1. The “Commands” of Jesus
Session VII:
The Gospel of Mark – Chapter 11
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”

2. “The Heart of the Matter”
Teaching on Divorce
Mark 10:1-12
Blessing the Children
Mark 10:13-16
The Rich Young Man
Mark 10:17-29
Fidelity
Israel/Yahweh
Church/Jesus
Absolute trust
Utter Dependence
Total Dependence
Childlike faith.
Mark once again groups the stories and teachings in Chapter 10 in a manner that enables us to more clearly understand, if we see them in context.

3. ‘Flipping the Paradigm”
Mark 10:28-31 “Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you,…. 31 “But many who are first, will be last; and the last, first.”

4. Blind Bartimaeus
Mark 10:46-50 “And they *came to Jericho. And as He was going out from Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

5. Blind Bartimaeus
Mark 10:49-51 “And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” And they *called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, arise! He is calling for you.” 50 And casting aside his cloak, he jumped up, and came to Jesus. And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!”

6. The 34th Commands in Mark Observations:
Mark 10:52 “And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.”
The Setting: v53 “And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.”
Observations:
Application:

7. The 34th Commands in Mark
Mark 10:52 “And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.”
The Setting: v53 “And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.”
Observations: Jesus sees the unseen act of faith. We see the outward act of “desiring” to be healed.
Application:

8. The 34th Commands in Mark
Mark 10:52 “And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.”
The Setting: v53 “And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.”
Observations: Jesus sees the unseen act of faith. We see the outward act of “desiring” to be healed.
Application: “Your faith has made you well” applies to us.

9. The 35th Commands in Mark Observations:
Mark 11:2 “Go into the village and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.”
The Setting: Preparation for the The Triumphal Entry in Jerusalem. V.3 “And if anyone says “Why are you doing this?, you say “The Lord has need of it.”
Observations:
Application:

10. Recalling ancient voices
Genesis 49:11 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 11 “He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine;”
Jacob’s blessing at the end of Genesis to Judah.
Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

11. The 35th Commands in Mark
Mark 11:2 “Go into the village and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.”
The Setting: Preparation for the The Triumphal Entry in Jerusalem. V.3 “And if anyone says “Why are you doing this?, you say “The Lord has need of it.”
Observations:They are now approaching Jerusalem.
Application:

12. The 35th Commands in Mark
Mark 11:2 “Go into the village and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.”
The Setting: Preparation for the The Triumphal Entry in Jerusalem. V.3 “And if anyone says “Why are you doing this?, you say “The Lord has need of it.”
Observations:They are now approaching Jerusalem.
Application: Jesus has a plan, which often is beyond our scope. Our actions may not always seem significant, but they are.

13. Hosanna!
Mark 11:7-10 “And they *brought the colt to Jesus and put their garments on it; and He sat upon it. 8 And many spread their garments in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before, and those who followed after, were crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!”
cf. Psalm 118:26
Hosanna, is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew “hosi ah na”, as seen in Psalm 118:26. It is a prayer addressed to God, “O save us now”.
Also, “Hosanna in the highest” as “Save us O God, who lives in heaven”

14. Bethany as “Home base”
Mark 11:11 “And He entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking all around, He departed for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.
Note a sequence in Mark 11:11-20, where 2 stories are interwoven.The Tempe and the fig tree. Mark treats them in the narrative: Temple-Fig Tree-Temple-Fig Tree.
Here we see Jesus carefully surveying how the temple was being used. He does not react, but retires to Bethany. He will return the next day, to make a statement.
This passage has two inter-related stories; Jesus judgment and on the temple, and Jesus judgment on a fig tree, which acts as a metaphor. So, the storyline in Mark goes “Temple-Fig Tree-Temple-Fig Tree

15. A Foreshadowing
Mark 11:12-14 “And on the next day, when they had departed from Bethany, He became hungry. 13 And seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And He answered and said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.”
Reflect on the analogy of the Temple and the fig Tree. The Temple like the Fig Tree basked in the blessing of leaves, but bore no “fruit” of righteousness.
Although the time for fruit was in May or June, and Passover was in April. It was reasonable to expect “buds” on the tree which were both edible and a precursor to fruit in season. This tree had no buds.
Jesus pronounces a strong denunciation of the tree. It is not bearing fruit, in accordance with it’s intended purpose in God’s plan to be a blessing (Note the analogy to the Temple).
The Fig tree is a model of the spiritual barrenness of Israel despite God’s favor.

16. Voices from the past
Jeremiah 8:13 ““I will surely snatch them away,” declares the Lord; “There will be no grapes on the vine,And no figs on the fig tree,And the leaf shall wither; And what I have given them shall pass away.”
Hosea 9:10 “ I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, And they became as detestable as that which they loved.”
Micah 7:1 “Woe is me! For I am Like the fruit pickers and the grape gatherers. There is not a cluster of grapes to eat, Or a first-ripe fig which I crave. 2 The godly person has perished from the land,

17. This is a Temple!
Mark 11: “And they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16 and He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple
1. The temple cleansing is reporting in all 3 synoptic gospels.
2. There were three prominent currencies, Roman, Provincial (greek coins), and local (Jewish). Money changers converted the currency to Jewish.
3. Exodus 30:12-16 required a ½ shekel temple tax

18. The Temple Area Buying and Selling In the court of Gentiles
Usng the Temple grounds as a “thoroughfare” or shortcut.
Extracting surcharges for currency conversion.

19. “They were afraid”
Mark 11:17-18 “And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers‘ den.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for all the multitude was astonished at His teaching.
V19 “And whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.”
Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7.
Jesus asserts authority over the Temple, and the Temple priests.
As he exercised judgment on the fig, he now judges the Temple.

20. “The withered fig tree explained
Mark 11:20 “And as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 And being reminded, Peter *said to Him, “Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.”
“behold” Peter’s surprise

21. The 36th Commands in Mark Observations:
Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God.”
The Setting: The withered fig tree as a live metaphor
Observations:
Jesus does not necessarily explain the reason, nor the direct analogy to the temple, but rather uses this as an exhortation to faith.
Application:

22. The 36th Commands in Mark
Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God.”
The Setting: The withered fig tree as a live metaphor
Observations:Verse 23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain “be taken up and cast into the sea” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him”
Jesus statement presumes that the prayer is in accordance with God’s will, as explictly taught in Mark 14:36, “All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt.”
Matthew 6:9-10, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
John 14:13-14, ““And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. 15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 15:7 ““If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you
I John 5:14-15 “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
The New American Standard Bible, (La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation) 1977.
Application:

23. The 36th Commands in Mark
Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God.”
The Setting: The withered fig tree as a live metaphor
Observations:Verse 23 “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain “be taken up and cast into the sea” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him”
Application: Verse 24 “Therefore I say to you, all things which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.”

24. The 37th Commands in Mark Observations:
Mark 11:25 “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone;”
The Setting: A continuation of Jesus teaching on prayer.
Observations:
Application:

25. The 37th Commands in Mark
Mark 11:25 “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone;”
The Setting: A continuation of Jesus teaching on prayer.
Observations:Verse 25b-26 “so that your Father who is in heaven may forgive you and your transgressions. (But if you do not forgive. Neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions”
Application:

26. The 37th Commands in Mark
Mark 11:25 “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone;”
The Setting: A continuation of Jesus teaching on prayer.
Observations:Verse 25b-26 “so that your Father who is in heaven may forgive you and your transgressions. (But if you do not forgive. Neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions”
Application: Life in the Kingdom, means living in the Kingdom