By His Word
Mark 11:2-3 “And 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, wherein never man sat: loose him, and bring him.
And 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.”
This is, of course, the colt that Jesus rode into Jerusalem with the shouts of “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord”. “Hosanna in the highest”.
This is where Jesus presents Himself to the King’s City as King, according to prophesy:
Zechariah 9:9 ” Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
As King, although unrecognized by the rulers, He goes into the temple:
Mark 11:11 “And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.”
And as King, He sees all that needs to be set in order in the temple.
But He does not stay in Jerusalem….but goes out of the city.
The next day, coming into Jerusalem, to do the work that needed to be done; He was hungry.
Mark 11:12-13″And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.”
Here Jesus was hungry, and walked out of His way to have some figs.
On fig trees, the figs come on before the leaves; and there were leaves, so there should have been figs.
It was not the time of figs, but there were leaves; so there should have been figs.
But He found none.
So by His Word:
Mark 11:14 “And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it.”
You will notice “And Jesus answered”; Why this term?
Because the tree had “spoken”. It had rejected feeding the Son of Man, Jesus Christ; therefore Jesus “answered” it with a curse.
(Some say the fig tree is a figure of Israel: Religiously looking good, but without fruit unto God. But is there any among us, that can say that the Lord has not looked for fruit from them, and found leaves, only?)
So they continue into Jerusalem, where yesterday they had praised and blessed Him.
Mark 11:15-16 ” And 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 money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.”
Yesterday it was to manifest Himself as King, today it is to do the work of His Father, for His house. Setting in order that which was wanting in the service of God.
He did this Himself, casting out; and refusing entrance to those who would violate the temple. He had done this once before at the beginning of His ministry (John 2:13-16). Now He would do it again, as a witness against the hardness of their heart.
Then by His Word:
Mark 11:17 “And 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.”
Not only did He cleanse, He spoke concerning God’s will for His house.
To set in order.
Mark 11:18-19 ” And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought out how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
And when even was come, he went out of the city.”
But here again, He was rejected. The people were amazed at Him speaking with authority the doctrine of God. Amazed but unresponsive. And the rulers, instead of submitting to God’s Word, only sought to destroy Him.
The work finished He came into the city to do, He again leaves the city. He would not stay a night in Jerusalem, until the night of the passover feast.
By His Word the fig tree was cursed, and by His Word the temple was cleansed.
Mark 11:20-21″And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
And Peter calling to rememberance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree that thou cursedst is withered away.”
By His Word it was all done.
Then the Lord Jesus, wanting to set forth the importance of our words, showed His disciples what it was all about.
Mark 11:22 “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.”
Faith is that active ingredient in our life which makes real the things of God.
God will act for you if you have faith in Him. For real faith, trusts Him.
Are you doing and saying because it is what you want?
Or are you doing and saying because God wants you to?
Leaves are words, Fruit is obedient deeds.
A temple serving man, is not God’s temple.
Have faith in God….don’t just look good, or go along with everyone else. But believe God’s Word and obey Him.
Mark 11:23 “For 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.”
What a wonderful Word from our Lord Jesus! What an encouragement to His disciples, for soon everything was going to change. The reality of their faith would soon be shown. There were going to be plenty of “mountains” that would need to be removed in front of them, to bring them past Jesus crucified, to Jesus resurrected, to Jesus ascended, to the Holy Spirit given.
Here is faith in action.
And what is the mountain that I want to see cast into the sea?
It is that “mountain” (within me, and within my circumstances) that hinders me from seeing done, what I’ve been called to do by the Lord.
I want that mountain or mountains removed!
It is according to :
“And shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass.”
Faith sees God; “shall believe” is the hearts response to God’s Word to us.
The disciples were called to put their faith in action and believe God’s Word to go on in their callings.
So are we.
Mark 11:24-26 “Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire, when we pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
To believe when you pray, asking God for your requests, is to place yourself at His disposal to bring them to pass.
To do this, nothing must come between you and God.
Therefore, forgive, if you have anything against another person; and God will forgive you.
Everyone is on the same level: we all need forgiveness. And Jesus was plainly teaching that sins are to be forgiven, that our prayers are not hindered.
We need to pray…we have mountains to be removed. So have faith in God, and believe when you pray, forgiving all; that you may be forgiven. Then those mountains will be removed!
By His Word: He has said these things that we might put them into practice.
What will we do with them?
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 