We live in a world where the popular belief is that faith, spirituality, and religion are good things. It doesn’t matter whether one is a Buddhist, Muslim, or Christian, just as long as one is “spiritual” or has “faith.” It seems that the one declaration that is ruled heretical or out of bounds is the declaration that what another believes is in fact wrong or that there is one truth and one way of salvation. And this pluralistic belief has definitely found its way into the church. Just recently I spoke to a brother who had left his local church because he realized he was the only one still believing that Jesus was the only way to the Father and salvation. And whether such surveys are accurate suggesting that as many as fifty percent of professing Christians do not believe Jesus is the only way of salvation, it is no doubt true that the number is higher than we wish it were.
However, the Bible is quite clear on these matters. Christianity is in fact not centered around the concept of salvation of individuals but is centered on the person of Jesus Christ. If individuals are to be saved, it is only because they have placed their faith in and bowed their knee to him. In fact, the Bible not only confirms repeatedly that Jesus is the only means to salvation as Jesus himself declares, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), and Peter adds, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), it also tells us that everything that exists, exists for him. Paul writes in Colossians 1:16, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Everything that was created – including you, me, and everyone in the world – was created for him. Christ is at the center of the universe. All of life centers on Jesus of Nazareth.
Therefore, it’s not surprising that Mark, throughout his gospel, continually brings two issues to the surface. These two issues are best stated as questions that Mark continually answers, namely, “Who is Jesus?” and “What does he demand?” Mark’s gospel opened up with testimony as to who Jesus is, and these last few weeks we’ve seen Jesus continually declaring his demands. In fact, in each of the last two sermons, I’ve noted that Jesus is telling us what it looks like to follow him, which is just another way of saying what Jesus demands of his followers.
So, as Mark ratchets up the intensity of his gospel with Jesus entering Jerusalem for the final days before his resurrection, it’s not by accident that we find the focus again centering on these the two questions: “Who is Jesus?” and “What does he demand?” Therefore, let’s look at Mark 11:1-26 this morning and see how these verses answer these questions.
First, we see that . . .
Now, by Davidic King I simply mean the promised King (or Messiah) who was to come through David’s line. In 2 Samuel 7:12-13, the Lord said to David, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
And from that time forward, the people of Israel looked to the day when God would fulfill his promise and send this king who would usher in God’s eternal reign and kingdom forever. And as you go through the rest of the Old Testament, you find continual references to this coming king in the line of David. We’re familiar with the text of Isaiah that is often read around Christmastime where Isaiah says in 9:6-7, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
And though we could point to text after text that references this promise of sending God’s King in David’s line, we will look at only one more that is particularly relevant for our text this morning. In Zechariah 9:9-10, the prophet declares, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. . . . His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
So, with that last text in mind, look at Mark 11. As Jesus is ready to go into Jerusalem, he tells two of his disciples to go into a village where they will find a colt tied and to bring it to him. Furthermore, he adds that if one asks why they are doing this, they are to say, “The Lord has need of it” (11:3). And sure enough they go, find the colt as described, say what they were told to say, and they bring the colt to Jesus.
Now, the key here is to recognize that Jesus initiated this. We don’t know whether he had arranged to get this colt earlier and sent his disciples to get it after that arrangement or if he just used his supernatural knowledge to dictate to them where to go, what to say, and what would happen. And really that question is not important to answer. What’s important to recognize, again, is that Jesus initiated this. That is, Jesus wasn’t going to ride into Jerusalem on a colt, the foal of a donkey, because somebody else thought he should or because the disciples went to get him a ride and this was the best they could do. Jesus was going to ride into Jerusalem on the colt, the foal of a donkey, by his own choice. What I mean is that Jesus, who knew Zechariah 9:9-10 prophesied, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. . . . His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth” made sure he was going to ride into Jerusalem in accord with this prophecy. He was saying, “I am the promised king in David’s line who will reign from sea to sea and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus is the Davidic King. And the people rightly recognized and celebrated this claim by throwing their cloaks on the road and spreading branches so that not even the feet of the donkey on which he was riding would touch the road. They rightly recognized Jesus’ claim, showing, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (11:10). And Jesus didn’t stop them because they were right. He is the Davidic King.
Well, if he is God’s King, who reigns over the earth, then it is right to ask what he demands of us. And Mark answers in the next couple of sections, by showing us that …
In verse 11, after Jesus enters Jerusalem, we are told that he goes to the temple, looks around, and then goes back to Bethany, where he stayed with the twelve. And that feels weird, doesn’t it? Why does he just go, look around, and leave? And the answer is that he was taking note of the situation in the temple because he is going to come back and address it. And he does in verses 15-19.
But sandwiched in between Mark’s note that Jesus assessed the goings on of the temple in verse 11 and his response to the situation in the temple in verses 15-19 is this odd story about the fig tree in verses 12-14.
Mark tells us that the day after assessing the temple situation, Jesus was coming again from Bethany when he saw a fig tree. And Mark also tells us that Jesus was hungry. Well, the good news was that he saw in the distance a fig tree in leaf, which was great because it wasn’t the season for figs. Perhaps then this particular tree had blossomed early. I’ve read that at least by the time the tree leaves out there are some unripened figs, but when Jesus got to it, it had no figs at all. If the unripened figs had come out, then they must have fallen off because there were none on the tree at all. And it wasn’t like Jesus could just go on to the next tree because it wasn’t the season for figs. Jesus was hungry, this tree was advertising that it had at least some unripe figs (by leafing out), but it was false advertising; it had none. Therefore, Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” (v. 14). And sure enough, when the disciples passed back by the next morning, the tree had withered so that Peter said, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered” (v. 21).
Now, what’s the deal here? Is this just Jesus abusing his power? Was this some fit of rage where he let himself get a bit out of control because he just wanted a fig – even an unripe one – and there were none, so he cursed this innocent tree? Of course not.
But what is he doing? Well, Mark tells us what he’s wanting us to see in this story of the fig tree by sandwiching it with the story of Jesus clearing out the temple. So, let’s go to verses 15-19, where Jesus clears out the temple, and perhaps we’ll be able to see the connection. As Jesus came into the temple, having known what was there from his look the day before, he saw money-changes and the seats of those selling pigeons. And before we think, “What were they doing in the temple?” we should recognize that these were legitimate services. First, those coming to the temple at this time would have been required to pay a temple tax according to Exodus 30:11-16, and that temple tax had to be paid in a certain currency. Therefore, if you came to the temple without the proper currency, you needed a money-changer to help you change over your money to the proper currency.
Second, if you were making a long journey, you wouldn’t want to bring the animals necessary for sacrifice with you but would prefer to buy them there. I mean, we don’t even like going on vacation and bringing food with us. It’s just easier to go to the grocery when you get there so that you don’t have to pack it with you, keep cold things cold, etc. Well, imaging hauling a few animals (including pigeons) with you on a long journey. Again, you would just want to buy them when you get there. And the great thing is, there were people there ready to sell these animals. So, the fact that Jerusalem had money-changers and pigeon-sellers wasn’t exactly a bad thing. It was actually a service to the Lord’s people.
Why then does Mark tell us that Jesus responds by driving out those buying and selling in the temple, overturning the tables of the money-changers, and stopping anyone from carrying in the temple? The reason is found in Jesus’ declaration in verse 17 as he said, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
You see, in the area where Jesus would have done this was an area called the court of the Gentiles. Now, this didn’t mean only Gentiles were present there. It bore that name because that’s as far as Gentiles could go. There was also the court of the women, that had more than women present, but that was as far as women could go. And this area was supposed to be an area where individuals could come from all nations and pray to the Lord. The problem was, they had brought the business of buying, selling, and trading right there into the temple so that they actually made it impossible for people to pray – the very purpose of the Lord’s temple.
You see, what was going on is that the people had completely lost focus of what the Lord wanted them to do. Sure, they could say, “We’re doing fine things.” And they were. But they were not doing what God had directed them to do – leave the temple as a place where people might pray. All looked good in one sense, fine things going on, but it was not what the Lord had directed them to do.
In essence, Mark is telling us that it was the same reality as the fig tree. From a distance, it advertised fruit, but in reality none was there. The tree was exercising hypocrisy – it gave the appearance of life but bore no fruit. And Jesus cursed it to show that that is not acceptable even as he was going to overturn things in the temple because though there was signs of religious life everywhere, there was no fruit. And by “fruit” we mean anything done in line with the Lord’s will. The one thing they didn’t have was obedience to the Lord.
And this is a message to us as well. Jesus demands more than signs of religious life. We came come to church or say the right things or sing the right songs, but the question is, what does life look for us after that. Do we talk about the glory of marriage in a small group discussion on Ephesians 5 and then go and talk down to our wives instead of nourishing and cherishing them? Do we sing songs about every sacrifice being worth it to follow Christ and then spend our week refusing to serve and give for the sake of the kingdom? The question that I often find myself asking is, “What do my kids think of the Lord based on what they see in me throughout the week?” By that, I don’t mean what they think of me from the pulpit. This could just be false advertising, couldn’t it? We’ve heard of the multitude of men who preached purity and generosity from the pulpit and were involved in sexual immorality and gripped with greed in their private lives.
My kids see me. They know what I put my time into. They know the way I talk, act, and live. And I want them to know that the greatest treasure in the world is Jesus Christ. I want them to know that everything I say from the pulpit, I really believe. I don’t want to put before them a leafy tree that has no fruit or a busy temple area where people are missing the one thing the Lord has commanded of them. I don’t want to have all the religious signs of life but not have fruit. Jesus demands that his followers must bear fruit.
So, perhaps it will do us good to pause for a second this morning and ask the Lord to search us and know us. Are there areas that we need to bring in conformity to the Lord’s will? Are our lives revealing fruit even in the private moments of life? If not, the good news is that we can repent this morning, look to the crucified and risen Lord, find forgiveness, and then walk in obedience.
But there is one more thing that I want to mention that the Lord demands of his followers:
After Peter noted that the fig tree Jesus had cursed had been withered, Jesus answered, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (vv. 22-24).
You see, Jesus demands of his followers that we have faith in him, and one of the central (if not the most central) way that we express our trust in the Lord is through prayer. Prayer says that we are insufficient and cry out to God. And when we cry out to the Lord, we believe that he will give us what we need.
Now, let me make a quick aside. This text can be pastorally dangerous. Many are the people whose faith has been shipwrecked because they were told that the reason they weren’t healed or didn’t get the job or whatever is simply because they must not have believed. And this can be crushing to someone who thinks, “No, I really did believe. I sincerely believed.” My mother-in-law tells the story of being in the next room, praying for her mom to be healed of cancer and just knowing that her mom was going to be healed, when her mom died. Was something lacking in my mother-in-law’s faith?
One might say, “Yes,” but if so, we must ask if there was something wrong with Paul’s faith when he asked the Lord three times for the thorn in his flesh to be removed and the Lord answered that he would not but that his grace was sufficient, for his power is made perfect in weakness. Or one must ask if there was something lacking in Paul’s faith when he told Timothy that he left Trophimus sick in Miletus (2 Tim. 4:20). Was something lacking in Paul’s faith? Why wouldn’t Paul just believe, and ask Trophimus to be healed. Or was there something lacking in Jesus’ faith when he asked multiple times in the Garden of Gethsemane for the cup of God’s judgment and wrath to pass from him? Of course not.
What each of these incidents remind us is that God’s purpose is always what’s best. The Lord left the thorn in Paul’s flesh so that he might not exalt himself so that he might continue to be a vessel on whom the Lord could shower grace. The Lord Jesus didn’t hear, “Okay the cup can pass from you” from his Father because it was only by drinking down the cup of judgment for us that we could be saved. The reality is, Romans 8:26 tells us, “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought.”
That is, there are often times that we don’t know what to pray for. But in those times, the Spirit intercedes for us, praying in perfect accordance with the will of the Father so that the Lord hears and answers. But the call to us, whether we know exactly what we should pray for or not is to be a people who cry out to the Lord in prayer.
Now, I know I took a long aside with that warning, but don’t miss the point. We’re to be a people who are characterized by crying out to the Lord in prayer and believing that he hears and answers in accord with his perfect will. In fact, I find myself in complete agreement with D. A. Carson on this point as he’s written, “But of this I’m sure: the intimacy between the believer and Jesus Christ is an intimacy whose fruit is the result of prayer under Christ’s Lordship."1 An intimate walk with the Lord is found and experienced and cultivated in walking with the Lord in prayer.
That’s key, and it’s what is demanded of us. If we are to know a loving walk with our Lord in life, experiencing his love for us and through that growing in our love for him, it will be found in a life of prayer, wherein we cry out to our Lord, knowing that he always gives us his good gifts in accord with his perfect will.
And as we pray, we also come to him with forgiveness in our hearts for those who have sinned against us. This is what Jesus reminds us in verse 25. We pray in absolute faith and in absolute recognition that without his grace we are hopeless. It is in that heart that we will gladly lavish the forgiving grace on others, knowing that without the Lord’s grace we are no better than the most wicked of men.
So, who is Jesus and what does he demand? He is God the Son who took on flesh to come, and live, and die, and rise, and reign as King over all the earth. He demands that his followers not just give empty signs of religious life but really bear fruit – life lived in conformity to his will. And he demands that we are a people who pray – crying out to our Lord in faith with grace of forgiveness in our hearts toward others.
Interestingly, this text is often called the cleansing of the temple, but that’s probably not the most accurate description. Cleansing implies getting it purified and ready to be used rightly. Jesus wasn’t coming to cleanse, he was coming to show that he would fulfill what the temple pointed to. He was coming to replace the temple. Only a couple chapter later Jesus will prophesy that the temple will be destroyed. In fact, on the cross, the veil of the temple will be torn. Why? Why would God let the temple be destroyed? The answer is because everything in the universe (including you and me) was created for his Son, and he was showing that proper worship would no longer be centered on a temple in Jerusalem. The only proper and pleasing worship of God is worship that is centered on his Son, whose work we honor now as we come to the table. Amen.