Judging the Time August 27
Mark 11:11 And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Jesus has arrived at the heart of Israel, Jerusalem, and He goes to the core of the heart, the Temple. It is late on Sunday, the first day of the week.
The Court of the Gentiles is open to all people. He may have passed through the Beautiful Gate into the Court of the Women, a place where both Jewish men and women were allowed. Beyond this is the Altar of Sacrifice, where women are not allowed.
During the busy times of the holy days, when laws of tradition require Jews to come to the Temple, the fierce competition of money lenders and sellers of sacrificial animals seeps from the streets into the Court of the Gentiles. There is the atmosphere of a bazaar, with selling and buying the focus rather than God.
Jesus would have noted the flagrant violation of the sanctity of God’s house and courts. Undoubtedly He is stirred with righteous indignation.
“As it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.” The evening sacrifice at the Temple occurred at 3 P.M. That the hour is late may indicate the evening sacrifice has occurred already. In that case, activity and the number of people within the Temple walls is declining.
Jesus and His disciples go to Bethany for the night.
Confrontation of wrong requires strength of character. So also does choosing the time and manner of the encounter.
Foliage of the Fig Tree August 28
Mark 11:12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”
And His disciples heard it.
The fig tree is symbolic of plenty, of living in a good land, as in 1 Kings 4:25: “And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.”
Jesus uses the fig tree for a parable. His source is Jeremiah 8, in which the prophet speaks of God’s great disappointment in His people for their “sliding back:”
“They hold fast to deceit (false teaching), they refuse to return.” (Jer. 8:5)
“I will surely consume them,” says the Lord.
“No grapes shall be on the vine,
Nor figs on the fig tree,
And the leaf shall fade;
And the things I have given them shall pass away from them.” ’ ”Jer 8:13
Jesus’ time is Passover, too soon for the fig to have borne fruit. The plant has the spring foliage, and it appears on the outside to be healthy.
Such is Jerusalem, Jesus says. It gives the appearance of obedience to God, but in reality the religion of Jerusalem is all show, all foliage and no fruit.
Jesus curses the fig tree, symbolic of the teaching of the Pharisees. Religion that is all show produces no fruit.
A House of Prayer August 29
Mark 11:15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
The parable of the fig tree is a good precursor to the cleansing of the Temple.
We look at the living parable of Jesus cleansing the Temple of secular dealings, and we do not consider the justification of the economy that has evolved in and around the Temple.
The Temple is a physical building requiring maintenance and care. The people who service the Temple, and those who attend to the needs (sacrifices and other rituals) of the people, are physical beings requiring sustenance and lodging. There is every expectation that money must be brought into the Temple to assure its functions are fulfilled.
This is all very logical and business-like…and secular.
Jesus questions whether the Temple and its priests and scribes serve God, or if the primary objective of the Temple and its people is economic income. He quotes Jeremiah 7:11, proclaiming the Temple has become “a den of thieves.”
Like the fig tree, the foliage of the Temple is beautiful, but the Temple bears no fruit. Serving God is no longer its primary purpose, and if this is not its primary purpose, then it no longer serves God at all.
If we do not seek first the kingdom of God, then we do not seek it at all.
Court of the Gentiles August 30
Mark 11:16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
The Pharisees appear to have reasoned that the Court of the Gentiles is somehow less holy than the remainder of the Temple grounds. Thus they do not guard the edges of God’s dwelling place among them.
They allow the secular functions viewed as necessary for the business of the Temple to be transacted in the outer court, the area where the faithful among the Gentiles are allowed to worship. Verse 16 infers that merchants and their porters could use the Temple grounds as a shortcut to their secular destinations.
Isaiah 56.7 makes clear that Gentiles who join in service to the Lord have a place in His presence: "Even them 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."
These secular incursions into spiritual space are on top of other abuses. Transactions must be in Temple coin, and unfair exchange rates with other currencies bring income to the Temple. And there are unreasonably high prices for sacrificial animals.
Israel’s relationship with God was to have been an example to the Gentiles, but the religion of the day replaces the relationship with business transactions.
Mind vs Heart August 31
Mark 11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. 19 When evening had come, He went out of the city.
Truth is an enemy to those who use their power incorrectly
Elijah prophesying before King Ahab comes to mind: “So Ahab said to Elijah, ‘Have you found me, O my enemy?’ And (Elijah) answered, ‘I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord…’” (1 Kings 21:20).
Practicality justifies the abuses of the Temple in the minds of the Temple rulers.
Love of God prompts righteous indignation in the heart of Jesus.
The conflict of the mind and the heart occurs frequently in all of us. And practicality versus agape love is possibly the most frequent example.
Ahab made a political marriage to Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon. She became the power behind his throne and he led Israel/Samaria into idolatry. He was a religious man, but his religion had the wrong god.
Religion can easily lead to idolatry. Even a religion based on the one true God can step into His place and become the god that is worshipped.
Practical rules regarding how to be and what to do replace the relationship between God the Creator and mankind the created. There is a shift from relationship of the heart to the practical realities of the mind.
This is evident in the example of the Temple. To what extent is it true in the modern church?
The most excellent religious devotee has a well-programmed mind, but a person who loves God can do so only from the heart.
The Fig Tree Revisited September 1
Mark 11:20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
Jesus had cursed the fig tree on the way to Jerusalem the day before because it had only foliage and no fruit.
He had proceeded with His disciples to the Temple. Here, also, he found only foliage and no fruit, only show and no devotion to the Creator God. Jesus had called the religious leaders thieves, for they had stolen the character of God and had replaced it with a business model.
The following day, as He and the disciples return to the city, the fig tree is withered away (verse 21), the same word translated as “dried up from the roots” in the previous verse. Peter expresses surprise that it is so quickly dead and dried.
The image of the dry bones in the valley of Ez. 37:1-14 comes to mind. This was the spiritual state of Israel in Ezekiel’s day, dry bones without spiritual life until God again breathed life into them.
Jerusalem is like this valley, full of dry bones. Jesus is there to breathe life back into the dead.
The point is not to demonize the people of that era, or of any other era of history. As Jesus did then, He still breathes life into the dead who desire a new and better life.
Have Faith September 2
Mark 11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Jesus’ response does not appear to relate to Peter’s observation. The Master has a way of omitting the transition step between others’ words and His response. The leap from call to response requires His listeners to bridge the gap, become active participants in the journey to spiritual life.
There appears to be some disagreement as to whether verse 22 reads, “Have faith in God,” or “Have the faith of God.” The preposition is not in the Greek, and either reading is appropriate and reasonable for a sincere faith. God is both the Creator and the object of this faith.
The promise of the next verses is astonishing to mere mortals as ourselves, but remember that the promises of verses 23-24 are based on verse 22.
To help put these promises in their proper perspective, we can expect only requests in line with the character of God to be fulfilled. Because God is no respecter of persons (Deut. 10:17, Rom. 2:11), we cannot simply pray away our personal enemies or pray for our personal desires.
And to simply pray for a mountain to be moved is a violation of the command not to test the Lord (Deut. 6:16, Matt. 4:7).
So is this a meaningful promise?
Next day
Mark 11:11 And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Jesus has arrived at the heart of Israel, Jerusalem, and He goes to the core of the heart, the Temple. It is late on Sunday, the first day of the week.
The Court of the Gentiles is open to all people. He may have passed through the Beautiful Gate into the Court of the Women, a place where both Jewish men and women were allowed. Beyond this is the Altar of Sacrifice, where women are not allowed.
During the busy times of the holy days, when laws of tradition require Jews to come to the Temple, the fierce competition of money lenders and sellers of sacrificial animals seeps from the streets into the Court of the Gentiles. There is the atmosphere of a bazaar, with selling and buying the focus rather than God.
Jesus would have noted the flagrant violation of the sanctity of God’s house and courts. Undoubtedly He is stirred with righteous indignation.
“As it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.” The evening sacrifice at the Temple occurred at 3 P.M. That the hour is late may indicate the evening sacrifice has occurred already. In that case, activity and the number of people within the Temple walls is declining.
Jesus and His disciples go to Bethany for the night.
Confrontation of wrong requires strength of character. So also does choosing the time and manner of the encounter.
Foliage of the Fig Tree August 28
Mark 11:12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”
And His disciples heard it.
The fig tree is symbolic of plenty, of living in a good land, as in 1 Kings 4:25: “And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.”
Jesus uses the fig tree for a parable. His source is Jeremiah 8, in which the prophet speaks of God’s great disappointment in His people for their “sliding back:”
“They hold fast to deceit (false teaching), they refuse to return.” (Jer. 8:5)
“I will surely consume them,” says the Lord.
“No grapes shall be on the vine,
Nor figs on the fig tree,
And the leaf shall fade;
And the things I have given them shall pass away from them.” ’ ”Jer 8:13
Jesus’ time is Passover, too soon for the fig to have borne fruit. The plant has the spring foliage, and it appears on the outside to be healthy.
Such is Jerusalem, Jesus says. It gives the appearance of obedience to God, but in reality the religion of Jerusalem is all show, all foliage and no fruit.
Jesus curses the fig tree, symbolic of the teaching of the Pharisees. Religion that is all show produces no fruit.
A House of Prayer August 29
Mark 11:15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
The parable of the fig tree is a good precursor to the cleansing of the Temple.
We look at the living parable of Jesus cleansing the Temple of secular dealings, and we do not consider the justification of the economy that has evolved in and around the Temple.
The Temple is a physical building requiring maintenance and care. The people who service the Temple, and those who attend to the needs (sacrifices and other rituals) of the people, are physical beings requiring sustenance and lodging. There is every expectation that money must be brought into the Temple to assure its functions are fulfilled.
This is all very logical and business-like…and secular.
Jesus questions whether the Temple and its priests and scribes serve God, or if the primary objective of the Temple and its people is economic income. He quotes Jeremiah 7:11, proclaiming the Temple has become “a den of thieves.”
Like the fig tree, the foliage of the Temple is beautiful, but the Temple bears no fruit. Serving God is no longer its primary purpose, and if this is not its primary purpose, then it no longer serves God at all.
If we do not seek first the kingdom of God, then we do not seek it at all.
Court of the Gentiles August 30
Mark 11:16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”
The Pharisees appear to have reasoned that the Court of the Gentiles is somehow less holy than the remainder of the Temple grounds. Thus they do not guard the edges of God’s dwelling place among them.
They allow the secular functions viewed as necessary for the business of the Temple to be transacted in the outer court, the area where the faithful among the Gentiles are allowed to worship. Verse 16 infers that merchants and their porters could use the Temple grounds as a shortcut to their secular destinations.
Isaiah 56.7 makes clear that Gentiles who join in service to the Lord have a place in His presence: "Even them 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."
These secular incursions into spiritual space are on top of other abuses. Transactions must be in Temple coin, and unfair exchange rates with other currencies bring income to the Temple. And there are unreasonably high prices for sacrificial animals.
Israel’s relationship with God was to have been an example to the Gentiles, but the religion of the day replaces the relationship with business transactions.
Mind vs Heart August 31
Mark 11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. 19 When evening had come, He went out of the city.
Truth is an enemy to those who use their power incorrectly
Elijah prophesying before King Ahab comes to mind: “So Ahab said to Elijah, ‘Have you found me, O my enemy?’ And (Elijah) answered, ‘I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord…’” (1 Kings 21:20).
Practicality justifies the abuses of the Temple in the minds of the Temple rulers.
Love of God prompts righteous indignation in the heart of Jesus.
The conflict of the mind and the heart occurs frequently in all of us. And practicality versus agape love is possibly the most frequent example.
Ahab made a political marriage to Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon. She became the power behind his throne and he led Israel/Samaria into idolatry. He was a religious man, but his religion had the wrong god.
Religion can easily lead to idolatry. Even a religion based on the one true God can step into His place and become the god that is worshipped.
Practical rules regarding how to be and what to do replace the relationship between God the Creator and mankind the created. There is a shift from relationship of the heart to the practical realities of the mind.
This is evident in the example of the Temple. To what extent is it true in the modern church?
The most excellent religious devotee has a well-programmed mind, but a person who loves God can do so only from the heart.
The Fig Tree Revisited September 1
Mark 11:20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
Jesus had cursed the fig tree on the way to Jerusalem the day before because it had only foliage and no fruit.
He had proceeded with His disciples to the Temple. Here, also, he found only foliage and no fruit, only show and no devotion to the Creator God. Jesus had called the religious leaders thieves, for they had stolen the character of God and had replaced it with a business model.
The following day, as He and the disciples return to the city, the fig tree is withered away (verse 21), the same word translated as “dried up from the roots” in the previous verse. Peter expresses surprise that it is so quickly dead and dried.
The image of the dry bones in the valley of Ez. 37:1-14 comes to mind. This was the spiritual state of Israel in Ezekiel’s day, dry bones without spiritual life until God again breathed life into them.
Jerusalem is like this valley, full of dry bones. Jesus is there to breathe life back into the dead.
The point is not to demonize the people of that era, or of any other era of history. As Jesus did then, He still breathes life into the dead who desire a new and better life.
Have Faith September 2
Mark 11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Jesus’ response does not appear to relate to Peter’s observation. The Master has a way of omitting the transition step between others’ words and His response. The leap from call to response requires His listeners to bridge the gap, become active participants in the journey to spiritual life.
There appears to be some disagreement as to whether verse 22 reads, “Have faith in God,” or “Have the faith of God.” The preposition is not in the Greek, and either reading is appropriate and reasonable for a sincere faith. God is both the Creator and the object of this faith.
The promise of the next verses is astonishing to mere mortals as ourselves, but remember that the promises of verses 23-24 are based on verse 22.
To help put these promises in their proper perspective, we can expect only requests in line with the character of God to be fulfilled. Because God is no respecter of persons (Deut. 10:17, Rom. 2:11), we cannot simply pray away our personal enemies or pray for our personal desires.
And to simply pray for a mountain to be moved is a violation of the command not to test the Lord (Deut. 6:16, Matt. 4:7).
So is this a meaningful promise?
Next day