Mark 11:11-23

3

11 See Mat_21:10-11

12-14 Compare Mat_21:18-19

12 A beautiful figure of the condition of Israel at that time is found in the barren fig tree. On a fruitful fig tree the figs form before the leaves, and the first crop should be ready to eat when the tree is in full leaf. It was evidently too early in the season to expect figs, yet there was one tree which seemed to be in advance of its time. What a marvelously accurate delineation of the nation! God's due time had not yet come. Yet they pretended to all the righteousness and sweetness and goodness which will characterize the kingdom. They were a vain show. Love, joy, and peace were not to be found on the branches of their profession. They were a pious sham. This seems to be the only time He used His miraculous power for destruction. As we look upon Israel today, with even the leaves of their profession withered, let us remember that they are no less miracles than the fig tree by which they were prefigured. The cursing of the fig tree took place immediately after His formal presentation to Jerusalem as their King, and is a standing symbol of their rejection. The present yearning to reestablish Zion is an effort of the fig tree to put forth leaves once again.

15-19 Compare Mat_21:12-16; Luk_19:45-48. See Joh_2:13-17.

15 He now gives His final judgment of the spiritual side of their apostasy by entering the sanctuary and driving out the traders as He had done at the beginning of His ministry (Joh_2:13). Covetousness is leaven and idolatry (1Co_5:10; Col_3:5). The Passover was approaching. So He cleanses His Father's house from leaven and rebukes them for worshiping money instead of praising God.

17 Compare Isa_56:7; Jer_7:11.

20-23 Compare Mat_21:20-22. See Mat_17:20; Luk_17:6; 1Co_13:2.

20 There is a close connection between the fig tree-Israel politically-and the mountain-Rome's oppressive tyranny-as well as between the cursing of the fig tree and the removal of the mountain into the sea. If Israel had believed, the Roman oppressors would have been scattered among the nations, whence they came.

24 See Jam_1:5-6; 1Jn_5:14-15.

24 Whatever prayer is offered in accord with the will of God will be answered in His time. Whatever is not in line with His purpose need not expect to be fulfilled.

25 See Mat_6:14-15; Mat_18:35; Col_3:13.

25 We have the forgiveness of offenses according to the riches of His grace (Eph_1:7). There are no conditions, no qualifications, no demands that we cannot fulfill, in God's dealings with us. But with Israel nationally, forgiveness was on a much lower level. It depended on their response and could be revoked. The confusion which exists today would be largely dispelled if we would get a grasp of our own transcendent position in grace and revel in it, and refuse to drag it down to the precarious position here indicated. This is not grace, far less the rich and edundant favor which is ours in Christ Jesus.

26 See Jam_2:13.

27-33 Compare Mat_21:23-27; Luk_20:1-8.

27 The chief priests were in supreme authority in the sanctuary. They should have cleansed its courts of this pernicious traffic. But it was probably their own covetousness that countenanced the desecration. They feel that He has gone beyond His rights, and think they can curb Him by demanding His credentials. But they were not only hypocrites, but cowards. He knew that they would not dare to question His acts if He were popular with the people. He knew that they would not dare question the authority of John the baptist, for the people never lost their faith in him. So He exposes their hypocrisy by a simple question. The proud priests confess that they are afraid to answer Him. Yet worse than this, they convict themselves of the utmost incapacity for their office. They should be able to discern whether John's baptism was of God or not, for it was their function to know the mind of God and to teach the people. Seeking to undermine His authority they effectually destroy their own. Man's every attempt to deny the authority of conscience or revelation can end only in the eventual unmasking of his own pretentions. His defiance only strengthens his ultimate conviction of the supremacy of God.