The Arrival of the King

“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” Mark 11:10

Mark 11:1–25 – Holy Week 2022: Behold, Your King
Palm Sunday  – April 10, 2022 (am)

I love it when a text of Scripture that seems entirely bound up with a different time and place yields relevant, practical fruit as we linger with it, and inspect its branches. Our passage today is such a text. Vss.22-25 give wonderful instruction! Who wouldn’t want to experience that? But what do vv.22-25 have to do with vv.1-21? Let’s walk through this passage in four steps.

The Triumphal Entry – 1-11

For the first time in Mark’s gospel, Jesus is nearing Jerusalem (1). And He’s doing so, we’ll find out, on Passover week. The population is no doubt surging for the celebration.

Bethphage and Bethany are only a couple miles away (Joh.11:18), near the crest of the Mount of Olives (which runs east of Jerusalem). Just outside the city, then: 1 … Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. Perhaps this was a pre-arranged plan, Jesus did have friends in Bethany (Joh.11:1, 5). But none of the gospel writers give us this impression. Still, wouldn’t you just love to know how these folk (5-6) were prepared for this encounter?

7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. This wasn’t a strange scene for them. When Elisha’s messenger anointed Jehu to succeed Ahab as king in Israel, he told the other commanders of Israel’s army: 2Ki.9:13 Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.”

The people here are doing the same thing, acknowledging Jesus as King, and more! 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Hosanna means save us now! It’s from Psa.118:25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord…. They’re saying: This is the One Who’ll save us! This is Messiah!

Psa.118 was sung at the Feast of Tabernacles in expectation of the coming of Messiah. Now it’s being spoken of Jesus as He approaches Jerusalem, riding on a donkey’s colt, fulfilling Zec.9:9 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.

Then this crowd began picking up on the affirmation of Bartimaeus that Mark had just recorded (10:47): Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! They added: 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest! These folk were ready to roll! The kingdom had come! Their King was right now entering into His city! And they were part of it all! Centuries of waiting were coming to fruition right before their yearning eyes!

11 [Jesus] entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.  Wait. What? Pretty understated for a King! But now we’re set up well for what follows, when we start seeing the King really acting like a King!

The Cursing of the Fig Tree – 12-14, 20-21

12 On the following day, when they [were on their way back into the city from] Bethany, [Jesus] was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. This is a strange encounter! Some wonder if it really happened. It just seems so unlike Jesus, a miracle of destruction, of a simple tree! But it did happen. 20 As they passed by [the next] morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.

Clearly Jesus was making a (pretty unusual?) point, but what was it? Some say He may’ve been looking for an early fig (Cole 256), but this scene is not about Jesus being hungry! Surely, He’s making a bigger point than that! And it’s likely a point that would be lost or obscured if this were the season for figs. But we don’t know that yet! Mark uses his familiar sandwich structure here to link this fig tree event with the scene he inserts into the middle of it: the cleansing of the temple. This structure turns the spotlight onto that action of Jesus. In short, this tree has signs of life, leaves, but no fruit, for it was not the season for figs (13). That’s the striking feature. And that sets us up to look at the insertion to identify any connections, probably ones that will have us describing the temple similarly—signs of life but no fruit.

The Commotion at the Temple – 15-19

So, let’s bite into to the meat of this sandwich: 15 … they came to Jerusalem. And [Jesus] entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons, not unlike He’s expression toward the fig tree! But Jesus isn’t just targeting the money-changers’ who are disrupting the Court of the Gentiles with commerce, 16 … he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. Jesus’ focus here (especially in Mark) is not just on selfish profiteering. It seems to be more on the temple itself, on its functioning.

17 And he was teaching them [about its function], “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.” It’s this verse that leads us to label this the cleansing of the temple. Jesus declares the temple’s purpose from Isa.56:7(a house of prayer for all peoples), then He states what the people have made it from Jer.7:11(a den of robbers). So, its proper function isn’t being realized, despite all the activity happening there—signs of life, but no fruit—so its proper function just needs to be restored, right? Not necessarily. And the hint is right here in Jesus’ own words. The primary meaning of the word translated robbers is nationalist rebels. So, the temple was meant to be a house of prayer [for all the nations], but [you] have made it “a nationalist stronghold” (Carson 499). Jesus was focusing on a much bigger picture than just the profiteering of the money-changers (cf. 16). The temple was not fulfilling its God-ordained role as a witness to the nations but had become… the premier symbol of a superstitious belief that God would protect and rally his people, irrespective of their conformity to his will. The temple would therefore be destroyed (Carson 499). It was [no longer] the season for the temple! What these people needed the temple just couldn’t provide. They needed new hearts!

Bottom line, Mark’s wrapping of Jesus’ actions in the temple into His cursing of the fig tree is what helps us see that He’s judging (cursing) the temple, not cleansing it! The temple hasn’t fulfilled its purpose, so now He will do that work instead. The temple will be destroyed and Jesus will take on that role. He’ll become the temple (cf. Joh.2:19), the place where God dwells among us, where we’re forgiven, cleansed, and reconciled to God. And through the completion of His work here in Jerusalem, His people will become the temple (1Co.3:16; 6:16; 2Co.6:16; Eph.2:19-22), the place of His dwelling in this world, and the ones through whom His mission will be fulfilled!

Surely this view makes better sense of the strong response of the authorities (seeking… to destroy him [18]; questioning His authority [27-28]). It also fits better with statements Jesus Himself made about the temple: 13:1 … as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”  This makes Jesus sound like an enemy of the temple! And remember some of the false testimony against Him at His trial? 14:58 We heard him say, “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.” And on the cross, 15:29 … those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” It is likely that among the many factors leading to Jesus’ death the one which most united all elements of the Jewish people against him was that he was perceived… as an [enemy] of the temple. This is a theme which will develop through the rest of Mark’s story, reaching its climax in the bystanders’ jibe at Jesus on the cross [15:29-30], followed by the tearing of the temple curtain [15:38] (France 437).

And about this scene here, France added (437): This first incident in the temple might seem on the surface to be in favour of the temple rather than against it, protecting it from misuse and restoring it to its intended role as a ‘house of prayer for all nations’. But with hindsight it could be seen [especially noting v.18] as the beginning of an increasingly explicit campaign against what the temple now stood for, the first demonstration of a judgment which must ultimately lead to the total [destruction] of the building itself.

But if Jesus is judging the temple, how are the people, the nations, going to meet with God, commune with Him?

The Teaching Emphasis – 22-25

That’s a great question which must arise if we’ve rightly understood what Mark is teaching us by his structuring of this section. And that question is about the only one that could make sense of how Jesus’ teaching in vv.22-25 fits in with the rest of this account. Remember, Peter noted that the fig tree [Jesus] cursed [had] withered (21). 22 And Jesus answered [the disciples saying], “Have faith in God. What? Well, this is what replaces the temple! 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, bigger than a fig tree, ‘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. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Engaging with God in prayer, seeing Him act, won’t require the temple any longer! 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” Experiencing His forgiveness won’t require temple sacrifice!

What Jesus is teaching is that (powerful, effective) prayer, won’t be tied to the temple any longer. Our engagement with God won’t depend on that location. It’ll be rooted in our faith in God (22) through the work Jesus is about to do. And it’ll go with us wherever we go. This is much like what Jesus said to the woman at the well. Joh.4:21 … Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. … 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth…, untethered to any one location. Worship will flow from the hearts of redeemed worshipers!

His emphasis, then, as He mentions receiving whatever you ask in prayer, is not so much on what you can ask for as on where you can be when you ask for it! Your relationship with God will go with you wherever you go!

The same is true about forgiveness. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. It’ll no longer involve sacrifices at the temple! Forgiveness can received, and given, wherever you are!

So, the ‘house of prayer’ in Jerusalem… is condemned and replaced by the praying community (France 448). What we’re seeing here is the beginning of the new order, the in-breaking of the kingdom of God, the new community of followers that will be the place of His dwelling in this world, the center of His activity. As Jesus was the new temple (Joh.2:18-22), by faith in Him the church is now the temple of God! (1Co.3:16-17; Eph.2:19-22)

Conclusion

This is what the King was coming into His city to do, to achieve, to finally and once-for-all provide! This is what happened on the first Palm Sunday, plus the following day or two, of the first Holy Week. And this is what we’re still celebrating on Palm Sundays today! This also may explain a bit about how such a great reversal of receptivity to Jesus’ message happened by week’s end! But through Jesus actions at the end of this week, we’ll recognize and receive Him as our King—even we who’re among the nations—and more than just a King, a Savior Who reconciles us to God and turns us into the temple, Jew and Gentile together, the one new man (Eph.2:15) made into the dwelling place for God (Eph.2:22) on earth until He returns to welcome us into His direct and unshielded presence forever!

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Resources

Fee, Gordon D. 1974. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Gospel According to Mark, by William L. Lane. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Longman III, Tremper, and David E. Garland, eds. 2010. Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 9, Matthew-Mark. Matthew, by D. A. Carson, 23-670. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Marshall, I. Howard, and Donald A. Hagner, eds. 2002. New International Greek Testament Commentary. The Gospel of Mark, by R. T. France. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Morris, Leon, ed. 1989. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 2 Mark, by R. Alan Cole. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

NEXT WEEK: Resurrection Sunday—The Resurrection of the Lord, Mark 16:1–8