The King Comes and Cleans House

THE KING COMES AND CLEANS HOUSE

An Exposition of Mark 11:1-25

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: June 20, 2021

Series: Mark: Knowing and Following God’s Son

Note: Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning. I invite you to turn to Mark 11. In the last few months I've been talking a lot about and preaching through Chapters 8, 9, and 10 – and maybe someone wondered what comes after Chapter 10. Someone asked me that, and I answered, ‘Chapter 11!’ We're just trekking on!

Now it is a little interesting to be reflecting on today’s passage, which is referred to as the triumphal entry passage, at a time other than Holy Week. You know, this is the sort of passage that is regularly read and sometimes preached on Palm Sunday. But we're going through the Gospel of Mark, and it is really helpful to see the passage in context. In fact, if you just had verses 1-10 in front of you, you might think that this is just a wonderful triumphant entry of the King into the holy city. And yet, we're going to look at verses 1-25. These twenty-five verses really fit together as a unit – and what we will realize is that the entry wasn't as triumphant as the phrase would lead you to think. As it turns out, Jesus has come on holy business to confront the unfruitfulness of Israel.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

So let’s begin reading at the first verse of Mark 11. Holy Scripture says,

¹ Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples ² and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” ⁴ And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. ⁵ And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. ⁷ And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. ⁸ And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. ⁹ And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! ¹⁰ Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” ¹¹ And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

¹² On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³ And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

¹⁵ And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. ¹⁶ And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷ And he was teaching them and saying to them, “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 the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. ¹⁹ And when evening came they went out of the city.

²⁰ As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹ And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” ²² And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. ²³ Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:1-25)

This is the Word of God, and it is for our good. Let's pray.

Father, As we come before your Word, we pray that you would remove all bitterness and unforgiveness from our hearts – because if it is present in our hearts it will interfere with our fellowship with you, it will undermine our capacity to experience your transforming power in our lives. I pray that as we come together before your Word that our hearts would be united toward one another in grace and mercy and love and patience, so that we can hear and be transformed by what you are saying. Father, speak to us and build us up. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

WALKING THROUGH THE PASSAGE

I'm going to walk through this passage in four parts. Before too long I'm going to attempt to show you how these four parts fit together. Seeing how the passage fits together will help us to understand what is going on here. But let's begin.

Part 1: Jesus Enters Jerusalem and Inspects the Temple (v. 1-11)

The first part, covering verses 1-11, is this: Jesus enters Jerusalem and inspects the temple. As you know, Jesus has been journeying to Jerusalem. He has been going from the north to the south. He was in Jericho at the end of Chapter 10, which is about 15 to 20 miles from Jerusalem. Now they are in Bethphage and Bethany (v. 1), just a couple miles from Jerusalem. And onward they go.

Jesus enters Jerusalem as the one who is in charge (v. 1-7). He takes charge. He makes arrangements for the colt that he will ride on into the holy city. He gives his disciples instructions about what to do, and it happens just as he tells them it will happen. Jesus is Lord even in his entry into Jerusalem.

Jesus is honored as he enters Jerusalem (v. 8-10). You get the idea of this beautiful procession, this celebration and festivity, as they lay down leafy branches before the Lord. As he approaches the city, they're singing shouts of praise and blessing: “Hosanna!” (v. 9). “Hosanna” literally means save, I pray. It is a prayer for salvation. And yet, the term had actually become a term that just indicates praise – praise to God. “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest!” (v. 9-10) They are celebrating and anticipating.

The fact that Jesus is entering the holy city on a colt is actually fulfilling Old Testament prophecy. He is announcing in a subtle way that he is the King who has come to save his people. It says in Zechariah 9:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
    righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
    and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
    and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.” (Zechariah 9:9-10)

By riding into Jerusalem on a colt, Jesus is announcing that he is the promised King. He is the righteous King of Israel who would establish a kingdom of peace for all peoples and all nations.

It is doubtful that many people understood what was really going on. They were looking for a more political and military salvation from the enemy called Rome. They didn't really understand that Jesus had come to lay down his life as a sacrifice for sin. But, nevertheless, they are celebrating his entry as the Messiah into Jerusalem.

And yet, notice how the celebration is short-lived. This triumphal entry has been described as very anti-climactic, and indeed it is. Because even though there's all this fanfare, once Jesus arrives in Jerusalem it all seems to just dissipate. Jesus goes to the temple (v. 11), but there's no great celebration or praise that takes place on his account in the temple. In verse 11, Jesus seems to be a man alone, though perhaps the twelve apostles are with him.

Verse 11 says that Jesus “entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything…” Jesus came as the Inspector. He came to investigate what was going on in his Father's house. And it is at this point that I want to show you how the passage fits together. Because when you understand how the passage fits together, it helps to understand what is going on – and it also helps you appreciate why we should read all of these twenty-five verses together.

How the Passage Fits Together

In verse 11, Jesus inspects the temple. In verses 12-14, Jesus inspects and judges a fig tree. In verses 15-19, Jesus judges the temple. Do you see a pattern here? He inspects the temple. Then he inspects and judges the fig tree. And then he judges the temple. What this indicates to us is that the inspecting and judging of the fig tree is a symbolic representation of what he is doing to the temple.  

Furthermore, if you go to verse 20, what happened to that fig tree which he pronounced a curse upon? It “withered away to its roots” (v. 20). Jesus inspected and judged a fig tree – and it was totally destroyed. Likewise, he is inspecting and judging the temple – and it will be totally destroyed. That is what is going on in this passage. And then there is some wonderful, beautiful application for us that comes at the end (in v. 22-25).

Part 2: Jesus Inspects and Judges a Fig Tree (v. 12-14)

Now let's go to the second part of our passage in verses 12-14. Here Jesus inspects and judges a fig tree. He is walking along and “he was hungry” (v. 12). The fact that he is physically hungry is just background to these verses. What happens here is not Jesus being vindictive because he was hungry and this tree didn't meet his needs and therefore he cursed the tree. That is not what's going on here. Jesus’ physical hunger is just a window into the deeper lesson that he is trying to teach his disciples – and that he is trying to teach us, because it was written down for our instruction and benefit. Jesus, being hungry and desiring fruit, goes to this fig tree. He sees that it is leafy. And many have pointed out – I thought this was very helpful and I hadn't thought of it myself – that the fig tree from a distance looks alive because it has leaves on it, but when Jesus got close and inspected it the tree was shown in reality to be unfruitful.

Now Mark tells us that “it was not the season for figs” (v. 13) – but remember, this really isn't about the fruitfulness of the fig tree. What it is really about is the fruitfulness of the temple. There are seasons when there is fruit on trees, but when it comes to God's people and God's house, they should always be fruitful.

So Jesus noticed that the fig tree was unfruitful. Though it looked alive and looked impressive, the actual substance of it was empty and unfruitful. And this led him to pronounce a judgment and curse upon the tree: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” (v. 14). And this is what is going to happen to the temple.

Part 3: Jesus Judges the Temple (v. 15-19)

Now let's go to the third part of our passage in verses 15-19, where Jesus judges the temple. Verse 15 says: “they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple…” By the way, this temple was a huge complex. Most people think that the part of the temple that he entered into to do what he's about to do is a place called the Court of the Gentiles, which was a whopping 35 acres big.[1] So it's a pretty big patch of earth. And this was a place where the Gentiles could come and worship the God of Israel. And what did Jesus see? He sees that it had become commercialized. Verse 15 continues: “he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.” (v. 15-16)

Now it is not as if the sacrificial system under which the people sacrificed animals to the Lord, or the temple tax by which taxes were received in order to fund the temple system – it is not as if these were inherently wrong. But Jesus sees in these activities, which had been moved into the Court of the Gentiles, that their priorities had been completely flipped. Instead of focusing on the temple as the place of meeting with God – as a place of worship, as a place of welcoming all kinds of people, including Gentiles and foreigners into the temple so that they can engage with the Lord – they had lost sight of that and it had become all about the temple system, the temple institution, the temple bureaucracy.

In verse 17 Jesus quotes from the Old Testament, specifically from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 – “And he was teaching them and saying to them, 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.” Remember what we read from Zechariah 9:9, that the King of Israel would “speak peace to the nations”. And in Isaiah 56 God said: “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:7) And yet, they were not welcoming the Gentiles. They were not allowing the foreigners to come and meet the God of Israel. And so, Jesus recognized that this is a temple that had lost its purpose.

And then Jesus says at the end of verse 17: “you have made it a den of robbers”. That phrase “den of robbers” comes out of Jeremiah 7. It is very interesting if you look at the context of Jeremiah 7. In Jeremiah 7, the people were depending on the temple. They thought their relationship to the temple guaranteed their security and preservation as God's people. And yet, if you read through Jeremiah 7, what it says to that presumption is ‘No!’ Your lives are completely out of step with the character and the ways of God. Therefore God says, I am going to come and I am going to do to your temple what I did to the house of Shiloh. I am going to destroy it (see Jeremiah 7:1-15) That was several hundred years ago, but now Jesus realizes that this same thing is happening again. God's people, and especially the leadership, have turned away from their true calling. And now they are under the judgment of God.

Now the religious leaders were not thrilled at Jesus’ censure: “And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.” (v. 18) In other words, they couldn't just arrest him on the spot and destroy him straightaway because that would not have gone over well with the people – because the people were hanging on his words, and they were enjoying his teaching. Jesus was very popular with the ordinary folks. And so, the religious leaders had to plot and scheme as to how they would succeed at taking Jesus down.

Notice the implication that carries over from verse 14 when Jesus said, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” Remember, the fig tree really represents the temple. And what Jesus is saying is that this temple is going to be destroyed and this physical temple in Jerusalem will never again be a place of fruitfulness. Judgment is approaching. For the overseers of the temple, their time is up.

Part 4: Jesus Instructs His Disciples to be God's House of Prayer (v. 20-25)

Another day goes by as we pass from verse 19 to verse 20. Verses 20-21 say, “As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.””

Before I get into Jesus' answer in verses 22-25, let me give you my summary of part 4: Jesus instructs his disciples to be God's house of prayer. Something really pivotal is happening in the plan of God – and actually, when we get to Mark 12:1-12, we're going to see this even more clearly. In fact, if you have Mark 12 in front of you, look at verse 9. It says in verse 9: “What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.” God's kingdom is likened to a vineyard and its stewardship had been given to these tenants (representing the Jewish religious leaders who want to destroy Jesus). And what does it say will happen? God will come and destroy the unfaithful religious leaders and give the care and stewardship of his kingdom to others. That is what is happening in our passage in Chapter 11. What's happening  is that God's house (the physical temple in Jerusalem) is going to be destroyed, but God is going to establish and raise up another house – a true house of prayer – in its place. This new and true house of prayer is seen in verses 22-25.

In verses 20-21 we learn that the fig tree has withered to its roots because Jesus cursed it – because he pronounced judgment on it – and Peter calls attention to what had happened. Then Jesus answers Peter in verses 22-25. Let’s walk through Jesus’ answer.  

“Have Faith in God” (v. 22)

Jesus begins, “Have faith in God.” (v. 22) Why was the temple under judgment? Why was Israel so unfruitful? The heart of Israel was the city of Jerusalem, and the heart of Jerusalem was the temple. Why were they so unfruitful? Because they didn't trust the Lord. God's people stand by faith, trusting him, or they don't stand at all. And we know that when the Bible talks about having faith in God, it is not talking about some vague hope; it is not talking about some vague transcendent force or power. When we talk about biblical faith, we're talking about the personal God who is revealed in Scripture, the personal God who is revealed in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so having faith in God means having faith in God's Word and having faith in God's promises and having faith in God's character and having faith in God's ways and having faith in God's plan. God has a plan here to destroy the temple and to raise another one in its place. And so, we need to be trusting God to do his work in and through our lives.

Believe and Declare God's Earth-Shattering Gospel (v. 23)

Now let's move to verse 23. Verse 22 told us to have faith in God. Verse 23 tells us to believe and declare God's earth-shattering gospel.

Verse 23 is actually a very difficult verse to understand. And let me tell you a little bit about how I handle difficult verses. I try not to freak out. Most of the Bible, thankfully, is very clear. If we pay attention to it, if we are in fellowship with the Lord and his Spirit is at work in our lives, and if we pay attention to what is written in context, then most of the Bible is clear to understand. But the apostle Peter said, concerning the writings of Paul, that there are in them some things difficult to understand (2 Peter 3:16). Then he said that ignorant and unstable people twist these difficult passages to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). So there are some challenging passages in the Bible. We shouldn't be intimidated when we come to a verse that is difficult to understand. And yet we should proceed cautiously, because we don't want to twist it. We don't want to misuse it. We are blessed that the overall context of verses 1-25 is pretty clear, and that is helpful. The ability to understand the overall message of these 25 verses doesn't hang on what you do with verse 23. But verse 23 is a challenging verse.

In this verse Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” (v. 23) What does this mean? What is it talking about? It seems like a lot of people just take verse 23 as a metaphorical segue into verse 24 – and thus the real point is about prayer, about mountain-moving faith that bears fruit in mountain-moving prayer. According to this viewpoint, we're not really supposed to speak to mountains. This view might be right, but I’m not convinced.  

Other people might understand verse 23 in a quite different way, and now all of a sudden every one of your personal problems or trials is a mountain. And what you need to do is speak to your problems: ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea.’ But I don't think that's on the right track either.

So I'm going to tell you what I think. Like I said, this is a difficult verse. I hold the view I’m about to share with an open hand. I wouldn't be offended if you look at it a different way. I wouldn't be surprised if in two years I look at it in a different way. But I'm just going to do my best with what is before me right now.

When Jesus says “whoever says to this mountain” – what mountain is he talking about? In Chapter 11 he has been in the temple (v. 11, 15), he has been talking about the temple (v. 17), and the fig tree represents the temple (v. 12-14). Now it makes sense to me that he would continue this theme of talking about the temple. And so I think that “this mountain” is actually a reference to the physical temple in Jerusalem and, more specifically, to the temple mount – the hill where the temple was located.[1] This temple is under judgment (v. 11-17) and is about to be destroyed – and it will be destroyed in the year 70 AD, about 40 years from the time of these events in Mark 11. And so this becomes a very important word to the apostles and to the first generation of disciples, because they were Jews and the temple was a big deal for them. This is a big deal for their faith in the Lord, because they will have to articulate this truth. Jesus says: “whoever says to this mountain [i.e., this temple and the hill that it is on], ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea.’” Do you remember back in Chapter 9 that Jesus said that it would be better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck and be thrown into the sea then for you to cause one of his little ones to stumble (Mark 9:42)? It is the language of judgment and the language of destruction. Here in Mark 11:1-25 we're talking about the destruction of a mountain that holds the temple. And I think what Jesus is saying to his apostles and to that first generation of disciples is something like this[2]:

Listen, you're going to have to believe and speak some very difficult things for the next 40 years, because the temple is under judgment and yet the temple will stand until the Romans destroy it 40 years from now. And yet, you're going to have to think and believe and speak in the kind of way that says, ‘Life is not found in this physical temple, reconciliation with God is not found in and through this physical temple, the sacrifices in the temple do not suffice to make one right with God. The temple, the temple system, the temple sacrifices, they are not the answer. There is one sacrifice that makes one right with God. The sacrifice of the Son of God, the Lamb of God, who gave his life as a ransom for many. There is one Cornerstone of a new temple that God is building.’ As it says in Mark 12: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Mark 12:10). God is building something new – a new temple, a spiritual temple – and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone.’ And you're going to have to speak this to the church – not a place, but believers who are scattered all over the Mediterranean world. You're going to have to tell them, ‘You are God's building. You are God's temple. You have access to God through Christ. Earthly Jerusalem is in bondage. It is the heavenly Jerusalem that matters. The temple and the temple system and the temple sacrifices are obsolete.’ You're going to have to speak like Paul does in 1 Thessalonians: God's wrath has come upon the unbelieving Jews who opposed Jesus and his apostles and who hinder the spread of the Gospel. You're going to have to believe that and speak that and be confident that it will come to pass. You're going to have to build your life on it because ­­– read the book of Hebrews! – if you go back and try to build your life on what's happening in the physical temple, then you have no share in Christ. You have to break from the temple. You must believe and speak and understand that it will be destroyed, and that God's saving presence is no longer taking place through that temple but through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true temple, and we who believe in Christ are being built up as a holy temple, a spiritual building in the Lord. (See 1 Corinthians 3:9-15; Galatians 4:21-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16; Hebrews 12:18-29)

This is the way the New Testament speaks. Thus verse 23 tells us to believe and declare God's earth-shattering gospel and build your life upon it – so that when 70 AD comes and the temple is turned over, and every stone is on the ground, your faith is not shattered. Because your faith is in God. Because your faith is in what God has done through the Lord Jesus Christ. Because you – God’s people! – are the true temple.

Now that takes us to verse 24: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Do you see what's going on here? God's physical house, which should have been a house of prayer, is going to be destroyed (v. 11-17). It will be gone. And now what's coming into view is a believing people ­– a believing community – which is God's true and fruitful house of prayer.

When Solomon prayed that wonderful prayer at the dedication of the temple, in the book of 1 Kings, he kept praying over and over again – if your people pray to you toward the temple – with the temple representing the presence of God and the promises of God and the mercy of God – then hear and answer from heaven (1 Kings 8:22-53).[3] What Jesus is teaching us here in Mark 11 is that you will pray – but you will no longer pray toward the temple. Now you will pray in and through Jesus. Because of our relationship with Jesus, we are to be a people of prayer. We are to pray for big things – for the progress of the gospel, for the salvation of sinners, for the building up of the church into a holy people, for boldness and courage in proclaiming the gospel and making new disciples. Further, we must always remember that God's fruitful house of prayer is supposed to be “for all the nations” (v. 17). We don't want to be like the disciples when they had an ‘exclusive club’ mindset (Mark 9:38-41) or when they wanted to keep the children away (Mark 10:13-16). We should always be looking beyond the current borders of our church family. We want to reach more and more people. We don't want to become an internally focused club, thus forgetting that we are on mission to shine the light of Jesus Christ into our community and into our world.

Finally, we come to verse 25. Last week we learned that selfish ambition can derail our participation in Jesus’ mission. And here we learn that unforgiveness and bitterness and unresolved broken relationships can derail our participation in Jesus’ mission. Jesus says, “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (v. 25) There is this interesting flow of thought in the New Testament. On the one hand, we forgive because we have been forgiven: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) The Father forgives us first, then we forgive one another. But Jesus also teaches on multiple occasions that our ongoing fellowship with God depends, in part, on our willingness to take his forgiveness and mercy and grace and share these with others. So ‘forgive because you have been forgiven’ and ‘forgive that you may be forgiven’ are both true aspects of our walk with God. Therefore, don't harbor resentment! Don't harbor unforgiveness! Walk in love and extend forgiveness to others! Otherwise you hinder your fellowship with God and you render your prayers unfruitful.

And so, when you get right down to it, the powerful working of God in and through his people is not dependent on us being incredibly smart, incredibly gifted, or incredibly insightful. The promise of God's powerful working in and through his people comes down to something very practical: love one another! The Father has loved us, therefore we love one another. And one of the most important ways to love one another is to forgive one another. If anyone has done anything to sin against you or to rub you the wrong way, forgive that person!

The Vision of Verses 22-25

So what is the vision of verses 22-25? We have faith in a big God who is with his people (v. 22). We believe and declare a big gospel (v. 23). We offer big prayers, expecting them to be answered (v. 24). But our prayers might not necessarily be answered right this minute. I asked a fellow pastor about verse 24 and he said: ‘don't forget time’. That’s right, time. Jesus said, “[Believe] that you have received it, and it will be yours” (v. 24), but he didn't say it will be yours in one second. It might be a second, or it might be a minute, or it might be a season, or it might be a long season. Keep praying, believing that what God has promised you, he will give. Thus we have persevering prayer, a big God, a big gospel, big prayers, and finally, big mercy by which we walk in forgiveness toward each other (v. 25).

LIVE UNDER THE BLESSING OF GOD

I'd ask you to turn in your Bible to Psalm 67, and we're going to close here.  I'm going to ask you to stand.

Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus Christ has not called us to live under his curse, and yet his curse is upon those who do not believe. The Lord has called us to live under his blessing. And we want the blessing of the Lord upon us for the sake of mission. And so, let's conclude our reflection on with Psalm 67:

¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face to shine upon us, Selah
² that your way may be known on earth,
    your saving power among all nations.
³ Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you!

⁴ Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you judge the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
⁵ Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you!

⁶ The earth has yielded its increase;
    God, our God, shall bless us.
⁷ God shall bless us;
    let all the ends of the earth fear him! (Psalm 67:1-7)

Let's pray.

Father, I pray that you would pour out your abundant blessing upon us, that we might know you all the more; that we might continue to taste and see that you are good and to believe and be strengthened by your promises; that you would continue to sanctify us and lead us in holiness and obedience and love and mercy. Father, we pray that South Paris Baptist Church would be one little, but fruitful expression of your house – your temple – with the message of Jesus going forth to the nations, thus drawing more and more people into your kingdom. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

ENDNOTES

[1] For understanding the mountain as a reference to the temple, see Kenneth L. Gentry, The Olivet Discourse Made Easy. Chesnee, SC: Victorious Hope Publishing, 2021 reprint (2010, 1999): p. 20.

[2] My current view is similar to and was influenced by James W. Voelz, Mark 8:27–16:20 (Concordia Commentary). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2019: p. 850-853.

[3] Voelz makes the connection between Mark 11:24-25 and 1 Kings 8:22-53. See James W. Voelz, Mark 8:27–16:20 (Concordia Commentary). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2019: p. 851, 853.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark (The Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark (The New International Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974.

Eckhard J. Schnabel, Mark (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries Vol. 2). Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2017.

James W. Voelz, Mark 8:27–16:20 (Concordia Commentary). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2019.

Ben Witherington III, The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001.