Mark 11 | The Wolfe Notes

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Our notes on Mark 11 include:

1. An Overview: Topic, Themes, and Summary.
2. An Outline of our thoughts and questions.
3. Research on trust and forgiveness.
4. A Reflection on herding donkeys.
5. An Invitation to Respond to God.

Mark 11

Fall Cabin at Pixabay

Overview

General Topic

Jesus shows He is Truth as He sets out to set the record straight.

Key Themes

Authority. Righteousness. Cleansing.

Summary

Jesus enters Jerusalem to shouts of praise. It's time everyone knows who He is: a humble king with high expectations of obedience, faithfulness, and forgiveness. As a fig tree is cursed when it does not perform to expectations, so is a temple upturned and corrected when it strays from its designed purpose. The disciples are told they have the same power when they trust God and forgive others. Jesus conspirators' again fail to trap Him.

Thoughts, Questions, and Connections

? Denotes a question, * a personal thought, x a cross reference, and ! a connection. Researched answers are in italics. Behold requires our attention; it marks our partnership with God.

On Entering Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-11)

Read Matthew 21:1-9 for another perspective. (See our Matthew 21 notes.)

1. Close to Jerusalem, Jesus sends His disciples ahead to get a donkey for Him to ride into Jerusalem on.
1. This scene clearly communicates that Jesus will not be the conquering Messiah everyone was planning on because donkeys are for the poor. Rich people were carried on a liter by slaves. - The Voice
2. ? Why would Jesus choose to ride a donkey colt?
3. x Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just and having salvation; Lowly, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass. Zechariah 9:9 KJV
2. The disciples used their cloaks to fashion a seat on the donkey's back and bystanders laid their cloaks on the ground while shouting, "Hosanna! [Rescue us now, LORD!]
1. x Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: We have blessed you out of the house of the LORD:  Psalm 118:26 KJV
2. This is the first time Jesus publicly allowed people to praise Him for who He was. The Voice 

On Cursing the Fig Tree (Mark 11:12-14 and 19-25)

Read Matthew 21:18-22 for another perspective. (See our  Matthew 21 notes.)

1. The next morning, returning to Jerusalem from Bethany, Jesus happened upon a fig tree that should not have been bearing fruit and cursed it.
1. ! This event is a metaphor for people concerned with outward appearances more than the fruit they bear. - The Voice & Grant Agler in "Authority, Obedience, and the Absence of Fruit"
2. x But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. I Samuel 16:7 KJV
3. *Though the tree isn't even supposed to be bearing fruit at this time, Jesus is still able to look to the heart of the tree/person and see that it/he/she will never produce good fruit.
2. The next morning, Jesus and the disciples passed the withered tree. Peter commented on it.
1. *It was withered down to its roots, no chance of return. If we wither our roots in Jesus, we, too, are shriveled without chance of return.
2. *The tree didn't die instantly, but it did die completely. As would also be true if we step away from God - a slow fade.
3. * The withering tree sandwiches the temple cleansing. Clearly Jesus' metaphor was directed at the temple authorities. 
4. ? What do a temple and a tree have in common anyway? 
3. Jesus told the disciples the same power is available to them. That if they trust in God, whatever they ask, they will receive.
1. * Which really is hard to believe if taken literally.
2. * Why would anyone want to move a mountain? Why would God want it to move? God cares about your heart. We can, however, move mountains of doubt, of unforgiveness, of greed. The physical tree and the mountain are illustrations. 
3. ! Moving mountains is a metaphor for doing the impossible, like a camel through the eye of a needle. NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible
4. And to forgive anyone who wrongs you, so your Father can forgive you.
1. x Mark 11:26 (is omitted in many of the earliest manuscripts. - The Voice): "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." (KJV)
2. * So fascinating that these are the two lessons following the cursing of the fig tree: Trust and Forgive. It tells me that these actions/choices/ways of living are VITAL to producing fruit and maintaining a healthy heart. *R
3. * We are now God's temple, so to prevent withering we must trust and forgive. Doubt and unforgiveness lead to withering.

On Cleansing the Temple (Mark 11:15-18)

Read Matthew 21:12-17 for another perspective. (See our Matthew 21 notes.)

1. At the temple, Jesus cleared out people who were buying and selling animals for sacrifice, upturned the tables of people exchanging money who had traveled from far away along with the seats of people selling birds, and physically prevented anyone from carrying anything through the temple because they had turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves.
1. x Even [the "outcasts" who join themselves to God] will I bring to my holy mountain, And make them joyful in my house of prayer. Isaiah 56:7 KJV
2. x Is this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 7:11 KJV
3. ! The merchants set up shop in the court of the Gentiles and this especially angered Jesus because they were making a profit off the pilgrims.

On Jesus' Authority (Mark 11:27-33)

Read Matthew 21:23-27 for another perspective. (See our Matthew 21 notes.)

1. The temple authorities asked Jesus what right He had to upturn the temple with his words and actions.
2. Jesus returned their question for one of His own: Tell me who gave John the Baptist authority to baptize, then I'll answer you.
3. The leaders were trapped. If they said God, then their own divine authority would be questioned. If they said humanity, they would lose credibility with the populace who believed John was a prophet.
4. So, they said, "I don't know."
5. And Jesus settled it, "Then, likewise, I will not tell you where my authority is from."
1. ! Jesus was caught in a similar trap. If He said His authority was from God, He'd be labeled a heretic, and if He said the authority was from Himself, both the crowds and the Roman authority would act against Him. But, in a genius argumentative move, Jesus trapped the trapper. -The Voice

Research

Why does Jesus follow up a lesson on our power through faith with a directive to forgive?

Verse of Reference

"And when you are standing there praying, if you have something against someone else, forgive them - so that your father in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."  Mark 11:25 NTfE

Commentaries

• A prayer even of intense faith is incomplete if the worshipper refuses charity through unforgiveness.
• Requests offered by a faithful heart will be granted as God knows best.
• Unforgiveness blocks spiritual power because it exudes angry and uncharitable feelings toward God's creation.

Related Scripture

1. "Yes: if you forgive people the wrong they have done, your heavenly father will forgive you as well. But if you don't forgive people, neither will your heavenly father forgive you what you have done wrong." Matthew 6:14-15 NTfE
2. Instead, be kind to one another, cherish tender feelings for each other, forgive one another, just as God forgave you in the Messiah. Ephesians 4:32 NTfE
3. You must bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against someone else, you must forgive each other. Just as the master forgave you, you must do the same. Colossians 3:13 NTfE
4. Then Peter came to Jesus. "Master," he said, "How many times must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times?" "I wouldn't say seven times," replied Jesus. "Why not - seventy times seven? Matthew 18:21-22 NTfE
5. "So, if you are coming to the altar with your gift, and there you remember that your brother has a grievance against you, leave your gift right there in front of the altar, and go first and be reconciled to your brother. Then come back and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24 NTfE
6. If you forgive anyone anything, so do I; and whatever I have forgiven - if indeed I have forgiven anyone anything! - it's all happened under the eyes of the Messiah, and for your own sake. II Corinthians 2:10 NTfE
7. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him Daniel 9:9 KJV (See also Micah 7:18-19)

Thoughts: Unforgiveness acts as a barrier to God's spiritual power. If we harbor resentment or anger toward another, it inhibits our prayers of faith. Unforgiveness puts up barricades to God's mercy and grace, while forgiveness unleashes the floodwaters of His mercy and grace. Oh, the healing, restoring, unfathomable power of forgiveness.

Song We're Singing: "Let it Rain" performed by Michael W. Smith.

Sources:

1. Mark 11:25 commentaries at Bible Hub. Especially Ellicott and Pulpit.

Reflection

Jesus' life begins and ends with donkeys. The triumphal entry was the first time Jesus allowed people to praise Him for who He was. He drew attention to Himself as He rode on a donkey, on a symbol of stubbornness. King Saul was a donkey herder; alas, so is Jesus. Jesus works to turn us from stubbornness into reflections of His glory.

How do we prepare for this life Jesus calls us to live? We learn from the fig tree. It was not the fig tree's season to bear fruit, yet Jesus expected it. We should always be ready to yield. We are Christ's presence on earth to the world, His temple. The temple reminds us He is with us. If He's always yielding fruit, so should we. There is never a good time to withhold good fruit. 

We also are responsible for identifying, refusing to digest, and warning others against bad fruit. Because we are the change that's needed. We are God's Plan A, and there is no Plan B. So, we must cleanse ourselves by overturning any practice that is ungodly, by barring entry to any thought, image, or lie that does not reflect purity, and by destroying any object that distracts from God's purpose or perverts God's intent. We must be vigilant. As we turn away from these destructive practices, thoughts, and objects, we turn to God in prayer. 

And we invite everyone to freely experience the love of Jesus, which happens when we show faith and forgiveness. When we choose unforgiveness, we block God's power. When we stop believing He will answer our requests, He does. Instead, we live our lives on the foundations of enduring faith and limitless forgiveness so that other's hearts might also soften to His love.

But, it won't be easy. The reality is, we live in a world full of stubborn, faithless, unforgiving people, and we are called to be holy, set apart, peculiar. To find strength, we remind ourselves that Jesus can thwart any attack aimed it Him, but sometimes He allows them to happen. Even though people are so stubborn they refuse to see what is right in front of them, we persist. 

Afterall, we don't know which donkeys Jesus has chosen for His herd.

Respond

Connect

God is God.

Reflect

• Jesus finally allows the people to celebrate Him, to proclaim His identity. What's your testimony? What verse are you shouting? What song are you singing?
• You are God's temple. You are how others  experience God in this world. What practices do you need to end that do not reflect God's identity accurately? What thoughts, ideologies, and images are you allowing entry that do not honor God? What people do you treat differently because you think they don't want, need, or deserve God's presence reflected from you?
• God's authority is supreme. What He does, thinks, and says is right - even when we don't want it to be. How do you wrestle with God's authority? What do you wish were different? Take a moment to pray with God about it and end by wholly submitting to His will, because you know that even though you may not understand, He knows what is best for you.

Act

• Arise and celebrate Jesus for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do.
• Arise and cleanse your temple.
• Arise in submission to God's authority.

In Closing

Father God, thank You for making everything clear. We do not need to wonder who is right, because You are, always. We do not need to question our purpose, because it is to shine Your light in all we do, to all people, and even to ourselves through forgiveness and faith. We do not need to wonder where our JOY comes from, because we get to spend eternity celebrating with You, our humble King who gave His life so we may accept and live to share the abundant goodness and grace that is only found in You. 

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