Bethany - Mark 11:19
It seems that Jesus and his disciples went back to Bethany every night of that week.
Believing prayer - Mark 11:22-26
Jesus quickly made sure that the disciples did not misinterpret his condemnation of the abuse of the temple. Even if human beings ruined the temple as God's
house of prayer (v.17), the Father in heaven will answer the ones who
believe, forgive others, and
pray. Believing prayer was within the reach of God's people in spite of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. Jesus stressed that their trust must not be in the temple, but in God alone.
Withered away - Mark 11:20
The tree that Jesus had cursed was completely
withered away. This is the only miracle of destruction by Jesus in the four gospels. This prophetic action of condemnation in light of the cleansing of the temple prepared the way for Jesus' prediction of the total destruction of the temple in 13:2.
Confrontation with the Jewish Leadership. - Mark 11:27-12:44
Up to this point in the Gospel Jesus' opponents had sought him out to challenge him. He tried to minister to the crowds and to his disciples, but was interrupted by his opponents. That changed when he entered Jerusalem. At this point Jesus had come to them and more directly challenges them. Even when they started a debate Jesus quickly seized control of it. Jesus was in control of his path to the cross.
Pharisees and the Sadducees - Mark 11:27
The
chief priests,
scribes and
elders represented both of the major parties in Judaism of Jesus' day: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. From their perspective Jesus' royal entry into Jerusalem and his act of cleansing the temple demanded some kind of a response. They all joined together against him. These are the same three groups that Jesus had already said would reject him and seek his death (8:31). The plural
chief priests includes not only the presently serving High Priest, but also any former high priests who were still living.
Jesus' authority - Mark 11:28
The challenge of the Jewish leaders focused on Jesus'
authority. Authority is the right to exercise power. More specifically they questioned what his authority was to do what he had just done in the Temple. This was only the most recent clash over authority. The conflict had begun back at the beginning of Jesus' ministry (1:22, 27; 2:10; 3:15).
Authority of John the Baptist - Mark 11:29-30
Jesus responded by trapping them with a question about the authority of John the Baptist. Did John receive his authority from man or from God? (The word
heaven was a typical Jewish way of avoiding saying the name of God.)
A threat to the chief priest - Mark 11:31-32
The fact that the people regarded John as a true prophet from God was a great threat to the chief priest and the rest of the Jerusalem aristocracy. In 1 Macc. 14:35-49 when Israel had driven the foreign forces out of Jerusalem Simon, and his sons after him, was designated high priest, governor, and leader of Israel "until a trustworthy priest arises" (v.41). If they admitted that John had been from God, they would have needed to give up all of their authority and power. They were unable to answer without either angering the people or admitting their guilt for rejecting God's messenger. So they claimed that they didn't know.
Jesus refused to explain - Mark 11:33
Jesus refused to explain his authority in the face of such hard-hearted disbelief.
Jesus began to speak in parables - Mark 12:1
But Jesus was not finished talking to them. He turned and went on the offensive. His parable was a condemning attack on their hypocrisy and pretended interest in the source of his authority. Jesus let them know that he understood that they were plotting his death. The parable was built on the long Old Testament tradition of describing Israel as God's
vineyard (Ps. 80:8-16; Isa. 5:1-5; Jer. 2:21; Jer. 19:10-14). The
vine growers were the leaders of Judaism.
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