Mark 11:15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
All of this should have been done outside of the courtyard, not in it.
Overcharging for everything.
Instead of the area being separate for worship it became a shortcut to pass through causing distractions and defilement.
18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.
It was the priests that should have kept the area holy and made sure the people were not being cheated. Did they receive kick backs from the merchants so they allowed it? We do not know, but they failed their job.
He was one “average” Jewish man that would not have stood out in a crowd, but they feared Him because he could teach the true Word of God because He is the Word of God in the flesh so the people were amazed and the priests feared that power and authority that He exuded. They were losing the people and unlike John the Baptist they were not going to decrease so that He could increase. They wanted Him dead.
He did not run after his actions, but stayed in town until evening. They could have taken Him. He was not afraid of them, but they feared Him and the people’s love for Him. The temple closed at three and Jesus did not leave before.
20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
Another miracle that only God could do. Some say Jesus never claimed to be God, which He did, but miracles show that He is. Even in a drought, it would have took some time for the tree to go from leafy to shriveled. It happened overnight as He cut it off from the earth by the roots.
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
Where all interactions with God must start is with faith. We cannot please God without faith and we cannot be double-minded or doubting to receive from God. Trust is required.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
There is no record of any saint casting a mountain into the sea. Either they never saw the need to do so or no one had that much faith. The point is that by faith many things that seem impossible can be done. Jesus said that it only took faith the size of a mustard seed. If we have never seen this done, it is wonderful that even less faith can lead us into salvation.
How often did He say, “O ye of little faith” and similar statements about the lack of faith that the disciples had and yet, He took them where they were and their faith grew immensely seeing Him resurrected and exploded after Pentecost. Still, they were not perfect. Peter ate with the Gentiles when the Jews from Jerusalem were not present, but bailed when they came. He still had a fear of man.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
The emphasis here is faith. We must come in faith, but we also must come with right desires. As James says, we have no because we do not ask and we do not received because we ask amiss. That could be wrong attitude or it being all about us instead of Kingdom oriented. An example might be are you praying for your spouse to be saved or filled in the Spirit only because they are driving you nuts rather out of true concern for their soul and life? Do you want a raise so you can give more to missions or to adopt child overseas or so you can get that bigger house you do not need or that overpriced car that feeds your ego? A good father will not grant those last requests and may not grant the first until He does a heart work on you. He provides needs and not greeds caused by carnal lusts.
But, anything asked aright in faith, He said He would give so we need to check our prayers and our heart if we are not receiving, but then again delay is not denial. The answer may come down the road and as it has for others may not come in your lifetime. Some people have prayed for years for the salvation of someone and they get saved after the one who prayed is dead.
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
How often might our prayers be hindered because we have not forgiven someone? As one who has been used and abused by many, I know how hard it is to forgive someone. Indeed, the pastor that ordained me caused me a great deal of grief that led to bitterness. He was an open wound in my soul for many years. After telling everyone that did not agree with him on issues that people like that get divorced it was hard not to rejoice when I heard he was divorced. I have prayed for reconciliation between them and came to understand that he had his emotional pains and we just rubbed each other’s wound raw so we had to part company or we would never heal.
As He said in Matthew 18, we have to remember the great debt that we have been forgiven and pass the mercy and grace on to others for they cannot ever sin against us as we have against God. In fact, sin is only against God as He is the law giver.. We become collateral damage from the sin of others. We all sin and when we sin against God we magnify that sin by every person we hurt in our sin. We cannot always make everything right with the people we hurt. Indeed, many who hurt me and some I have hurt are dead so there is no option for reconciliation. We can only ask God to forgive us. Sometimes people will apologize for something you may not have really thought about, but they needed to clear their conscience.
Some things you need only confess to God. One theology student apologized to a professor that he had been lusting over the professor’s wife. The professor said he accepted the apology, but if he ever told him that again he would knock him out. That he should have just confessed to God and repented.
I was in a church service where a man stood and confessed that he had taken “undue liberties” with his wife before marriage. From what I knew of that church, that could have meant he held her hand, but that generic phrase left many minds to conjecture worse. He should have apologized to her and God. Oddly, she did not stand and confess her part in that situation. She was just knitting away. Had I did something like that my would have stuck the knitting needle between my ribs for unnecessarily embarrassing her. Too many people take “confess your faults” out of context and cause undue chaos.
Have faith, right attitudes, right requests and forgive to see what God will do. Maranatha!!!
