Reading: Mark 11:1-26
Context: What is the significance of Jesus’ manner of entering Jerusalem, and what expectations does this fulfil?
Zechariah 9 includes a prophecy of a Messiah who would enter Jerusalem riding on a colt that had never been ridden before. Jesus fulfils that prophecy in this episode. The greetings He gets from the crowd acknowledge their desire for a Messiah and their hope that this guy was the one. The desired Messiah from the crowd’s perspective would liberate them from Roman occupation. They expected a military Messiah and a political one. Jesus does not fulfil that, and even the use of the colt suggests that He’s coming in as a peaceful ruler rather than a military one. Jesus fulfils what scripture says about Him and indicates to the crowd the kind of ruler He would be, even if they didn’t understand it at the time. It’s an indication to us, reading it now, of the kind of ruler to expect and what kind of ruler He was at the time.
It’s worth noting the precision of it all. The colt had never been ridden — that’s deliberate, and it speaks to a King who is not being swept along by events but is directing them. When the crowd threw their cloaks down and cut branches, they were drawing on a deep cultural vocabulary for welcoming a victorious king. “Hosanna!” — save us now — is exactly what He came to do. The gap between what the crowd expected and what He actually came to deliver is sobering to consider. They were in the presence of the King and still working from the wrong script. The question worth asking personally is whether we’ve allowed Jesus to define on His terms what kind of King He is, or whether we’re still projecting onto Him the kind of ruler we’d prefer.
Content: Why does Jesus cleanse the temple, and what does His anger reveal about God’s heart?
It’s fascinating to see Jesus cleanse the temple, having visited it when He rode in on a colt. Fascinating, like He surveyed the scene first and then knew, upon His return, that things had to be sorted out. And what needed to be sorted out was how His Father’s house had turned into something other than its purpose. Jesus never likes it when that which belongs to His Father is not fulfilling the Father’s will. He understands that His Father’s house is designed for people to communicate with His Father. That’s the point. The point that God is far more interested in communication with those who cry out to Him than in it being a business opportunity or trading time. Jesus’ anger says much about the value that He places on His Father’s house.
That visit the previous day matters. Mark tells us Jesus looked around at everything and then left — and only returned the next day to act. Considered, purposeful, deliberate. The court of the Gentiles — the one space designated for those outside the covenant to come and seek God — had been turned into a market floor. The people who should have been most welcomed in were surrounded by noise and commerce, and no room to pray. Jesus quotes Isaiah and Jeremiah together in His response, and the weight of that is significant: this wasn’t a new problem. The tendency to hollow out sacred space for lesser purposes runs through Israel’s history. His anger isn’t a loss of composure — it’s a precise and clear expression of what the Father actually values. Access. Every person being able to come and find Him, without being priced out or crowded out. That’s worth reflecting on in terms of the spaces we inhabit and what we communicate about who is welcome to encounter God through them.
Concept: How does the cursing of the fig tree relate to Jesus’ assessment of Israel’s spiritual condition?
Israel is expected to be fruitful – fruit being displayed in the character of God through their adherence to His standards. God’s relationship with His people means He invests His life in them so they can produce His life for others to be blessed by. He liberated them and set them in the Promised Land as an act of redeeming love so they might be for the praise of His glory. It’s a reasonable expectation. When that is not happening, God has every right to be very disappointed with that outcome and do something about it. Jesus’ relationship with that fig tree is a picture of that in action and also points to appreciating a lot more about God’s relationship with us. It’s reasonable if we’ve received so much from God and He’s given us so much that we should produce fruit, and the kind that lasts. The kind of fruit that reflects the rule of God, the kind of fruit that reflects the character of God, the kind of fruit that reflects the promise of God that all that’s good comes from Him, and all that’s right comes from Him.
Mark sandwiches the fig tree episode around the temple cleansing, and that structure is doing real work. The tree had leaves — it looked the part. But there was nothing there. All appearance, no substance. That is the same indictment being made about the temple establishment — the religious activity was visible and busy, but the fruit God actually desired was absent. The fig tree withered to its roots is a stark image. Not a bad season. Not poor soil. Fruitlessness exposed all the way down. But then Jesus follows it with teaching on prayer, faith, and forgiveness — and that’s intentional. He’s showing what genuine fruitfulness actually looks like. Not religious performance, but a living, trusting, forgiving connection with the Father. The tree rooted in that kind of relationship is the one that bears fruit worth having.
Conclusions: What areas of your life need “cleansing” to become places where God is properly honoured?
I want God to be glorified throughout my life. I operate in spirit, heart, mind and body, and so I want God to cleanse me in these areas. I do not want to take it for granted that all areas are sorted, and I don’t want to assume that some areas are better than others. I want to be a vessel of honour for God, where He can communicate with me and commune with me because I’m pure before Him. I also want to be a vessel through which He can communicate with others and invite them to commune with Him through me. That means I want to be far more interested in heavenly connection than I am in earthly pursuits. I want to be pure and fruitful for God to use because I want the heavenly rule to be an earthly rule wherever I am.
What this passage won’t let me do is stay vague about that. The fig tree had leaves. The temple was busy. Both were a problem. There are probably areas of my life that carry the appearance of fruitfulness — the habits, the language, the routines of faith — but if God were to look closely, He might find the substance isn’t quite matching up. The honest response is to invite that scrutiny rather than avoid it. Lord, look around — survey the scene, and when You return to deal with things, don’t let me resist what You find needs overturning. Because the goal isn’t a tidy life. It’s a house of prayer. A life where there’s no noise or clutter preventing others from finding their way to the Father. That kind of cleansing is ongoing. And it’s worth it.
Next time:
Episode Twenty: Authority and Conflict
Reading – Mark 11:27-12:27
Jesus’ triumphant entry indicates the authority He exercises, whether it’s in the temple to cleanse or in the fig tree to curse. Paying attention to the purpose helps us see the significance of the King on the colt. This gives us another reason to get the Word In so we can get the Word Out.
For His Name’s Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
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