Gospel of Mark/Chapter 11:20-33/Commentary

The Gospel of Mark Chapter 11:20-33 11:20 “And as they were passing in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up”: The tree that Jesus had cursed the day before is now completely dead—roots and all. “Jesus does not in any way interpret the event.

Yet the meaning is obvious: Jesus’ predicted judgment on the temple will come to pass as surely as His prediction of the withering of the fig tree” (Gaebelein p. 729).

11:21 “And being reminded, Peter, said to Him, ‘Rabbi, behold, the fig tree which You cursed has withered’”: Peter calls Jesus’ attention to the tree and remembered what Jesus had said.

11:22 “And Jesus answered saying to them, ‘Have faith in God’: This statement and the one’s that follow (11:23-26) are found in the Gospels in various other contexts. Jesus now uses what happened to the fig tree to teach a couple of lessons about prayer and faith. First, the source of the power that withered the fig tree was God. So He must continually be the object of our faith.

11:23 “Truly I say to you”: A statement that we can absolutely trust. “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 to him”: Jesus is not encouraging us to rearrange the geography of the planet, for 1

removing actual mountains would cause a lot of collateral damage. And, an actual mountain has never been an issue in my life. Clearly, God can remove actual mountains, but the application to us is something else. Rather Jesus is saying that the greatest possible difficulties can be removed when a person has faith (James 1:5). Jesus is not encouraging blind optimism, for one aspect of prayer is being in line with God’s will (1 John 5:14). “Such confidence, if it is to be of value, cannot be blind. It must have its rational and spiritual supports. No man can expect, under this promise, that a mountain will be removed until he is convinced by good reasons that God wishes it to be removed” (Johnson/Dewelt p. 327).

11:24 “Therefore”: Here is the application of the previous verse. “I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted to you”: Again, this is not blind optimism, or simply the idea that if a person visualizes something that it will happen. This is not confidence in one’s ability or power, but rather faith in an all-powerful God. 11:25 “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 transgressions”: A very important aspect of prayer needs to be our willingness to forgive those who ask for our forgiveness as we earnestly want God’s forgiveness of our sins. The transition between 11:24 and this verse might appear abrupt, but there is a connection. An effective prayer must be offered in faith, faith in an allpowerful God, and equally prayer in the spirit of forgiveness. Faith and the willingness of forgive are two conditions of effective prayer.

11:26 “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions”: This is not only fair, but necessary. The person who often refuses to forgive is lacking in such necessary virtues as honesty about their own failures, humility and love for their fellowman.

Jesus’ Authority is Questioned 11:27 “And they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, and scribes, and elders came to Him”: This question came from three groups, which formed the Jewish Sanhedrin.

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11:28 “And began saying to Him, ‘By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?’”: Specifically, what authority did Jesus have for cleaning out the Temple—the most recent example of Jesus exercising His authority. “Their hope was that by His answer Jesus would be brought into disrepute with the people and thereby clear the way for their arresting Him” (Gaebelein p. 730). Yet right now they feel that they cannot arrest Him—at least during the day, because He was very popular with the multitudes.

11:28 “By what authority are You doing these things”: In light of all the miracles that Jesus had performed the question about the proper authorization or credentials seems ridiculous. The miracles were positive proof that Jesus’ authority came from God (John 3:2).

11:29 “And Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things’”: This was not some kind of dodge or stall tactic on the part of Jesus, rather both questions were inherently linked together. Jesus is testing these men to see if they are really interested in the truth. If they will acknowledge that John the Baptist was sent by God then they will virtually be forced to acknowledge that He was sent by God as well, for John endorsed Jesus. On the other hand, if these men will not even be honest about John, then why should Jesus answer their question? If the Jewish authorities really wanted to know about Jesus all they had to do was believe what John had said about Him. McGarvey notes, “if, on the other hand, the Pharisees rejected John …. In the face of the almost universal popular conviction, then what use was there for Jesus to present His claims to so blind, bigoted, and unreasoning a body?” (Fourfold p. 587).

While some might complain about Jesus answering a question with a question, this is a very valuable teaching tool:  He who asks a question, asks a favor. He who asks a favor should be willing to do a favor.  We are not automatically placed under an obligation to answer another person’s question. Some questions are inappropriate.

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 They did not have a right to complain about Jesus asking them a question, for they had started the entire conversation by asking Him a question. By asking a question, they had set the example and said in effect, one is justified in asking another person a question.  We know that they were trying to entrap Him. We are under no obligation to help people who are trying to discredit us. It is right to expose and thwart the efforts of people who are trying to make us, God or the truth look bad.  The answer to their question—had the answer to their question in it.

People are more ready to accept an answer when they are led to find the answer themselves.  They demanded that Jesus take a position---Jesus simply asks them to do the same about John’s baptism.  If they had not yet figured out John’s baptism—they didn’t really have any right to question Jesus. Therefore, certain questions are not appropriate until the person asking first comes to terms with an obvious truth that they have been ignoring. Jesus refuses to allow them to “jump ahead”. Again, no use going on to another topic is a person refuses to accept the truth that is being presented at the moment.

11:30 “Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me”: In other words, “Do you think God was behind John’s baptism or not?” “The question was particularly appropriate for the situation. John had clearly testified to the divine source of Jesus’ mission. If they recognized the divine authority of John’s mission, they would be forced to recognize Jesus’ also and His cleasning of the temple as the legitimate exercise of His authority” (Gaebelein p. 730).

1. The question was legitimate. Jesus acknowledged that religious teachings and practices must come from the proper “authority”.

2. All present and past teachings and practices in religion have originated from one of two sources, that is, is the source is human or divine.

3. Jesus was not afraid to dig into and question the “source” of any religious practice (Matthew 15:1ff; Mark 7:1ff). The way that the Jewish leaders reasoned through the question (21:25-26) also reveals a couple of truths.

4. If a religious teaching or practice originates in heaven, then we must obey (21:25). If something originates from men, then it has no credibility.

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Claiming that the baptism of John was from men, would infer that John was not a prophet. In fact, it would accuse John of being a fraud or a false teacher (21:26). Thus, they refuse to answer, “We do not know” (21:27).

Notice that when people tried to back Jesus into a corner that the reverse happened—these Jewish leaders found themselves in an embarrassing situation.

Lenski notes, “They dodge the issue which no Jew dared to dodge. As Sanhedrists it was their supreme duty to know, and here they dare to say that they do not know” (p. 829). Allow me to make a couple of side observations: The views of highly educated religious “experts” do not establish truth. Often their views can be tainted, because like these men, they loved status, position and power more than they loved God’s truth. The average person can often understand the Bible better than a professed expert. The people saw what the chief priests and elders refused to see (21:26). This response by the rulers should have told the people that the wrong men were guiding them. In like manner, we have friends in various denominations, who do not agree with the unscriptural views of their denominational leadership. Here we have been given an excellent opportunity to help our friends put their confidence in Jesus and the Bible, rather than men.

Jackson notes, “Accordingly, the Lord presents this parable as a ‘mirror’ in which they (the Jewish leaders) might see themselves in contrast to the lower classes whom they despised” (p. 31). In this previous section we learn the following lesson: When we seek the praise of men (Matt. 6:1-4), we automatically find ourselves fearing their opinions. What irony, the common people feared their leaders (John 12:42-43; 9:22), and the rulers in turn feared their own people.

11:31 “And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, ‘From heaven’, He will say, “Then why did you not believe him?’: The Jewish leaders realized that they could not admit that John was heaven sent and yet at the same time deny his testimony about Jesus. Added to this, this rulers had not submitted themselves to being baptized by John (Luke 7:30).

11:32 “But shall we say, ‘From men?’ They were afraid of the multitude, for all considered John to have been a prophet indeed”: How sad, in none of their deliberations is there any attempt to simply discover the truth. They do not want 5

to believe in Jesus no matter what the evidence and they do not want to assume a position that is unpopular with the multitudes. Notice the traps that people fall into when they do not have a love of the truth. Observe how the common man could see clearly what these experts did not see. Having a good heart goes a long way to understanding the truth (John 7:17).

11:33 “And answering Jesus, they said, ‘We do not know’. And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things’”: They had arrived to put Jesus on the spot and discredit Him, but Jesus turned the tables on them. These experts in the law must have looked foolish in the eyes of many people that day. Many must have thought, “Our spiritual leaders do not know if John was a prophet or not?” Yet, the Old Testament had given them a specific test for true and false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:9-22; 13:1ff). They, the professed authorities concerning God’s law, were inexcusable for saying, “We do not know”.

“Were the lines of demarcation, then, between the inspired prophet and the wicked seducer so dubious and indistinct? It was a fearful humiliation, and one which they never either forgot or forgave” (Fowler p. 124).

21:27 “Neither will I tell you”: “Their inability to pursue their question admits that their refusal to answer His questions cancels their own right to a reply from Him” (Fowler p. 125). However, in the parable that follows, Jesus does get them to answer His question. In addition, Jesus did answer their question in a sense.

He pointed them to John’s baptism, since He had been baptized by John it was clear that Jesus knew that God was behind John’s preaching.

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