Him and everything is at peace. In that I am at peace.

Is any of that in that specific passage? No, but that truth is found throughout the Bible. That is why information is important. We need the whole counsel of Scripture. And we need space for the Spirit to speak.

Sometimes we can’t hear the Spirit because we won’t stop talking.

There we have it. Three ways to read the Bible that are different but not divorced from each other:

Information: Using FACT to see the history of the temple courts.

Application: Using SOAP to strip away the false humility of doubtful prayers.

Transformation: Using REAP to silently rest in the peace of the Creator.

Now the question shifts to you: What will you do with this? If our mission at Journey is to truly encounter God through Scripture, engage together in community, and empower real change—what is stopping us?

We know from the data that opening this book once a week won't move the needle. But choosing 4 days this week to grab a journal, pick up a pen, and sit at the table with God will change everything.

Faith in Action: If we encounter God through Scripture why don’t we press in?