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

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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


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