Mark 11

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This article is about the chapter of the Gospel of Mark. For other uses, see Mark XI.
Mark 11
The Latin text of Mark 8:13–11:10 in Codex Gigas (13th century)
BookGospel of Mark
CategoryGospel
Christian Bible partNew Testament
Order in the Christian part2

Mark 11 is the eleventh chapter of the

Passion narrative in Mark is usually adjudged to start at chapter 14, but there is a real sense in which it can be said to start ... at the start of chapter 11".[1]

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 33 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

Timescale

Verses 1-11 reflect the events commemorated by Christians on Palm Sunday. Verses 12-19 record actions of "the next day", and end that evening. Verses 20-33 commence early (Greek: πρωῒ, prói), the following morning.[2] Tuckett argues that Mark has "very likely" compressed a series of events into a single week whereas it is more plausible to assume they took place over a longer period of time.[1]

Triumphal entry into Jerusalem

Main article: Triumphal entry into Jerusalem
Einzug Christi in Jerusalem by Meister der Palastkapelle
Gospel of Mark
Chapters

Jesus and his

Aramaic
for house of unripe figs, perhaps Mark's foreshadowing of the story of the fig tree.

Jesus instructs two unnamed disciples to go ahead to the town and collect a colt, by which he almost assuredly means a young

Messianic prophecies, such as Zechariah 9:9, which is quoted in every Gospel except Mark. He instructs them that if anyone questions them they should say "The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately." Mark 11:3, where Mark uses a double entendre as the "Lord" is meant as the owner of the colt and Jesus.[4] The two go and find the colt as Jesus had predicted and start to untie it and people standing nearby ask what they are up to and they tell them what Jesus told them to say and amazingly they leave them alone. Mark leaves the event seemingly showing Jesus' power of prediction, but it could be argued that the people already knew Jesus as this town was his base of operations over the next several days: according to Mark and the other Gospels, Jesus also had friends there including Lazarus, his sisters, and Simon the Leper
.

They bring the colt back to Jesus and put their

Psalm 118:25-26
:

"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!"[5]

The Textus Receptus repeats the words ἑν ὀνόματι Κυρίου (en onomati kuriou, "in the name of the Lord") in verse 10 as well as verse 9:

"Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord!"[6]

The ancient

manuscripts, the Vulgate and the writings of Origen omit these words from verse 10.[7]

The quotation from the Psalms is significant, as the composition of the Psalms is traditionally ascribed to King David. The word ὡσαννά, (Hosanna, "save us please") is derived from Aramaic (הושע נא) (see

Aramaic of Jesus#Hosana) from Hebrew (הושיעה נא) (Psalm 118:25, הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא), meaning "help" or "save, I pray", "an appeal that became a liturgical formula; as part of the Hallel ... familiar to everyone in Israel."[8]

This event is celebrated by Christians as Palm Sunday, as the Gospel of John says the branches were taken from palm trees.[9]

The Golden Gate or Sha'ar Harachamim

Verse 11

And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.[10]

He goes into the city and checks out the Temple. Where this entry took place is unknown, some believing it was through what is now called

inner sanctuary, also called the Temple, where the power of God was thought to reside.[citation needed
]

The fig tree and the money changers

See also:
Jesus and the Money Changers

As they leave Bethany next day, Jesus, who is hungry, sees a fig tree at (or from) a distance and goes over to see if it has figs.

fasted overnight.[12] It is too early in the year for the tree to produce fruit, and it has none. Jesus curses it (see verse 21): "May no one ever eat fruit from you again", words which his disciples hear.[13]

Jesus vertreibt die Händler aus dem Tempel by Giovanni Paolo Pannini
Herod's Temple
adjacent to the Shrine of the Book exhibit at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
The Temple Mount as it appears today. The West Wall is in the foreground with the Dome of the Rock rising over the Mount.

They reach Jerusalem and Jesus goes straight to the Temple,

dove salesman and money changers from the courtyard of the Temple and stops people from bringing anything for sale through the Temple courts (11:15–19). The doves were used for sacrifices and the standard Greek or Roman money used by people had to be changed into special blessed Jewish or Tyrian money suitable for use.[3]
This is what Jesus told everyone there:

Verse 17

And he taught, saying unto them,
Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?
but ye have made it a den of thieves.[14]
  • Cross reference:
    Luke 19:46

Jesus combines quotes from

Jewish or not, are to be allowed into the Temple so they can pray and therefore converse with God. The passage in Jeremiah is from a chapter on the futility of worship on the part of those who do not obey God's will. People making money off of worshipping God right inside God's own Temple seems to Jesus to be a corruption of God's intention. "Den of thieves" might be a reference to extortionary pricing for the doves and money.[16]
The people are amazed by Jesus and his teaching, which drives the chief priests to plot to kill him. Jesus and his group however leave the city at the end of the day.

The incident with the money changers is recorded in all the Gospels. The

Zeal for your house will consume me." Psalm 69:9 Most scholars hold that this is the same incident and that it really occurred shortly before Jesus' death. A minority hold that there were two incidents with the money changers, once at the beginning and once at the end of Jesus' mission.[17]

According to the

Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jesus: In the Temple

This would appear to have been on the first day of the week and on the 10th of Nisan, when, according to the Law, it was necessary that the paschal lamb should be purchased. It is therefore probable that the entry into Jerusalem was for this purpose. In making the purchase of the lamb a dispute appears to have arisen between Jesus' followers and the money-changers who arranged for such purchases; and the latter were, at any rate for that day, driven from the Temple precincts. It would appear from Talmudic references that this action had no lasting effect, if any, for Simon ben Gamaliel found much the same state of affairs much later (Ker. i. 7) and effected some reforms (see Derenbourg in "Histoire de la Palestine," p. 527). The act drew public attention to Jesus, who during the next few days was asked to define His position toward the conflicting parties in Jerusalem. It seemed especially to attack the emoluments of the priestly class, which accordingly asked Him to declare by what authority He had interfered with the sacrosanct arrangements of the Temple. In a somewhat enigmatic reply He placed his own claims on a level with those of John the Baptist — in other words, he based them on popular support.

The

crucifixion
.

The next morning they pass by the fig tree again and Peter notices that it is now "withered", and excitedly points it out to Jesus, who replies:

Have faith in God,...I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea', and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (22-23)

Similar statements can be found, apart from the fig tree story, in

Saint Paul also mentions faith that can move mountains in 1 Corinthians 13:2
.

Some have argued that Jesus' action in regard to the fig tree seems

philosopher, even listed this story as one of his reasons for not being a Christian.[18] The cursing of the tree displays Jesus' power and the power of prayer coupled with full belief in God. Mark, placing the fig tree before and after the incident in the Temple, may be using the fig tree as a metaphor for what he sees as the barrenness of the priests and the withering of their teaching and authority due to their lack of true faith. Just like with the fig tree, Jesus had hoped to find "fruit", the fruit of true worship of God, at the Temple but it is not the right time for this, and so the Temple, like the fig tree, is cursed.[citation needed] Exegetes often take this as one of Mark's references to the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, and consequently their dating of Mark after this event.[citation needed
]

The fig tree is again mentioned in Mark 13:28 by Jesus as part of his

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree, about a man not finding fruit on a fig tree. Thomas has Jesus talking about thistles not yielding figs in saying 45, which is also found in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:16
.

This section of Mark ends with verses 11:25–26 which are paralleled in Matthew 6:14–15 and Luke 6:37,11:4 which some have seen as a portion or a follow-on of the

Discourse on ostentation#Prayer): forgive others so that God may forgive you.[19]

Argument over Jesus' authority

Main article:
Authority of Jesus questioned

Jesus then goes back to the Temple a third time, and as he walks through the Temple courts the priests, teachers, and elders come up to him and question his authority to do the things that he is doing. They are trying to get him to say that his authority comes from God and can therefore accuse him of blasphemy.

Jesus says that he will tell them if they answer him one question: "John's baptism — was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!" (30) The priests are then trapped. Mark implies that they did not believe in John, so that if they answer from heaven people will ask why they did not believe John. If they answer from men, they would be in conflict with the people, who did believe in John. They therefore refuse to answer and accordingly so does Jesus. This allows him to make the priests look bad and incompetent and also allows him to imply to the people that his authority is from God without saying it.[citation needed]

This is the first time in Mark that the chief priests, members of the Sanhedrin, are presented as Jesus' opponents. His previous conflicts had been with the Pharisees and scribes or teachers of the law.[20] Jesus has several arguments with the Jewish authorities beginning here and lasting through chapter 12 in which they try to trip him up but continually fail.

Comparison with other canonical gospels

Matthew records these stories in chapter 21, with the differences that Jesus fights with the money changers the day He gets to Jerusalem and He heals several blind and lame people afterwards. Jesus curses the fig tree the next morning and it withers immediately.

Luke has all of this content in 19:28-20:8, except for the fig tree, and includes an explicit prediction by Jesus of Jerusalem's

destruction
. He also states the Pharisees tried to silence His followers praise of Him during his entry into Jerusalem and, like Matthew, Luke says Jesus expelled the money changers on the day He arrived there.

John 12 has Jesus arrive in Bethany and have dinner with Lazarus and his sisters

Mary and Martha
after raising Him from the dead. The next day he finds the colt, John making no mention of the disciples, and rides it into Jerusalem with the same Psalm being sung. He then teaches the crowd in Jerusalem, John having the incident in the Temple before Jesus' final trip to Jerusalem.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Tuckett, C. M., 57. Mark, in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 908-9
  2. ^ Strong's Concordance, 4404. prói, accessed 2 April 2020
  3. ^ a b Brown et al., p. 620
  4. ^ Miller 39
  5. ^ (9-10)
  6. NU-Text
  7. ^ Bengel, J. A., Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament on Mark 11, accessed 2 December 2017
  8. ^ Walter Bauer, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT
  9. ^ John 12:13
  10. ^ Mark 11:11: NKJV
  11. ^ Kilgallen 210
  12. ^
    Maclear, G. F. (1893), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
    on Mark 11, accessed 30 June 2021
  13. ^ Mark 11:12–14
  14. ^ Mark 11:17 KJV
  15. ISBN 9780805401165
    .
  16. ^ Kilgallen 215
  17. ^ Catholic Online, Life of Jesus Christ, accessed 18 June 2017
  18. ^ Russell, B., Why I am not a Christian, accessed 18 June 2017
  19. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Lord's Prayer: "Accordingly Jesus said: "Whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses" (Mark xi. 25, R. V.). It was this precept which prompted the formula "And forgive us our sins ["ḥobot"="debts"; the equivalent of "'awonot"="sins"] as we also forgive those that have sinned ["ḥayyabim"="those that are indebted"] against us." ... On closer analysis it becomes apparent that the closing verses, Matt. vi. 14-15, refer solely to the prayer for forgiveness. Consequently the original passage was identical with Mark xi. 25; and the Lord's Prayer in its entirety is a later insertion in Matthew. Possibly the whole was taken over from the "Didache" (viii. 2), which in its original Jewish form may have contained the prayer exactly as "the disciples of John" were wont to recite it."
  20. ^ Mark 2:16

Sources

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External links
Preceded by
Mark 10 		Chapters of the Bible
Gospel of Mark 		Succeeded by
Mark 12
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