When Jesus entered Jerusalem the people laid branches in his path and shouted Hosanna. Only one conclusion can be drawn: the people were proclaiming Jesus as their Messiah, King.
However, Jesus, the Messiah, has an altogether different agenda than the popular notions of the people. People today are much the same as the crowds welcoming Jesus. We want Jesus to come and love us, and provide for us, and to bless us and our church activities. Even when we are well intended, the place to begin is God’s will for the church; not our will which we then ask God to bless.
The way Mark places Jesus clearing the Temple between the two parts of Jesus’ encounter with the fig tree are helpful in understanding the Messiah’s agenda.
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was in the early spring time so Jesus would not have expected any fruit to be on the fig tree. Jesus cursed the barren fig tree because it represented Israel which had become barren in fulfilling her mission to be a light to the world. Then he arrives in the Temple area and drives out the people who were performing a service necessary for the Temple functions of making sacrifices and offerings to God. Jesus’s action effectively shut down the Temple activities for a while, which was Jesus’ way of demonstrating God’s judgment against the Temple because the intended role of the Temple had become corrupt at its core.
The key phrase in understanding Jesus’ actions is “‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” The Lord intended Israel to be a light to the nations; instead she had become prideful and exclusionary. Interestingly, today on the path Jesus traveled on his way into Jerusalem stands the Church of All Nations.
Jesus concludes with an instruction on prayer. He begins the instruction with “Have faith in God” and ends with “forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” The inference for me is that my prayers will be answered with the power of God when my prayers reflect the heart of God for His church and His Kingdom.
Accordingly I am seeking to live each day by, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)
What word or phrase in these verses
attracts your attention?
Reflect on that word or phrase.
What insights come to you?
How does this passage touch your life today?
10-Nov-11 Mark 11:27-12:12
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