Jesus - Not Cleansing the Temple, But Replacing It - Mark 11:1-25

Sermon Series: Spare Me the Details - Just Give Me Jesus

A couple of weeks ago I found myself in a conversation with an older gentleman at a Starbucks Coffee shop.  It was pretty obvious as he began talking to me that he liked controversial and polarizing topics.  It almost seemed as if he was trying to get me to have a debate with him.  When I wouldn’t engage in a debate with the first several topics he turned his attention toward politics.  He asked about some of my political views and still failed to get me going until he made a comment that I could not ignore.  He began to talk about ‘socialism’ and said to me, “There’s no way you can argue against socialism if you really believe that is true (pointing to my Bible).”  I asked him what he meant by that.  Then he said to me with great confidence, “Well the whole idea behind socialism is the equality of all people and making sure that everyone has equal access and equal opportunity to all things.  And that’s the primary message of the NT, which is all people should show love to one another.”  After that comment I spoke up, not trying to get into a debate, but feeling like I couldn’t let that comment go.  I said “Sir, if you think the primary message of the NT is that we ought to love one another you have terribly misunderstood the NT.”  He asked me, “How so?”  And I replied, “Sir, if the primary message of the NT is that we are to love one another then that means this book is primarily about us.  And that can’t be any further from the truth.  This book is a book about God.  It is the way that He chose to reveal Himself to us.  And if I had to say what the primary message of the NT would be I would say that it’s not that we are to love one another, I would say that the primary message of the NT is that God loves us so much that He did the most extraordinary thing He could do to demonstrate that to us.  He sent His only Son to earth, to rescue us from our sin by taking our sin upon Himself, suffering the just wrath of God so that we would not have to, and conquering death so that we could once again be reconciled to God.  Should we love one another?  Absolutely!  But that love is to come from the overflow of our understanding of God’s great love for us.  To say that the NT’s primary message is that we are to love one another is a terrible misunderstanding of the NT.”

There are so many people who are just like this man – people who have heard stories of the NT and misunderstood them.  And sometimes we’re guilty of misunderstanding as well.  God has been gracious to reveal both Himself and His plan to humanity.  But we have to make sure that we rightly understand them. Misunderstanding can keep us separated from God while right understanding can lead us to salvation - and that’s what we all need.  So as we begin our examination of this week’s text we will find that two of the narratives that we cover are highly recognizable NT passages.  But I will also argue that we have misunderstood some very significant lessons from both.  So let’s focus our attention to the text of Mark 11 and see if we can (with the help of the Holy Spirit) discern what the point is that Mark is trying to communicate to us, the readers.

Chapter 11 begins with Jesus and His disciples preparing to make their final approach into Jerusalem.  In this approach we are going to see Jesus subtly offering hints of His identity – hints that will play an important role for Mark’s readers in understanding what Jesus was doing and foreshadowing.  Jesus commands two of His disciples to go into the nearby village, to locate a colt that has never been ridden, and to bring it back to Him.  This colt plays a significant role in Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem that we the readers need to understand.  Zechariah 9:9 says, “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.”  Mark doesn’t quote this verse like some of the other gospel authors do, but that doesn’t make this verse from Zechariah insignificant.  Some commentators believe that Mark doesn’t quote Zechariah because of the emphasis in his gospel on Jesus’ desire for secrecy.  Therefore, rather than quoting the text of Zechariah and making a clear connection He prefers to use subtle imagery to reveal the identity of Jesus.  Verses 4 through 6 tell us that these two disciples went in obedience and found the colt, just as Jesus had described.  As they began untying the colt some people nearby questioned what they were doing.  The disciples responded the way that Jesus told them to, and it says that the people let them go. 

What takes place in verses 7 through 10 is what leads to the bold heading in many of your Bibles that says, “The Triumphal Entry.”  Let’s quickly look at what takes place in those verses.  Some of the disciples place their cloaks upon the colt to make something like a saddle for Jesus to sit upon.  Then it says that many others spread their cloaks on the ground and spread leafy branches on the ground in front of Him as He rode into town.  Verse 9 tells the readers that there we some going before Jesus and some coming after Him, and that they were shouting, “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!”  For contemporary readers, this sounds very much like a “triumphal entry.”  Why?  Several things about this passage seem to exalt Jesus in the mind of the contemporary reader.  First, we notice that cloaks and leafy branches are placed on the ground for Jesus to ride into town upon.  Second, we notice Jesus surrounded by a crowd and hear what seems to be shouts of praise and honor directed toward Him and referencing a kingdom that He will usher in.  And while many of these things stand out to us, readers 2000 years removed, we have to strive to understand what is taking place in its appropriate context.  So let’s first examine Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem.  The fact that cloaks were laid down and leafy branches were laid down by some does suggest that some of the people might have regarded Jesus as a kingly figure.  In 2 Kings 9:13 after Jehu is anointed king of Israel it says, “Then in haste, every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps . . .”  There did seem to be a precedent for honoring kings and war heroes by placing garments or leafy branches down on the ground when they were returning to their city.  But this is where the similarities end.  When other rulers or great war heroes returned home they would be dressed in royal clothes, feasts would be given in their honor, a speech would often be made, and many times sacrifices would be offered to their gods.  We don’t see any of these things associated with Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem.  Now let’s turn our attention to what was shouted upon Jesus’ entrance.  “Hosanna” literally means to “save, I pray,” or “save now.”  But many scholars and commentators believe that by Jesus’ day it had simply become an expression of praise.  “Hosanna” was followed by the phrase, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  To many readers this seems to be a sure identification of Jesus as the Messiah.  Mark probably wanted His readers to read that into the expression.  But the crowds weren’t shouting Jesus’ identity as Messiah.  The crowds were quoting Psalm 118:26 – a quotation referring to Jewish travelers who had come to the temple.  This quotation had become “a customary religious greeting or blessing pronounced on pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem” for the Passover Feast.  So in other words, this wasn’t something that was shouted exclusively for Jesus upon His entrance into Jerusalem, this was in fact part of the Passover celebration that Jews traveling to Jerusalem for Passover would have received when they entered Jerusalem.  All those Jews who had traveled to celebrate the Passover would have been considered blessed by God.   Now might we argue that the shouts Jesus received looked a little different?  Absolutely!  Jesus came into town followed by His disciples and because of His reputation a large crowd would have certainly formed around Him that would not have formed around the average Jewish pilgrim.  But were the shouts altogether different from what those average Jewish pilgrims would have received upon their entrance into Jerusalem?  Not in regards to content.  The next part of the crowds proclamation declared, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father, David.”  This also sounds very Messianic for contemporary readers, but we need to carefully look at the content and examine it in light of what we know from Mark’s gospel.  The Jews were certainly anxious for the Messiah, and the Passover celebration was probably a time in which they got a little more excited about it (much like we tend to get more excited about the celebration of Jesus’ birth around Christmas).  But a few things are missing from their shouts that would demonstrate that they have identified Jesus as the Messiah.  First, there is no reference to Jesus as the Son of David like we saw with Baritmaeus last week.  They seem to be anxiously awaiting the kingdom rather than the King.  Secondly, Jesus’ teaching ministry had not been proclaiming the coming of David’s kingdom.  When we go all the way back to verse 15 of chapter 1 in Mark’s gospel we find that Jesus’ teaching ministry was proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was at hand, not the kingdom of David.  So the heading “The Triumphal Entry” might be a little bit of a misnomer.  Mark offers some subtle suggestions both in his imagery and in recalling the shouts of the crowd that his readers are able to understand as signs of Jesus as the Messiah, but it is very doubtful that the crowd and the authorities grasped any of this at all.  While some of the content seems very compelling, what’s even more compelling is what’s missing.  After verse 10 the crowds are gone.  There is no ongoing celebration.  Nothing at all comes of the scene.

So if “The Triumphal Entry” is a misnomer and this passage isn’t primarily about Jesus’ extraordinary entrance into Jerusalem, what is the point of these verses?  The most important thing we find in these first eleven verses is verse 11 itself.  Jesus entered Jerusalem and then verse 11 says that He went into the temple.  Stop and consider the picture.  Why is the temple such an important place in the OT?  Because it is where the presence of God resided with men and the means by which men approached God.  That changes in the NT.  In the gospel accounts the presence of God is residing with men how?  In Jesus Christ!  Jesus is in fact God, Himself, wrapped in flesh and residing with humanity.  In verse 11 the presence of God has literally returned to the temple – the place where God is to be exalted, praised, and worshipped.  Of all the places that Jesus should have felt at home, it should have been the temple.  But then look at the rest of verse 11.  Jesus has a quick look around and then “He went out . . .”  That statement would have shocked Mark’s readers.  The presence of God was supposed to reside in the temple and in verse 11 it just went out of it.  In this statement Mark makes it clear to his readers that something is incredibly wrong with the temple, because in Jesus we see the presence of God leaving the temple.  In much the same way that Mark subtly hints at Jesus’ identity as Messiah, it appears that Mark is subtly hinting to his readers that temple worship is no longer acceptable and that in Jesus there is a new and different way to God.

In verses 12 through 25 we find Mark using his literary sandwich technique once again.  Verses 12 through 14 introduce a narrative about a fig tree, which is interrupted in verses 15 through19 by a narrative concerning Jesus in the temple, and then returns to the fig tree narrative in verses 20 through 25.  And while typically it’s the narrative in the middle that helps to bring clarification and understanding to the narrative making up the ends, in this particular instance the narrative making up the ends is going to help us understand what exactly is taking place in the middle narrative.  So with that in mind, let’s start examining the text.  In verse 12 Jesus and His disciples were returning from Bethany to the temple in Jerusalem and along the way Jesus was hungry.  Verse 13 says that Jesus saw a fig tree in the distance and proceeded to it to see if there was any fruit on it that He could eat.  The last part of verse 13 is the part we need to unpack.  It says, “When he came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.”  Now some of you may be more familiar with fig trees than I am, but this seems to  require a little bit of explanation.  Let’s begin with when fig trees produce ‘ripe’ fruit.  In the spring of each year, ‘new’ figs begin to develop, causing most fig trees in the Middle East to produce ‘ripe’ figs between mid-August and mid-October.  But it’s also important that we understand what else a fig tree does and produces throughout the rest of the year.  After the fig harvest the fig trees produce buds that will actually sprout before winter, but which remain undeveloped throughout the winter.  In March and April these buds from the previous fall will swell up into small green fruits, which are actually unripened and not fully developed figs.  After it produces these small, green, unripened and undeveloped figs, then it would grow leaves.  Understanding that fig trees produce small, unripened, and undeveloped figs from the previous fall’s buds prior to it growing leaves is very important if we are to understand Jesus’ expectations.  While these small, unripened, and undeveloped figs from the previous fall’s buds do not ever fully develop, they can be and often were eaten by people.  When Jesus saw the fig tree full of leaves He would have fully expected to find the tree loaded with these small unripened figs, but verse 13 says all He found was leaves, “because it was not the season for figs [i.e. fully ripened figs]”.  When Jesus went to find fruit, He wasn’t expecting to find fully ripened figs (He knew it wasn’t the season for those), but He was expecting to find the unripened and undeveloped, but still edible fruit.  This particular fig tree then was a deceptive one – its outward appearance showed signs of fruit, but it actually had none.  So Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”  And the text says that His disciples heard it.

Verse 15 interrupts the narrative about the fig tree with Jesus coming into Jerusalem.  Verse 15 tells us that 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.”  The mental picture we have of Jesus, the temple, the money changers, and those selling animals is often totally wrong.  We picture Jesus in a good sized room, with a table or two taken up by money changers and a table or two of men selling livestock.  We have to replace that picture which a much more accurate one.  When the NT refers to the temple it was a reference not to a building only, but to temple in its entirety.  First let’s talk about the actual building – the sanctuary if you will.  The building residing in the very center of the temple was enormous.  It was 150 yards long and 100 yards wide.  The building housed “The Court of the Women” (the designated worship place for Jewish women), “The Court of Israel” (the designated worship place for circumcised Jewish men), and the “Holy of Holies.”  The building structure in the center of the temple was huge, but it paled in comparison to the outer area called “The Court of the Gentiles.”  The building structure sat in the center of an open-aired area surrounded by walls that were 500 yards long and 325 yards wide (an area making up approximately 35 acres).  This was the area that was designated for those who were not Jews, but still God-fearing to worship.  But a big problem had arisen in this part of the temple.  James Edwards says, “The Court of the Gentiles was a virtual stock market of animal dealers and money changers, all of whom were necessary to ensure proper sacrifices and offerings for the many pilgrims, especially at festivals, to the temple.”  The Jewish festivals, particularly the Passover, were times in which thousands of people would travel to Jerusalem and to the temple to celebrate and to present both sacrifices and offerings.  The Jews weren’t supposed to offer money with someone’s image on it, so having the correct currency for their offering was crucial.  And traveling long distances with an animal or animals to sacrifice was strenuous as well.  So many had made a business of exploiting these pilgrims and their needs, and doing so in what they believed to be a convenient way – by making those things available within the very walls of the temple.  There they could exchange money into an acceptable currency and they could purchase animals for sacrifice.  This had become an enormous industry and source of economic gain for the temple and those in charge.  One Jewish historian wrote that in 66 AD, 255,600 lambs alone were sacrificed for Passover.  Over a quarter of a million lambs!  Where were most of them?  Being sold in “The Court of the Gentiles.”  So picture these 35 acres and now imagine the hundreds of thousands of lambs, pigeons, goats and perhaps even bulls that were filling this area, along with all of the money changers that would have been necessary for all of the traveling pilgrims.  Livestock had filled the only place of worship designated for the Gentiles and this greatly angered Jesus.  Did Jesus drive all of the merchants and animals out of the temple and overturn all of the money changers’ tables?  Probably not.  That task would have taken hours.  But He most certainly disrupted what was going on and created a teaching opportunity that caught the attention of more than a few people. 

In verse 17 Mark reveals to us some of Jesus’ teaching.  Jesus quotes an OT passage, Isaiah 56:7, which says, “For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”  Then He accuses those who had responsibility for the oversight of the temple of having turned the temple into “a den of robbers.”  Jesus understood the temple to be a place of prayer and worship for every person, both Jewish and non-Jewish.  But those who had been given oversight of the temple had turned the place of worship for the Gentiles into a market place where they could pad their own pockets financially.  That doesn’t sit well with Jesus and here we see His compassion and concern for the nations on display in a great way.  Those in charge of the temple had distorted it’s purpose as a place of worship for all people horribly and Jesus had no intentions of simply letting it slide.  In verses 18 and 19 Mark reveals a couple of telling things.  He tells his readers that both the chief priests and the scribes “heard” Jesus, just as the disciples had “heard” Jesus in verse 14 (more on that in a moment).  He tells his readers that the chief priests and the scribes began looking for ways to destroy Jesus because they feared Him and “because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching” (a statement which calls to mind the first chapter of Mark when Jesus first taught in the synagogue and all those present were astonished – 1:22)  And Mark tells his readers that when evening came, Jesus once again left the temple and when out of the city.

After examining these verses, we begin to realize that perhaps the heading “Jesus Cleanses the Temple” is a bit of a misnomer as well.  When Jesus leaves out from the temple, it is not fully cleansed.  It is not functioning as it ought to.  It is still terribly broken and still under the leadership and direction of those who have caused it to come into this condition.  Jesus does drive out some.  But the temple as a whole still resembles a den of robbers more than it does a house of prayer and worship for all the nations.

Verses 20 through 25 are going to resume Mark’s focus on the fig tree which he began in verses 12 through 14.  As Jesus and His disciples were traveling back into Jerusalem they passed by the fig tree that Jesus had cursed the previous day and Mark tells us that it had withered away to its roots.  Peter noticed and directed Jesus’ attention to the tree and we need to direct our attention to it once again as well.  The fig tree had become for the disciples, as well as for Mark’s readers, a visual aid to help them understand what was taking place with the temple.  When Jesus saw the leaves on the fig tree but no fruit He cursed it for its deceptiveness, for showing signs of fruit, but in reality bearing none.  Jesus’ curse on the tree struck to its very roots and caused it to wither and die.  What Jesus did at the temple is remarkably similar.  As Jesus observed the activities of the temple it had signs of worship.  Animals were being sold for sacrifice and money was being exchanged for offerings.  But those given charge of the temple weren’t striving to lead people in worship.  They were striving to make money and to take advantage of weary travelers.  They had also completely neglected the place of worship for the Gentiles and were hindering their worship by taking up their worship space to sell livestock and exchange money.  The temple was supposed to be a place of worship, and on the surface appeared to be one.  But upon closer examination Jesus found no evidence of fruitful worship taking place.  So in driving out merchants and money changers Jesus was striking a blow at the roots of the temple economic system.  He wasn’t cleaning and restoring the temple, He was dealing it a blow that was intended to dissolve this place of deceit.  The temple had been the means by which people were to approach God.  But Jesus deals a blow to the temple system, not so that it will be made well again, but so it can be replaced by something else. 

Jesus then begins to teach the disciples another important lesson.  The lesson begins with a command to “have faith in God.”  The disciples have come to the heart of Judaism – they have arrived with Jesus at Jerusalem and they have entered and seen in the temple the exact same things Jesus has seen.  And now this fig tree is serving as an incredible object lesson.  The disciples aren’t to put their faith in the temple or in the sacrifices, offerings, and worship that is offered at the temple.  While the temple and its practices may appear to be the way one is to approach God, they have learned from the fig tree that appearance doesn’t always mean producing fruit (or in the temple’s case, a right relationship with God).  Then Jesus demonstrates that faith can be a very powerful thing.  Jesus uses a little bit of hyperbole, just as He did at the end of chapter 9, in order to demonstrate the great power of faith.  Jesus says that in faith someone can say to a mountain to be taken up and thrown into the sea, and if he has faith then it will be accomplished.  The hyperbole suggests to His disciples and to the readers of Mark’s gospel that even the most difficult of situations can be removed when a person has faith.  So Jesus tells the disciples to pray in faith, believing in their hearts, and they will receive what they are asking for, and to pray with a spirit of forgiveness.  Faith and a spirit of forgiveness make up two important ingredients of effective prayer. 

If we understand verses 12-25 to reveal that those in charge of the temple have altogether changed the purpose of the temple, and that while it has signs of being a place of worship it has become a den of robbers, then we’ll see Jesus doing something different than ‘cleansing the temple’ – we’ll see Him judging it.  In verses 20 through 25 we’ll realize that just as Jesus’ curse upon the fig tree came true and was realized by those who heard Him, what Jesus has done by way of judgment and foreshadowing will also come true of the temple and will be realized by those who heard it.  Jesus has overturned tables of money changers and driven out merchants and livestock.  He also removed Himself, the very presence of God, from the temple.  All of this is evidence that the temple is broken – it is no longer the way to God and a new way to God for all people is required.  In Jesus we see a new way to God for all people.  Faith in Jesus is the means by which one comes to the Father.

Small Group Questions for Discussion

1. Read Mark 1:1-11.  Many of the headings in our Bibles say something like, "The Triumphal Entry."  However, we argued that these verses in Mark's gospel didn't emphasize a triumphal entry into Jerusalem, but rather something different - that in Jesus we see the presence of God leaving the temple.  The fact that the presence of God leaves the temple and is no longer residing in a building is really good news for believers in Jesus.  Why?  What advantages do believers in Christ who have the presence of God residing in them have  that those in the OT did not have?  Are we grateful for those advantages or do we take them for granted?  Are we good stewards of those advantages or are we not taking advantage of them?                

2. Read Mark 1:12-25.  Many of the headings in our Bibles say something like, "Jesus Cleanses the Temple."  However, we argued that these verses in Mark's gospel didn't emphasize Jesus cleansing the temple, but rather something different - that in Jesus we see a new way to God for all the people.  It is right for us to understand that God is responsible for producing spiritual fruit in our lives as individuals and as a church.  But there are also some things that we can do that can both help and hinder the production of spiritual fruit.  What are some of those things that can both help and hinder?  How can we guard against becoming individuals and a church that just have the appearance of spiritual fruit?   

3. What step of faith does this passage of Scripture require us to take as individuals and as a small group?  How do we work this out on mission?