seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Mark 11:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna![a]”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”[b]
10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’[c]? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[d]”
18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples[e] went out of the city.
20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly[f] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” [26] [g]
27 They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28 “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”
29 Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”
31 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)
33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
a. Mark 11:9 A Hebrew expression meaning “Save!” which became an exclamation of praise; also in verse 10
b. Mark 11:9 Psalm 118:25,26
c. Mark 11:17 Isaiah 56:7
d. Mark 11:17 Jer. 7:11
e. Mark 11:19 Some early manuscripts came, Jesus
f. Mark 11:23 Some early manuscripts “If you have faith in God,” Jesus answered, 23 “truly
g. Mark 11:26 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Matt. 6:15.
Jesus could walk on water, make the wind and waves behave, and wither a tree......through faith. I had an idea this morning... Jesus was there when God was designing and creating everything. He didn't have anything to be "against" in Heaven. Jesus wasn't holding a grudge against any particular humans. Jesus had no one on earth that He had to apologize to..... or make reparations to..... Because Jesus never did anything wrong. Jesus could move mountains because He was never weighted down with sin like the rest of us ignorant self centered humans.
This is from the blueletterbible.org site.
You will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat: With this, Jesus established that He would enter Jerusalem riding on a colt. He deliberately chose a young horse, not a stallion, not a donkey, not coming on foot. This is because in that day, to come riding a colt - as opposed to a mighty war-horse - was to come as a man of peace. Jesus didn't come to Jerusalem as a conquering general, but as a suffering - though triumphant - servant.
Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" For most of His ministry, Jesus did everything He could to discourage people from publicly celebrating Him as the Messiah. Here, Jesus goes out of His way to invite public praise and adoration as the Messiah.
Seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it: Essentially, the tree was a picture of "false advertising," having leaves, but no figs. Ordinarily, this is not the case with these fig trees, which normally do not have leaves without also having figs.
For it was not the season for figs: It wasn't that the fig tree didn't have figs, because it wasn't supposed to. The problem is that it had leaves but didn't have figs. The leaves said "There are figs here," but the figs weren't there.
There were many trees with only leaves, and these were not cursed. There were many trees with neither leaves nor fruit, and these were not cursed. This tree was cursed because it professed to have fruit, but did not.
In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again": The tree is cursed for its pretense of leaves, not for its lack of fruit; like Israel, it has the outward form but no fruit. In this picture, Jesus warned Israel - and us - of God's displeasure when we have the appearance of fruit, but not the fruit itself. God isn't pleased when His people are all leaves and no fruit.
Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple: What was the problem? Profiteers, in cooperation with the priests, robbed the pilgrims by forcing them to purchase "approved" sacrificial animals and currencies at inflated prices.
As well, they did this in the outer courts of the temple, the only area where Gentiles could come and pray; therefore, this place of prayer was made into a swap meet, and a dishonest one at that! God intended the temple to be a house of prayer for all nations, but they had made it a den of thieves.
Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him: A lack of faith is not the only obstacle to effective prayer. A lack of forgiveness and bitterness can also hinder our prayer.
By what authority are You doing these things? Jesus has been extremely courageous by boldly entering Jerusalem and driving out the corrupt merchants from the temple courts. Now the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders want to know what right He thinks He has to do such things.
We do not know: Their response to His question exposed the fact that these men were not sincere seekers of truth. They cared more about scoring rhetorical points in debate and in pleasing the crowds than in knowing the truth.
All along Jesus has known that His time is very short. Now He has angered the Pharisees again. He's thumbing His nose at them. By riding in to town instead of walking.... He is changing course. The commentary hints that Jesus made a statement.... riding in on a donkey instead of entering in the basket of a fine chariot with great white horses and lots of gold and silver trim..... sword and shield in hand..... an entourage going before Him and bringing up the rear..... shoving humans out of the way as they go. Jesus entered on a little donkey... an unpretentious critter..... and that made the statement.....That statement was.... "I am a man of peace".The Pharisees, Sadducees, leaders of the church and Roman authorities were really getting a lot of reports about Jesus. First it was all about the huge banquets He was putting on. Who could compete with someone handing out free bread and fish along the lakeside? He did that twice.... all that talk about peace and love.... with food.... who can compete with that?
Then He had the people laying their coats on the ground and waving palms in the air.... who did He think He was? How dare He! On top of that.... He had the unmitigated gall to go into the Temple courts and harass the vendors! We can't have that... they said to each other.... Jesus has got to go.... they said to each other. And they came up with a plan... they would catch Him with a crafty question...... then they could get Him for Blasphemy..... all they had to do was get Him to admit He was the "Messiah" those humans were claiming Him to be.... by waving those palm branches and singing Hosannah.
Their crafty question was.... "Who told you that you should go into the Temple Courts and harass those men?" But Jesus was ready..... "John's Baptism.... was it from Heaven or was it a human idea?" Snagged 'em! If they said it was from Heaven.... why did John have to be murdered? If they said it was a human idea.... why was it so widely believed that John was a prophet. They weren't ready to take on so many angry people.... so they were snagged. They said "I don't know"..... what a cop out.
That day..... When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey..... those people in the church put on their garments following a ritual right down to the washing of the dirt from the fingernails in a certain direction as opposed to the other [no doubt]. Both were getting ready for a stand off. Jesus had a very unfair advantage.... Jesus had been looking forward to this day [as part of His Mission on Earth] since He was standing next to His Dad while everything was being designed. They only had the ritual.... that's it.....
My heart would go out to those ignorant humans.... if they weren't so full of leaves and so lacking in fruit.
