A Very Dangerous Man
Mark 11:12-26
This morning, I want to talk to you about a very dangerous man. This man was a threat to His community. He was known to hang around with some very shady characters, even counting a possible terrorist among His closest friends. He was known to have broken the law a few times, though He always seemed to argue His way out of the consequences. One day He even walked into a church, and threw everybody out, shouting and whipping until He emptied the place. He stirred up trouble everywhere with the authorities, and eventually it became obvious the only way to deal with Him would be to execute Him. He was too dangerous to live.
This dangerous Man I want to talk to you about is named Jesus Christ. (By the way, if you want to know the “terrorist” Jesus befriended, look up the meaning of the name of one of His disciples: Simon the Zealot). I hope it doesn’t shock you too much to hear me refer to our Lord as a dangerous Man, but I find that is the word that best describes His actions and words when He entered Jerusalem on the last week of His ministry. From a human viewpoint, Jesus became so dangerous that the religious leaders decided to kill Him.
But I want to do more than demonstrate to you that Jesus was dangerous to those folks- I want to convince you this morning that Jesus is still dangerous today. We’ve tried to tame Him into a meek, harmless, meaningless Figure Who wouldn’t hurt a flea, but one of my purposes this morning will be to persuade you to get rid of that image of Jesus Christ, and replace it with an image that is true to the Bible. Jesus Christ is still a dangerous Person for at least 3 reasons we will discover in Mark 11:12-26:
I. HE IS DANGEROUS IN HIS ANGER. (v. 12-20)
If you are a fan of the comic book character named The Incredible Hulk, you know that it is dangerous to make Bruce Banner angry. Anger triggers a transformation in this otherwise calm gentleman which transforms him into a raging, green monster. I always wondered if there was a subtle message about losing your temper in that story. It is easy to imagine almost any of us becoming very angry, but can you imagine Jesus angry? The Bible tells us His anger is a part of His personality:
Mark 3:5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts…
Re 6:15-17 16… “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
All four Gospels record this famous example of Jesus’ anger. But what made Him mad? Mark basically tells us two things: unfruitfulness and greed.
Mark subtly stresses the fact of Jesus’ humanity when he writes that Jesus enters Jerusalem hungry. Even though He is God, He knows what it’s like to need to eat. On His way to the Temple, He passes a fig tree full of leaves on its branches. Even though it was not time for figs to grow, the leaves indicate that you can expect fruit to be on the tree. Jesus goes looking for something to munch on, but there are no figs. Jesus gets angry. He curses this tree, which ends up killing it. Jesus killed this unfruitful tree. What is this all about?
There is more going on here than just the death of a fruitless tree. Jesus uses the fig tree as an object lesson. Many times in the OT Israel is symbolized by a fig tree (Jer. 8:13; Hosea 9:10, 16). Many times God told Israel that He expected fruit from them: righteousness, obedience, love for the Lord. Jesus acts out this scenario to make the same point: He is God in the flesh, looking for fruit in the lives of His people. But like this fig tree, Jesus finds a lot of leaves- a lot of religious activity- but no fruit. And like this fig tree, Israel will experience His judgment- specifically in AD 70 when the Romans will destroy Jerusalem. The lesson here is simply this: when God’s people are unfruitful, Jesus gets dangerously angry!
Immediately following this incident, Jesus walks into the Temple- the place where God is to be worshipped. But instead of hearing songs of praise, and the reading of God’s Word, He hears the sound of the marketplace, the stock market, the trading post. Why?
Worshippers coming to Jerusalem to the Temple were not allowed to use Roman money to as offerings to the Lord, because it was stamped with an image of the Emperor on it. They had to have it changed into Jewish money. People had to buy the animals to sacrifice in the Temple, so there were many businessmen who saw a demand and offered a supply, often price gouging to make more of a profit. These men were robbing those who came to worship.
Enter Jesus: a very angry Man. What He sees enrages Him. In His anger, He chases these robbers out of the Temple, overthrowing their tables, and causing chaos. He stations Himself in the middle of the Temple, daring anyone to carry even so much as an empty basket. Then He angrily shouts two OT quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and Jer. 7:11. This Temple was made to worship God He cries out but you have made it a business to serve yourself! The lesson here is: when you worship money instead of God, Jesus gets dangerously angry!
This is too much for the religious leaders. They decide this angry young Man is too dangerous to live. They would have killed Him then and there, if not for Jesus’ popularity. Jesus’ anger makes Him a very dangerous man in the eyes of these religious folks.
Do you suppose Jesus gets dangerously angry at unfruitfulness among His people?
Lk 13:6-9 6He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”
Do you suppose Jesus still gets dangerously angry when people worship money instead of God?
Lk 12:15-2115And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Do you see the point? It is dangerous to live an unfruitful life. It is dangerous to know so much Bible in your head, but never translate it into how you think, and feel, and act. It is dangerous to be full of the works of the flesh instead of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:19-22: …love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… It is dangerous to be an unfruitful Christian, because trees with no fruit eventually die.
It is dangerous to worship money instead of God.
1 Ti 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Isn’t that astonishing? The Bible says that loving money leads people away from the Lord? How many Christians have given money, and what it can by, the place that only God should have in their life? They spend all of their time trying to make more money, spend most of their time and energy making more money, and have no time or energy to serve God? How many of us hold on to our money so tight that we hardly give any to give to the Lord? It is dangerous to be a Christian who loves money, because that makes Jesus angry.
Jesus is angry with unfruitful, greedy Christians, and if you are living that way, you need to be worried. Jesus loves you, but even love knows what it is to be angry. We ought to be afraid of displeasing our Lord in these ways- afraid enough to repent, seek forgiveness, and learn to walk wiser:
Pr 19:23 The fear of the LORD leads to life, And he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.
But there’s another reason Jesus is such a dangerous Man:
II. HE IS DANGEROUS IN HIS PROMISES ABOUT PRAYER (v. 21-24)
Prayer is a very delicate subject. People tend to go to extremes, sometimes saying that God gives you anything you want when you pray, sometimes saying that you really shouldn’t expect too much when you pray, because God might not want you to have what you’re asking for. Then Jesus comes along and makes these kinds of promises about prayer and you wonder Does this mean what I think it means? Well, let’s try to unpack it.
First notice that the most important word in the first sentence is not faith, but God. Have faith in God. Answers to prayer are rooted in a right relationship with God, which means all of your prayer follow Jesus instructions to ask for …Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…The point is that God does not say yes to everything you ask, but only for what you ask in faith, according to His will. It is the same thing John says when he writes:
1 Jn 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Second, notice the implications of what Jesus promises here:
Through prayer, God can do anything. The power of prayer is limited only by the power of God, which is another way of saying there is no limit to the power of prayer. Anything God can do is fair game when it comes to prayer. The Sky is not the limit- the power of God is the limit.
Through prayer you exercise your faith in God. Your trust in God grows as you believe Him to hear and answer your requests- even when the answer is No or Not Yet. In fact, sometimes it takes more faith to accept a negative answer to prayer than a positive one. The more you pray, the better you will trust God; the less you pray, the less your will trust God.
God works in this world through your faith and prayers. God is working in this world all the time, but He has chosen to work through the prayers of His people. There are some things God will not do until you ask Him, some gifts He will not give until you ask Him for them. In a way you and I cannot understand, God says your prayers make a difference in this world.
Stop and think about how dangerous Jesus’ promises about prayer really are. Nothing you ever ask God to do is impossible. God works in this world through the prayers of weak, fallen people like you and I. What does this say about the state of this world? What does Jesus’ promise about prayer say about the sin of not praying?
Jesus says to you and me: prayer is dangerous. It will change your life. It will change your world. When you pray, you are access a power far more powerful than any force in the universe: you access the power of God Himself. When you do not pray, you are failing to do the most significant thing God has asked you to do. Your prayers matter! Your prayers make a difference- when your prayers are rooted in faith in God!
III. HE IS DANGEROUS IN HIS DEMAND FOR FORGIVENESS (v. 25-26)
The last dangerous thing Jesus says is about another touchy subject: forgiveness. And once again, He says some dangerous things.
First of all, He says you have to forgive those who do you wrong. That is a command, which means that you can obey it, no matter what you might like to think. You have to forgive anything and everything you have against anyone and everyone. No exceptions. You can and should forgive, Jesus says, because God forgives you. He implies that your forgiveness of others is connected to God’s forgiveness of your sins, that is, that you should forgive so that you can experience God’s forgiveness.
Now that’s bad enough, but then Jesus goes even farther: if you decide not to forgive others, God will not forgive you. Whoa! That knocks the stakes up a little higher, doesn’t it? Does this mean what I think it means? Let’s think it through.
Maybe Jesus means that only people who have been forgiven by God can forgive others. In other words, forgiving other people is proof that you have been forgiven by God. In this case, if a person will not forgive others, then he or she is really not saved. Their refusal to forgive is evidence that they have not truly been born again.
But there is a more likely explanation: Jesus here may not be referring to salvation at all, but to fellowship. When a Christian commits a sin, it does not make them unsaved again, but it does make God seem distant. Sin hinders our fellowship with God, and until we confess and repent, you will not experience close communion with the Lord. In the same way, when you refuse to forgive others, it is a sin. God will draw away from fellowshipping with you until you confess and repent of unforgiveness. I believe that most, if not all of the spiritual problems most of us experience is due to a lack of forgiveness for others. But this unforgiveness is a serious, dangerous matter: (summarize Matt. 18:21-35)
Mt 18:34-35 34And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
Jesus said some dangerous things about forgiveness, didn’t He? It’s almost as if He means to make you and I feel a little uncomfortable. When you stop and think about some of the people who have made you angry, or taken advantage of you, or hurt you deeply, and then realize Jesus commands you to forgive them- even him! Even her! Even them! Forgive them, because God forgives you. Forgive them, or God will not forgive you! Can you do that? Not by yourself, but with His help. He will help you, but you must make the choice to forgive, if you want to enjoy the blessing of God’s forgiveness. Jesus did not leave any loopholes.
Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive. —C. S. Lewis *
Writing in Christianity Today, Professor Lewis B. Smedes relates a story about Corrie Ten Boom to illustrate the power of forgiveness:
She was stuck for the war years in a concentration camp, humiliated and degraded, especially in the delousing shower where the women were ogled by the leering guards. But she made it through that, nd eventually she felt she had, by grace, forgiven even those fiends who guarded the shower stalls.
So she preached forgiveness, for individuals, for all of Europe. She preached it in Bloemendaal, in the United States, and, one Sunday, in Munich. After the sermon, greeting people, she saw a man come toward her, hand outstretched: “Ja, Fräulein, it is wonderful that Jesus forgives us all our sins, just as you say.” She remembered his face; it was the leering, lecherous, mocking face of an SS guard of the shower stall.
Her hand froze by her side. She could not forgive. She thought she had forgiven all. But she could not forgive when she met a guard, standing in the solid flesh in front of her. Ashamed, horrified at herself, she prayed, “Lord, forgive me, I cannot forgive.” And as she prayed she felt forgiven, accepted, in spite of her shabby performance as a famous forgiver.
Her hand was suddenly unfrozen. The ice of hate melted. Her hand went out. She forgave as she was forgiven.*
Jesus Christ is a dangerous man. He is a dangerous Man Who is angry about your sin. He is a dangerous Man Who promises answers to your prayers. He is a dangerous Man Who commands you to forgive others- no matter what they have done. Who knows what might happen if you decide to follow this dangerous Man?
In C. S. Lewis fairytale The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, two girls, Susan and Lucy, are getting ready to meet Aslan the lion, who represents Christ. Two talking animals, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, try to prepare the children for the encounter. “Ooh,” said Susan when she is told Aslan is a lion, “I thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” “That you will, dearie,” said Mrs. Beaver. “And make no mistake, if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.” “Then isn’t he safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you!”-Our Daily Bread, February 17, 1994
Jesus Christ is not safe- He is dangerous. He is dangerous when He is angry, and He is angered at unfruitfulness, and hypocritical worship. He is dangerous when He offers puny mortals the power of prayer. His demands for forgiveness are dangerous. Why would you want to follow such a dangerous Man? Why would you want to love and be loved by such a dangerous Man? Because He is good. Because knowing Him, and loving Him puts you in the safest place you will ever be.
