TITLE: Have Faith In God
TEXT: Mark 11:12-26
By Louis Bartet, Point Assembly of God on 02/02/03
INTRODUCTION
I’m sure you’ve all heard the story about the homemaker who always cut the end of the ham off before placing it in the baking pan. When asked by her daughter why she did this, she replied, "I don’t know except for the fact that my mother always did it that way." Later, while talking to her mother, the woman asked, "Mom, why did you always cut the end of the ham off before placing it in the baking pan?" The older woman replied, "Oh that’s simple, the hams never fit my small pan, so I cut the end off so it would fit."
It’s amazing how things make sense when they are explained within context.
This is definitely true of Mark 11:22-24.
22And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23For 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. 24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
-Are these statements, made by Jesus, a kind of carte blanche?
-Does He give His hearers a kind of blank check or unconditional opportunity to get whatever they want?
-Is the "whatsoever" of verse 23 unconditional or conditional?
Like the reason for cutting the end off the ham, this issue cannot be accurately understood apart from its immediate context, which begins in verse twelve.
THE TREE CURSED (Mk. 11:12-14)
12On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening.
Jesus went to the tree hungry and fully expecting to harvest some figs, but instead of finding figs "He found nothing but leaves". One might expect Him to use His power to restore the tree and make it productive. Instead, Jesus curses the tree: "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" Apart from the drowning of the pigs (Mark 5:13), this is the only instance of Jesus using His miraculous power destructively.
-Why?
-Was He merely interested in impressing His disciples with His power over nature?
Jesus never performed His miracles with an eye on sensationalism. No, Jesus wasn’t showing off, rather He wanted to communicate a larger lesson to His disciples and to us.
In the immediate context nothing happens to the fig tree. Everything looks fine as the disciples follow Jesus away from the area.
TRANS: Mark begins the next section with, "Then," after He had cursed the fig tree...
THE TEMPLE CLEANSED (11:15-19)
15Then 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 moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 17And 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." 18The 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.
19When evening came, they would go out of the city.
The Atrocity
Jerusalem was not on a trade route and was not the seat of any major industry. Those living in and near the Temple made their living by supplying suitable sacrificial animals for Temple worship or by supplying other services directly or indirectly related to Temple activity. These services and business in and of themselves were not a problem. What Jesus objected to was the crooked way in which worshippers were being defrauded by these Temple related businesses.
ILLUS: Josephus called the high priest Ananias the "great procurer of money". (Ant. 20.9.2, 205; 20.8.1, 181; 20.9.2, 206-207.)
In Mark 12:38-40, Jesus warned the people about the scribes, saying:
"...Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They are the ones who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation."
It was bad enough that they were prideful, but their exploitation of the poor, the weak and the sinners undermined the purpose of God.
According to John 2:13-22, Jesus cleansed the temple during His first Passover visit, but with temporary results. Not long after this initial purging the religious leaders again permitted the money changers and merchants to return to their places of profit inside the Court of the Gentiles. Why? Because the priests received their share of the profits.
The Action
When Jesus enters the temple on this occasion, once again He takes immediate action.
-He began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple.
-He overturned the tables of the moneychangers. "The Greek or Roman money which the Passover visitors from Gentile countries brought with them was changed into Jewish Half-shekels, so that the Jew could pay his Temple-tax. A large profit was made in this way. To have their tables overturned and their money thrown all over the floor on the eve of the Passover, was to deal their business a serious blow at a time when the money traffic was at its height." (Wuest, Mark, p. 221.) They inflated the exchange rate.
-He overturned the seats of those who were selling doves. The dove was a sacrifice that was affordable by the poor (Lev. 14:22). Those selling doves victimized the poor by over pricing their goods and making it difficult or impossible for poor people to participate in the worship of God.
-He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. "Persons carrying goods or implements, used the Temple as a short-cut when going between the city and the Mount of Olives. This had been forbidden by the Jewish authorities at one tiem, but the order was not being enforced." (Wuest, Mark, p. 221.)
TRANS: Understandably, a crowd had gathered, seeing Jesus’ actions and Jesus, seeing the crowd made two announcements to them.
The Announcement
17And 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."
1. First, Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7, and thereby states God’s defined purpose for His house ¡V "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations [or for all peoples]." God did not intend for the Temple to become a national shrine for Israel or an end in itself.
The people did not exist for the Temple, but the Temple existed for the people. The Temple was to be a place where men from every tribe, tongue, and nation could meet with God. Instead of helping the people gain access to God, the religious leaders were making it difficult to impossible¡Xas they used the need of the people for their own gain.
Jesus speaking to the scribes and Pharisees said, "Woe to you¡Kbecause you travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte [one convert]; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves" (Mt. 23:15).
2. Second, Jesus again reaches into the Old Testament and quotes from Jeremiah 7:11 saying, "But you have made it [My house, the Temple] a Robbers’ den."
You’ve made it a place where robbers hangout after pilfering others. Jesus attacked the exploitation and oppression of the poor, the weak and sinners who recogned their need.
Lest we think this is unique to the Pharisees and scribes, Martin Luther, in An Open Letter to Pope Leo X (September 6, 1520) protested a similar corruption:
QUOTE: The Roman church, once the holiest of all, has become the most licentious den of thieves, the most shameless of all brothels, the kingdom of sin, death, and hell. It is so bad that even Antichrist himself, if he should come, could think of nothing to add to its wickedness."
TRANS: Although Jesus was hitting the proverbial nail on its head, His actions and statement brought varying responses.
The Anger And Astonishment
18The 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.
1. First, the people were "astonished at His teaching." The common people who were being adversely affected by the actions of the religious leaders and the merchandisers were amazed at Jesus sayings and actions.
Jesus understood their plight.
Matthew 23:2-4 - The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not do them. And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.
No one had ever stood up for them like this.
TRANS: Not everyone was thrilled with Jesus’ teaching.
2. Second, the religious leaders "were afraid of Him" and began to seek a way to destroy Him. They were more interested in preserving their control over the people than they were in helping the people to find freedom in God. The Temple was the power base and source of wealth for the priestly hierarchy and this was more important to them than the nation’s relationship with God.
TRANS: The affect of Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem was a religious and spiritual earthquake, but "when evening came, He led his disciples out of the city." Where now? What next?
THE CURSED TREE REVISITED
20As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21Being reminded, Peter said* to Him, "Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered." 22And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. 23Truly 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. 24Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.¡¨
APPL: The fig tree is a picture of Judaism with its Temple and sacrifices. Like Jesus who came to the fig tree expecting figs but only finding leaves, people coming to Judaism were finding nothing but leaves.
QUOTE: According to David Garland: "Most Jews regarded the temple as the place where prayer was particularly effective. This belief is stated most clearly in 3 Maccabees 2:10 - "and because you love the house of Israel you promised that if we should have reverses and tribulation should overtake us, you would listen to our petition when we come to this place and pray" (NRSV). This idea continues in later Jewish traditions. A late rabbinic commentary on Psalm 91:7 reads: "When a man prays in Jerusalem, it is as though he prays before the throne of glory, for the gate of heaven is in Jerusalem, and a door is always open for the hearing of prayer, as it is said, ’This is the gate of heaven’ (Gen. 28:17)." Other rabbis said:
From the day on which the Temple was destroyed, the gates of prayer have closed, as it says, "Yea, when I cry for help, He shutteth out my prayer" (Lam. 3:8). ¡KSince the day that the Temple was destroyed, a wall of iron divides between Israel and their Father in Heaven."
David E. Garland, NIV Application Commentary, p. 443.
Concerning the Temple, Jesus said, "Do you not see all these [the Temple and the temple buildings]? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down" (Mt. 24:2,4).
Peter notes that the fig tree that Jesus had cursed had withered and Mark adds that "they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up." This is reminiscent of the Baptist’s statement, "the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (Mt. 3:10).
ILLUS: In the movie Walking In The Clouds, the family vineyard is destroyed by fire. The son-in-law of its owner, walking into the scorched fields, begins to search for any vine that may have survived the fire. Finally, he comes upon a root that is still alive. He is a hero. The vineyard will not be lost, but will be replaced from this single plant.
What John is describing is not a pruning, but the complete destruction and removal of what does not fulfill God’s purpose.
There is no record of Jesus’ disciples going around and cursing trees or moving literal mountains. The cursing of the fig tree was a living parable and the moving of the mountain both suggested the fate of the Temple and the system associated with it.
CONCLUSION
When a system instituted by God takes the place of God, then God must and will replace that system with Himself.
Although the Jews could not envision a future without a temple, Jesus declares that its demise would not bring and end to effective prayer or the Kingdom community.
Marshal declares, "The massive, institutionalized power of the existing religious establishment must give way to the kingdom community whose power lies solely in faith-borne prayer."
Marshal, Faith As a Theme, 176.
Our confidence is not in the system or institution once used by God, but in God Himself¡X"Have faith in God."
Jesus’ lesson does not teach us how to move from exploiting people to exploiting God, rather it declares that our faith should not be placed in temporal institutions and systems, but in God Himself.
Jesus broke down the middle wall of partition that we might be a faith based community in relationship with Him.
The Temple is gone!
The veil has been torn!
We NOW have access to God, not through an institution or system, but through the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Paul exhorted Jewish believers when he wrote:
Hebrews 10:19-22 - 19And so, dear brothers, now we may walk right into the very Holy of Holies, where God is, because of the blood of Jesus. 20This is the fresh, new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us by tearing the curtain¡Xhis human body¡Xto let us into the holy presence of God.
21And since this great High Priest of ours rules over God¡¦s household, 22let us go right in to God himself, with true hearts fully trusting him to receive us because we have been sprinkled with Christ¡¦s blood to make us clean and because our bodies have been washed with pure water.
HAVE FAITH IN GOD!
This NEW COMMUNITY is to pray expectantly and without discouragement. Our prayers should not only focus on our own small worlds and our wants but should fix our attention on the purpose of God.
Prayer is like the landline used by a deckhand to pull the craft to its anchoring place. The boatman does not try to pull the shore to the boat, he seeks to pull the boat to the dock.
True prayer is not an attempt to get God to do what we want, but endeavoring to know and give place to His will in our lives.
(C)2003
SOURCES:
Some illustrations from http://www.preachingtoday.com
Some illustrations from http://www.sermoncentral.com
