Mark 11 - How does Jesus become king?
5/2/23
Preach
Scripture
Questions
The triumphal entry
11 And when they came near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
Mark just mentions Bethany. What happened there [John 11:1-12:11]? How does this explain the excitement with which the crowds will welcome Jesus entering Jerusalem [vv8-10]?
…he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village before you, and right away as you enter into it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say ‘The Lord has need of it, and will send it here again at once.’ ” 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 who were standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 So they told them, just as Jesus had said, and they allowed them to take it. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, and he sat on it.
Why is Jesus riding a young donkey [1 Kings 3:8; Zechariah 9:9]?
8 And many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went ahead and those who were following were shouting,
“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
What is “the name of the Lord” [Exodus 3:14-15 etc.]? Reread v9b substituting you answer into the text!! Why did the original kingdom of David not succeed? Who is praising God in the highest heaven [Psalm 148:1-4]?
11 And he went into Jerusalem to the temple, and after looking around at everything, because the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
A barren fig tree cursed
12 And on the next day as they were departing from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And when he saw from a distance a fig tree that had leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it. And when he came up to it he found nothing except leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 And he responded and said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you any more forever!” And his disciples heard it.
What is the barren fig tree [Jeremiah 8:13; Micah 7:1]? Who, or what, is Jesus cursing [Deuteronomy 28]?
The cleansing of the temple
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered into the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple courts, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling doves. 16 And he did not permit anyone to carry objects through the temple courts.
This is a fulfilment of Zechariah 14:21. What is happening [Zechariah 14]?
17 And he began to teach and was saying to them, “Is it not written,
‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations,’ but you have made it a cave of robbers!”
Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and then Jeremiah 7:11. What is the promise of Isaiah 56:7? Where was Jeremiah when he spoke these words [Jeremiah 7:1-2]?
18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it, and began considering how they could destroy him. For they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was astounded by his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.
The response of the leaders should have been repentance not hatred. What is happening? Read on…
The barren fig tree withered
20 And as they passed by early in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered!”
What does this say about God’s action against the leaders of the Jews?
Paul will share his understanding of how God is working out his purposes to bring salvation to the nations and abundant blessing to the nations through the Jews rejection of their Messiah.
22 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God! 23 Truly I say to you that whoever 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. 24 For this reason I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be done for you. 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your sins.”
Does Jesus forgive the Jews? How do you reconcile this with Jesus’ cursing of the fig tree? How does Stephan mimic Jesus [Acts 7:60]? Stephan’s death would be instrumental in the conversion of Paul [Acts 7:20-21]. Paul struggles with the issue of God’s righteousness in using evil acts to advance is purposes [Romans 9-11].
Jesus’ authority challenged
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came up to him 28 and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority that you do these things?” 29 So Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer me!” 31 And they began to discuss this with one another, saying, “What should we say? If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From men’ ”—they were afraid of the crowd, because they all looked upon John as truly a prophet. 33 And they replied to Jesus saying, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
Brilliant!