Exegesis of Mark 11-12-25

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree (Mt 21:1819)

12

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again. And his disciples heard it. Jesus Cleanses the Temple (Mt 21:1217; Lk 19:4548; Jn 2:1322)
15

Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it a den of robbers.
18

And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree (Mt 21:2022)
20

In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 Then Peter remembered and said to him, Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered. 22 Jesus answered them, Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. 24 So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
25

Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.1

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989 (Mk 11:1225). Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville

Sandwiches are thus literary conventions with theological puposes Edwards J R, 2002. The Gospel according to Mark. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Moreover, for Mark himself, as we have seen in chapter 11, the temple was a symbol of the nation, its destruction the result of Israels wickedness, and part of p 306 the nations punishment. 2 Writer, John Mark as the scribe of peter, them of suffering. Historical context is the persecutions in Rome under Nero 64- pre or post 70 as a date 65-75 as a range. The pericope in question is an example of Markan interpolation. It takes place upon Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem and this portion of the Markan narrative is dominated by conflict between Jesus and the religious leadership in Jerusalem (mark 11.1-13.37). This conflict was prominent in mark 1-3, where Jesus authority is continually challenged by the scribes, Pharisees and Herodians. In fact the challenge of Jesus and his authority over the Law as regards the Sabbath leads to the rejection and plot to kill or destroy Jesus in 3.6. The word used here is . This culminates in the scribes accusing Jesus ministry as being of the devil in chapter 4. The conflict that is so prevalent in the first three chapters is absent until Jesus entry into Jerusalem and the pericope in question, where the word is once again used to describe the plot to destroy or kill Jesus due to his attack on the Temple and the authorities there. The use of this verb within the pericope has ironic undertones as it is Jesus who will be destroyed but in his death and resurrection he will finally be vindicated upon the destruction of jerusalem and the temple with its power authority and sense of national pride. 18 In 8:31 Jesus predicted that he would be rejected by the . Now for the first time since his arrival in Jerusalem two of these groups appear in the narrative, so far only as spectators, but already with an explicit statement of their determination to destroy him, which recalls the similar resolution of the in 3:6. The omission of the as in 10:33 (they will reappear in 11:27 and in subsequent lists in 14:43, 53; 15:1) is probably a stylistic avoidance of too much repetition; they are the least colourful of the three groups. For the Jesus high-handed action in their temple, with its implication that it was not p 447 being run as God required, was a clear challenge to their authority. The scribes appear here as part of the same power group, but the narrative of Jesus activities and teaching in Galilee has provided plenty of material for specifically scribal concern (especially 3:22; 7:1 regarding scribes from Jerusalem). Even if they were unaware of what had happened outside the walls of Jerusalem the previous day, they could already see that he was dangerous. The clear differentiation between the authorities and the crowd is important (see above, pp. 42627). While no doubt some of Jesus supporters from the previous day may have been present, this is now essentially a Jerusalem crowd, and at this stage they, too, are on Jesus side. may seem premature, as Jesus has not yet begun his public teaching in the temple, but even the
2

Hooker, M. 1991. Blacks New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to Saint Mark (305 306). Continuum: London

minimal amount of involved in his temple protest (especially v. 17; see, too, 1:27 for used to include actions) would be enough to mark him as a man with a distinctive message. At this stage they are attracted rather than repelled by his radicalism.3 Morna hooker observes that throughout these chapters jesus messianic status is alluded to by mark without it ever being stated. The context of 10 with the blind bartimeaus recognising the son of david cannot be lost. These chapter start in one of hope and triumph but are really a story of failure. Failure of israels leaders to follow and worship god and of them to recognise and receive his Messiah. (Hooker, 1991:254) Hooker, M. 1991. Blacks New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to Saint Mark. Continuum: London This messianic identity has been seen at the very beginning in the prologue where Malachi and Isaiah quotes have been interspersed by Mark in one of high Christology. The Isaiah allusions of Gods salvation, the this is my son of who I am well pleased is reminiscent of the Psalm 2.7 with its messianic and Davidic overtones which is taken up by jesus in 12.36 sit at my right hand of psalm 110 Tenants as leaders 11.18 chief priests scribes 11.27 chief priests scribes elders 12.13 herodians and phrisees hated each other 12.18 Sadducees Temple seen as Jesus was the king, but he came in peace. He would not attack or overthrow Rome. In Palestine the ass was not a despised beast, but a noble one. When a king went to war he rode on a horse, when he came in peace he rode on an ass (Barclay, Mark, p. 264).4 Was it not unreasonable to curse the tree for being fruitless when, as Mark expressly says, it was not the season for figs? The problem is most satisfactorily cleared up in a discussion called The Barren Fig Tree published many years ago by W. M. Christie, a Church of Scotland minister in Palestine under the British mandatory regime. He pointed out first the time of year at which the incident is said to have occurred (if, as is probable, Jesus was crucified on April 6th, a.d. 30, the incident occurred during the first days of April). Now, wrote Christie, the facts connected with the fig tree are these. Toward the end of March the leaves begin to appear, and in about a week the foliage coating is complete. Coincident with [this], and sometimes even before, there appears quite
3

France, R. T. 2002. The Gospel of Mark : A commentary on the Greek text (446447). W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press: Grand Rapids, Mich.; Carlisle
4

Cooper, R. L. 2000. Mark. Holman New Testament Commentary; Holman Reference. Vol. 2 (192). Broadman & Holman Publishers: Nashville, TN

a crop of small knobs, not the real figs, but a kind of early forerunner. They grow to the size of green almonds, in which condition they are eaten by peasants and others when hungry. When they come to their own indefinite maturity they drop off. These precursors of the true fig are called taqsh in Palestinian Arabic. Their appearance is a harbinger of the fully formed appearance of the true fig some six weeks later. So, as Mark says, the time for figs had not yet come. But if the leaves appear without any taqsh, that is a sign that there will be no figs. Since Jesus found nothing but leaves leaves without any taqshhe knew that it was an absolutely hopeless, fruitless fig tree and said as much. But if that is the true explanation of his words, why should anyone trouble to record the incident as though it had some special significance? Because it did have some special significance. As recorded by Mark, it is an acted parable with the same lesson as the spoken parable of the fruitless fig tree in Luke 13:69.5 Mark frames the incident in the Temple with the cursing of the fig tree so that the two episodes comment on each other. Seen in light of the fig tree episode, the Temple incident is not so much a cleansing as a symbolic destruction (see Destruction of Jerusalem). Because it has been unfruitful like the fig tree, the Temple itself will be withered away to its very roots. Peculiar to Mark is the separation of the entry from the Temple incident by a full day. Jesus first enters Jerusalem, and coming to the Temple scrutinizes (periblepsamenos) everything before returning to Bethany for the night. The verb is distinctively Markan (six of its seven NT uses occur in Mark) and, when used in reference to Jesus, connotes casting a critical or discerning eye. (3:5, 34; 5:32; 10:23). The first visit prepares the reader for Jesus return. By depicting two visits to the Temple, Mark creates a place for the first portion of the fig tree episode which otherwise would have interrupted the triumphal entry (11:110; see Triumphal Entry).6

Kaiser, W. C., Jr., Davids, P. H., Bruce, F. F., & Brauch, M. T. 1997. Hard sayings of the Bible (442). InterVarsity: Downers Grove, Il
6

Green, J. B., McKnight, S., & Marshall, I. H. 1992. Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (817). InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, Ill.