Sermon Tone Analysis

Mark 11:1-25

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Introduction

They say that a picture is worth 1000 words, so the message today has 4000 words, because we want to look at four pictures out of Mark 11:1-25.

We have been on a journey to Jerusalem in our study of Mark which began in the northern part of Galilee in Mark 8:27.

Although two weeks ago we were already in Jerusalem and talked about the trials of Jesus and the disciples, this morning we will step back to the point on this journey at which Jesus first stepped into Jerusalem.

If you look at 10:32 it says, “they were on their way up to Jerusalem.”

Then in 10:46, we read that “they came to Jericho” which is about 26 km east of Jerusalem and then in Mark 11:1, we read, “As they approached Jerusalem.”

As Jesus came into Jerusalem a number of important things came together.

The conflict with the religious leaders became more focused and their opposition intensified.

Jesus, the one who had come from God came to the dwelling of God, but did not find a reception.

The rejection of God at the temple opened the way to think about a new way to God.

In the process of discovering how Jesus was rejected, we also learn about how Jesus can be received.

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I.                   Picture 1 – Jesus Came to His Temple

The first picture we see is the picture of Jesus entering into Jerusalem in what we have come to know as the Triumphal Entry.

Today is Palm Sunday and that is why I chose to look at this text today.

What do we see in this picture?

As they approached Jerusalem from the East, from the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples to get a colt for him to use to ride into the city.

It is clear that there was something very deliberate about this.

Jesus had just walked almost 200km and it was certainly not because he was tired that he needed to ride the last few kilometers.

The conversation about how the disciples will acquire the colt is interesting in that Jesus predicts that they will have trouble getting permission from the owners, but that the phrase, “the Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly” was enough to get that permission.

They got the colt and Jesus got on it and as He entered the city, people threw their cloaks on the road and also threw branches from the field on the road in front of him and shouted the words from Psalm 118.

Psalm 118 is a Psalm of approach which was often sung by pilgrims entering into Jerusalem and approaching the temple.

This time as they sang this Psalm, however, there was special meaning to it.

The Psalm speaks about the one who “comes in the name of the Lord” which speaks about the coming Messiah entering into the temple and this is exactly who Jesus was and what He was doing.

In order to understand the importance of what was happening here, we need to remember several things.

Jerusalem and the temple in Jerusalem were significant places.

At least since the time of Solomon, the temple in Jerusalem had been the place where God was present with His people.

When Solomon built the temple, he dedicated it to the Lord and part of the dedication prayer included these words from1 Kings 8:29, "May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place."

Ever since that time people had directed their eyes towards the temple when they prayed, for God was present there.

If they were a long way away from the temple, they would direct their eyes towards Jerusalem, which represented the temple and the presence of God.

So when Daniel was far away in Babylon, when he prayed, we read in Daniel 6:10, "Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem.

Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before."

The temple in Jerusalem was the place where God was present.

Now Jesus, who we know is the Son of God, was coming to the place where God lives.

The singing of Psalm 118 at this point reinforces all of the significance of Jesus coming home.

The Psalm celebrates the coming of the one sent from God.

It was loaded with messianic meaning and now Messiah was coming to the place of God’s presence.

This was an occasion of powerful symbolism conveying a whole range of important meanings.

It spoke of the entrance of God into human affairs to accomplish the promises God had made a long time ago.

It celebrated the consummation of all the hopes of Israel, indeed all the hopes of mankind.

It was the fulfillment of the prophecy in Malachi 3:1, where we read, “…‘suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,’ says the Lord Almighty."

At this point, this promise was being fulfilled.

The meaning is true and so powerful that we would expect a great celebration, a wonderful acknowledgement, a confident hope loudly proclaimed.

But the end of this picture is anti-climactic.

Jesus entered the temple, looked around and left because it was already late.

Where’s the acknowledgment?

Where’s the celebration?

It seems rather lame that Jesus came to the temple and looked around and left.

It may seem rather a letdown, but it is not without significance for in Jeremiah 7:11 we read about a temple inspection by God.

There it says, “But I have been watching, says the Lord.”

As Jesus looked around, he was making an inspection of God’s dwelling.

What did his inspection reveal?

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II.

Picture 2 – Jesus Cursed Fruitlessness

The second picture begins to answer that question.

It is the picture of a fig tree.

Jesus was once again heading for Jerusalem, having spent the night at Bethany, and on the way he was hungry.

He saw a fig tree and went to see if there was any fruit on it, but since it was about 2 months too early to find fruit, he did not find fruit and cursed the tree.

I don’t know about you, but that troubles me.

Jesus has been kind and gentle all the way along.

In spite of all He was about to face, it is hard for me to think that he was getting edgy and that He cursed this tree in a fit of anger.

It would be totally out of character.

The Expositors Bible Commentary says, “It is the only miracle of destruction attributed to Jesus in the Gospels.”

Another translation, which Geddert suggests, may help.

“Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if, contrary to all expectation (since it was not the season for figs), there would be any fruit on it.

But sure enough, there were only leaves.”

But even so, what do we make of this?

One of the themes which we have been following in Mark is the theme of hearing.

Jesus told parables because they hid the truth from those whose hearts were not ready to hear and opened the truth to those who both heard and saw.

The mention that the disciples “heard him say it” seems more than coincidental in the context and given the difficulty of interpreting this event, it seems most likely that this was intended as an acted parable.

If we understand this event as a parable, what is the meaning of it?

The image of a “fig tree” is used for Israel in the Old Testament.

In Hosea 9:10 we read, “When I found Israel… it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.”

But in Hosea 9:15, 16 we read, “Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house.

I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious.

Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit.”

In the context of the temple inspection which Jesus did at the end of the triumphal entry and in the context of what happens next, it is not difficult to understand that when Jesus cursed the fig tree, it was not the fig tree itself which he was judging, but rather what was happening in the temple and what the religious leaders were doing.

What Jesus was implying in this parable was that what was happening in the temple was, as one writer describes it, all leaves and no fruit.

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III.

Picture 3 – Jesus Cleansed the Temple

And so we come to the third picture which is the picture of Jesus cleansing the temple in Mark 11:15-19.

As Jesus came into the temple he noticed three problems.

One was that there were people who were buying and selling merchandise.

Second, that there were people exchanging money and third, that there were people carrying merchandise through the temple.

What was happening in the temple?

The business that was taking place here was business related to the temple.

People came from far away to offer sacrifices in the temple and they needed to bring an unblemished sacrifice.

The people who were buying and selling merchandise in the temple could provide what they needed.

Instead of bringing it all the way from Galilee or further and risk damage to it, they could bring money and buy the needed sacrifice right where they needed it and assure themselves of an appropriate sacrifice.

Furthermore, a half shekel tax was required annually from all those who were 20 years old and older.

Since people came from many countries, they needed to get the right currency to pay this tax and the money changers could provide it, conveniently right there in the temple.

The other thing was that the shortest distance to Jerusalem on the road down the Mount of Olives, went right through this area of the temple and many people with all their goods coming into the city made their way through.

It all seemed innocent enough, but Jesus began to chase them out and turn over the tables of the money changers and prevent people from taking a short cut through the temple.

Why was He so upset with this?

Jesus not only drove them out, but also taught them the meaning of his actions.

In His teaching, He quoted portions of Isaiah 56:1-7, particularly verse 7, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

With all the commotion going on, the atmosphere was not one in which worship could take place.

Geddert says, “Where in all this commotion and noise is there room or atmosphere for true worship?”

In the other gospels the quote stops after the word “prayer,” but Mark completes the quote adding the words, “for all nations.”

The area in which this was happening was in the court of the Gentiles.