Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

“And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came up to him and said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority that you do these things?”” (Mark 11:27-28)

Chapter eleven opens with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and kicks off the last ditch efforts by the Pharisees and Jesus. The Pharisees to trap Jesus and discredit Him before the people. Jesus to teach His disciples. They came into Jerusalem, Jesus on a donkey, with many people praising God and crying out to Jesus as He who came in the Name of the Lord. Jesus entered the city, went and looked around the Temple, and left to spend the night in Bethany.

The next day, on the way back into Jerusalem, Jesus saw a fig tree with green leaves (the leaves arrive just after the fruit). But this tree had NO fruit. It CLAIMED to have fruit, but had none. Jesus cursed it (John 15:5-6). Then Jesus came to the Temple and drove off all the merchants who were cheating the people. The ones earning money from the people’s pure desire to honour God. This infuriated the scribes and chief priests (who earned money from the commerce) and they resolved to find a way to kill Jesus. The next morning, as they were coming again to Jerusalem, the disciples saw the withered fig tree and were surprised that Jesus’ words of authority had come to pass. But humanity had been given authority over the world and Jesus had exercised that authority (not being of a sinful nature). In Him, we too could exercise authority for the glory of the Father – not for our whims or to remove things we don’t like. Later the Pharisees challenged Jesus about where His authority came from, but they couldn’t answer His questions on the same subject (but about John the Baptizer) so He would not answer them.

Chapter twelve shows Jesus responding to the Pharisees by telling a parable about people who rented a vineyard but then refused to give the owner his rightful share. He sent servants and then his son to collect, but they abused the messengers and killed the son. Jesus said the owner would force those people out and give the vineyard to others who would give him his rightful share. The Pharisees knew the parable was about them, the religious elite, and would have seized Jesus right then – but they feared the reaction of the crowd.

They next tried to trap Jesus about taxes, but Jesus escaped the trap easily. He asked for a coin. Not only did they violate their own rules about having a carved image on Temple grounds (a restriction in the Law), but Jesus pointed out the money was stamped with Caesar’s image. It was right to give Caesar what was his (money) just like it was right to give God what was His (obedience, tithes, and our hearts). The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus in questions about the resurrection, which they didn’t even believe in, but Jesus easily escaped the trap. He pointed out that they didn’t understand how it worked or what Heaven really would be like. He taught them that the Kingdom and the resurrection weren’t places for the dead, but places of the LIVING. Finally, one of the scribes came asking about the greatest commandment of all the Law. Jesus said it was God first and foremost, then loving others as much as we love ourselves. If we did these two things (love God and love others) we would end up keeping the commandments.

Jesus taught about the fact that David’s psalms were often Messianic prophecies. Jesus denounced those who dressed the part, but had no love of God or of people in their hearts. He noted to His disciples that it wasn’t a dollar amount, but the heart intent that God looked at. Two pennies was nothing compared to the huge amounts some people tithed. But two pennies were everything to a poor person and that giving of something precious (instead of a piece of great volume) mattered much more to God. The attitude of our hearts speaks louder than anything else we do or say.

Summary

Key Players: God, Jesus, Disciples, Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Jews

Key Verse(s): Mark 11:27-33; 12:41-44