Mark 11:15 - 11:33

intro:

an unnamed friend got into trouble this week at work.
as it turns out, he violated 'procedure' a bit. he was asked to help with a problem, that he had the ability to help with, and he did.
however, as it turns out, he didn't have the authority to help out on the problem.
 
that's the thing; the power to do something involves more than just the ability to do it. you also have to have the authority.
the greek word for power, dunamis, at least based on my memory from the last word study i did on it, 12 years ago, has me in memory linking those two concepts. if you have the power to do something, then you have the ability and the authority to do it.
that's what we're going to be looking at here (and much of what we've looked at in mark).

(prayer)


11:15-18 - christ shows his authority by driving the corrupt market out of the temple

hurley covered this section last week...

hurley covered this story last week, so we're just going to review it.
authority is our topic though, and this bit offers quite a bit to that theme.
mark does this a lot - he uses a story or section in multiple ways.

this is the second cleansing of the temple from the money lenders and animal sellers

15. Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves;
16. and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.
notably, this is the second time jesus has done this; john records a similar cleansing in john 2:13-22.
the gospels actually work out like this - there are a number of stories and teachings that popup a few times, which makes sense if you think about it.
jesus really did not like the temple polluted by greed. so...in this case, he made a sequel.

the cleansing shows the authority of christ in vengeance

17. And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, `MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."
18. The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
19. When evening came, they would go out of the city.

jesus is upset because the temple is supposed to be a "house of prayer for all people".

as we discussed last week...jesus quotes isaiah 56:7, which is a reference to solomon's prayer of dedication...
so...this is why jesus is so infuriated; the area for the gentiles to pray is now a market.
people coming to the temple are being cheated...and this is all the worse because of what the temple is supposed to be.

can we beat people who are bad too?

romans 12:19 says, "Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord."
as a rule, our job is not to be the hands and feet of god in dishing out physical judgement.
christ can do this however - he is god, and he will punish evil.
 
short term judgement, long term hell.
god sometimes provides judgement on the earth.
but that is really just a picture of the revealing of judgement that will come.

a more philisophical note:
the victims at the temple were people...but the rules violated were against god.
god is the one who can impose moral rules.
he's the one who gets to enforce punishment for those rules.

some anger is ok

we are not buddhist; christians believe that god has anger.
many of us don't know what anger looks like apart from sin; this is a good example.
 
maybe think through the last few times it has been angry:
- if it was in response to sin, and your response was to ask god to save the innocent and judge the wicked, give yourself 1 point.
- if it was because you were hurt, go ahead and dock yourself a point.

summary: christ's violent cleansing of the temple shows christ's authority as a (the) judge.


11:19-25 - prayer and the authority of christ

we revisit the fig tree jesus cursed earlier (yesterday).

19. When evening came, they would go out of the city.
the city here is jerusalem - they're going back to bethany, where they are staying

20. As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.
21. Being reminded, Peter *said to Him, "Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered."
remember this tree?
jesus looked at it for figs, but there weren't any. so he cursed it.
they recounter it, and pedro can't resist the comment.

giant thought here...the tree is a symbol

what's with the tree?
it's a symbol of the authority of god; and by extension, his right to judge.
need to have a moment's hesitation because the text doesn't explicitly say so, but it's a pretty giant literary symbol.
this takes us back to authority/power - dunamis
 
and, while we're talking about literary style, not that matthew says the tree wilted "at once", mark says overnight.
both are trying to say that the tree was cursed and wilted (they didn't have to wait for it to die off).
that should give you an idea on how to read the gospels though...literally, and as literature.

lessons from the fig tree on authority in prayer

22. And Jesus *answered saying to them, "Have faith in God.
23. "Truly I say to you, 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 will be granted him.
24. "Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.
25. "Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
26. ["But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."]
v26...added by later scribes as it's in the section that echos this in the sermon on the mount (matt 6:15).
none the less, this is a bit of a tricky section, no.
jesus says essentially two things here...
- when you ask for things in prayer, ask with belief. (v22-24)
- when you pray, forgive. (v25)

1. jesus can be confusing. because i try to universalize everything.

he says to cut off your right hand, and i go, "really?"
he says "destroy this temple and in three days i'll raise it", and my first thought is "not the temple!" (the text even says that this is metaphor for his death and resurrection)
so...here are a few rules you have to adhere to...
- when jesus says something that sounds extreme, be open to the idea that he's using exaggerating to make a point.
- when jesus says something that is limited by something he's said elsewhere, relax and understand the guy.
- when jesus says something that is limited by something he's said elsewhere in scripture, relax and understand the guy.
got that?

2. note the importance of prayer here...

prayer is a big deal for the people of god.
what did jesus say the temple was supposed to be? a house of prayer for all people.
so, just start with a statement that prayer is a big big deal for us. that we should be asking god for things.

3. v24 - all things? really? "all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you."

well...let me read you a few other verses on this topic.
first, john 14:13,14
Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
this one is kind of similar - but you'll see a few of the conditions. it should glorify god, and it's done in his name, which is usually understood to be to his character.
next, 1 john 5:14,15
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
this is a bit more explicit; our request needs to be according to his will. which is nice; you really don't want god to answer prayer that is against what he says is best (even if that is difficulty).
finally, an example out of luke 22:39-42
And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. When He arrived at the place, He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."

 
so - all things...what is meant?
i believe that all things is a reference to the difficulty of the thing asked.
i.e. there is no thing that is beyond the ability of god.
 
that carries us into our next question...

4. v24 - just believe? "believe that you have received them"

i believe that there is a lot of misguided thought on this passage, so please bear with me carefully.
the question here, like we had with 'asking', is one of believing.
what exactly are we believing?
two options:
- that god will give us what we asked for?
i believe that this can't be the universal idea here, if for no other reason than the ones we looked at with the asking all things. we are asking for the will of god, and like jesus, we should be open to his will over our own.
so our belief should be in sync with that.
- we're talking about our belief in god's authority (and ability)
this is the money point here.
when you ask god, you can not doubt his ability to achieve your request.
this is consistently biblical - in mark, and elsewhere.
- mk 5 the woman who had bleed for years...who believed and touched jesus (daughter, your faith has made you well) the fact that they didn't bring bread. he reminds them of his ability to make
- mk 7 the belief of the syrophonecian woman who begged jesus to heal her daughter...
- mk 9...jesus tells the dad who asks for healing, "all things are possible to him who believes" the man says, "i believe, help my unbelief".
- james, a letter by the brother of jesus after jesus' death/ressurrection, in james 1:5-8
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

summary: god has power, and we have a part in that when we pray.
but we should pray with belief, remembering that god is able to do all things.
remember...it's god you're talking to.


11:27-33 - christ's authority challenged

a challenger appears!

27. They *came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders *came to Him,
28. and began saying to Him, "By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?"
ah...a direct element of challenge.
they are referring to the temple cleansing, and possibly the miracles they've heard of; they don't know about the fig tree, etc.
they're trying to force jesus to declare that he's there on his own authority, or say something that will get him in trouble with the crowd.
check how mr smooth answers this.
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.
30. "Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me."
31. They began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, `From heaven,' He will say, `Then why did you not believe him?'
32. "But shall we say, `From men'?"--they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet.
33. Answering Jesus, they *said, "We do not know." And Jesus *said to them, "Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
jesus manages to dodge by placing them in an either greater bind. either they have to affirm john the baptist, in which case they're on the hook for being against john the baptist (as they are against christ)...
or they can say that john the baptist was a phoney, and have the crowd hate them because the crowd knows that john was a prophet.
 
that means jesus can cruise along and avoid their trap.
 
on your own time, you can think about why jesus wants to stay stealthy in some circumstances.

principles

- jesus has authority over all things

we see him have authority within the temple (and not as a priest)
we see him have authority over nature
 
- remind yourself of who god is.
this is why you should read your bible on a regular basis.
ot practices to remind god's people...etc
we're fighting the fact that we don't see all this stuff regularly, nor while we until he cleanses the world.

we meet together, sing songs...hopefully you leave remembering some things.
god is bigger than your problems.
god is bigger than the things we worry about.

- you should pray with belief in this authority

1. you should pray

this is sort of assumed here, but we, as a group, are pretty weak here.
so we're going to say the obvious thing - we are commanded to pray on a regular basis.
the doctrinal statement you members signed expressed it as,
Prayer is to be a constant part of the life and ministry of the Christian

2. when you pray, you must believe that god is able to do all things. remember who god is when you pray.

whoa...god has power over these temple losers and leaves them in place?
- yup. he even lets them kill him slowly.
- but...sometimes he judges short term. he cleansed the temple right?
you are worried? is god not able?
 
two things will change how you think about the world.
- god is good. god loves you. we're not talking about this one.
- god is powerful. god can act on his love in any situation. this is the key here...

eph 3:14:21

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.