Mark 11

¹And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

²And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

³And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

⁴And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

⁵And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?

⁶And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

⁷And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

⁸And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

⁹And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

¹⁰Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

See this passage illustrated in Mt 21:1-16

⁵And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?

What do ye, loosing the colt?. Or, why do ye do this? What authority have you for doing it?

¹¹And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

¹²And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

¹³And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

¹⁴And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

¹⁵And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

¹⁶And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

¹⁷And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

¹⁸And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

¹⁹And when even was come, he went out of the city.

²⁰And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

²¹And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

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.

²⁵And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

²⁶But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Mt 21:18 and Mt 21:19-22

Verse 11. Into the temple. Not into the edifice properly called the temple, but into the courts which surrounded the principal edifice. Our Saviour, not being of the tribe of Levi, was not permitted to enter into the holy or most holy place; and when, therefore, it is said that he went into the temple, it is always to be understood of the courts surrounding the temple. See Mt 21:12.

And when he had looked round about upon all. Having seen or examined everything. He saw the abominations and abuses which he afterwards corrected. It may be wondered at, that he did not at once correct them, instead of waiting to another day. But it may be observed that God is slow to anger, that he does not at once smite the guilty, but waits patiently before he rebukes and chastises.

The eventide. The evening; the time after three o’clock, P.M. It is very probable that this was before sunset. The religious services of the temple closed, without the offering of the evening sacrifice, at three o’clock, P. M., and Jesus probably soon left the city.

¹⁶And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

Any vessel. Any vessel used in cooking, or connected with the sale of their articles or merchandise.

¹⁸And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

All the people was astonished. He became popular among them. The Pharisees saw that their authority was lessened, or destroyed. They were therefore envious of him, and sought his life.

His doctrine. His teaching. He taught with power and authority so great that the multitudes were awed, and were constrained to obey.

²¹And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

Thou cursedst. To curse means to devote to destruction. This is the meaning here. It does not, in this place, imply blame; but simply that it should be destroyed.

²²And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

Have faith in God. Literally, “Have the faith of God.” This may mean, Have strong faith. or have confidence in God; a strong belief that he is able to accomplish things that appear most difficult with infinite ease, as the fig-tree was made to wither away by a word.

²⁵And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

And when ye stand praying. When ye pray. It seems that the posture in prayer was sometimes standing and sometimes kneeling. God looks upon the heart rather than upon our position in worship; and if the heart be right, any posture may be proper. It cannot be doubted, however, that in private, in the family, and wherever it can be conveniently done, the kneeling posture is more proper, as expressing more humility and reverence, and more in accordance with Scripture examples, Compare Ps 95:6, 2Chr 6:13, Dan 6:10, Lk 22:41, Acts 7:60, 9:40. Yet a subject like this may be regarded as of too much consequence, and we should be careful that anxiety about a mere form should not exclude anxiety about a far more important matter--the state of the soul.

Forgive, etc. Mt 6:12,15.