Mark 10:32 – 11:25 (Week 19) Study Notes And Questions

Mark 10:32 – 11:25 (Week 19) Study Notes and Questions

Key Theme Genuine worship, spiritual fruit.

During the personal study time, have people break the passage into days (with the first day as Palm Sunday).

Sunday: Drawing Near to Jerusalem (10:32-11:11) What's different about what Jesus is saying? What does he require of the disciples? He's prophesying very specifically. Calls himself "Son of Man", provides a lot of detail. He's asking the disciples to risk the danger he describes, have faith that things will turn out just as Jesus has said.

What are the ironies in James' and John's request? How does Jesus handle the situation? Among others, they are acting like the master. Jesus has just talked about his suffering, and they have no idea what he's talking about. Jesus handles the situation quickly and in community (as with the discussion about who was the greatest – 9:34).

Where have we seen Jesus' upside-down views of servant-leadership in the last few weeks? What do they mean for us? Last shall be first, children getting into the kingdom, hard for the rich etc. Greatness isn't bad, but Jesus tells them a different way to approach it. If you want to be first (and Jesus doesn't condemn the desire to be first), then learn to be a slave of all.

Who is Bartimaeus? What contrasts do you see between James and John and Bartimaeus? Bar = son of, so Bartimaeus is the son of Timaeus (this will be important later). James and John are concerned about power and position, Bartimaeus is humble, concerned about mercy, knows who Jesus is and his power. How do these contrasts echo back to other themes? Those who exalt themselves will be humbled (James and John) but those who humble themselves will be exalted (Bartimaeus). What other themes do you see restated here? The crowd is "preventing one of these little ones from coming to Jesus" when they sternly order Bartimaeus to be quiet.

What's the significant of the colt? A horse is associated with war and power. But this is a baby horse. Fulfils a prophecy in Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion... See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey". The horse is unbroken, yet (strangely) is quiet and allows Jesus to ride on it. Jesus humbles himself by riding on a donkey. Why are the strewn garments worth mentioning? The hosannas? What are the people wanting? It's a sign of royalty to spread garments in front of someone. "Hosanna" means "Save, I pray", and the people probably mean "save us from the Romans". The people are looking for a new king, someone powerful to save them from political oppression.

What sort of king is Jesus proclaiming himself to be? Humble, upside-down kingdom. First will be last, king rides a young donkey.

What does Jesus do after this triumphal entry? Goes to the temple, looks around, leaves. A bit anti-climactic.

Monday: A Fig Tree and Money-Changers (11:12-11:19) What is the significance of figs? What does Jesus have against this tree? Figs are associated with prosperity, productiveness. They are a token of peace and divine favor. "Bethany" means "house of young figs". There were only leaves on the tree, no buds so no potential for fruit. Mid-spring is not the season for figs but at least it should have had buds. According to one theory: before the true figs come out the tree grows taqsh (that's in Arabic) and leaves. Taqsh aren't real figs but they were eaten by peasants. So since the tree had leaves it should at least have had taqsh, but it didn't. From this Jesus would have known that it wouldn't have figs later. So the tree really was fruitless and would continue to be so.

Who were the money-changers? Why did Jesus respond to them the way he did? Just in a bad mood? Pilgrims came to the temple from all over during Passover, and had to buy animals to sacrifice. The money changers cheated the pilgrims by charging them unfair rates to change their Roman currency into temple currency (temple currency couldn't have a graven image of Caesar). This happened in the Court of the Gentiles. They also used the temple as a shortcut between the city and the Mount of Olives, carried goods through. Quotes: "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations" (Isaiah 56:7); "Has this house, which bears my name, become a den of robbers to you?" (Jeremiah 7:11); "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me" (Malachi 3:8).

Some background on the Temple There were three temples: 1. Temple of Solomon, torn down by Nebuchadnezzar during Babylonian occupation. 2. Temple of Zerubbabel (see book of Haggai), which was torn down and damaged in 200-150BC. 3. Temple of Herod: Herod the Great replaced the temple (20-10 BC), and doubled the foundation. It was very elaborate and beautiful.

The temple consists of concentric areas:  The outer court of the Gentiles, which is where the money-changers were located.  The court of (Jewish) women, which was off-limits to Gentiles on pain of death.  The court of Israelites, which was only open to ritually pure Jewish men – the altar was here.  The sanctuary, only open to Levites and priests.  The holy of holies, only open to the High Priest once a year. The dwelling place of God.

How is it a den of thieves?  Pilgrims are being robbed of their money as they buy at unfair rates.  Gentiles are being robbed of a chance to pray, because their court is a hectic marketplace.  God is being robbed of faith and worship.

What did Jesus do when he arrived in Jerusalem? What did he want to see? Went to the temple and looked around. He wanted to see people praying, but instead saw the marketplace.

What are the parallels between this and the fig tree? At the temple, he wanted to find spiritual figs (prayer) but instead found only leaves (commercial activity and corruption).

What did he do to the fig tree? What happened? What's the symbolism? He cursed it, and it withered to the roots. He was really judging the temple and the people of Israel, drawing attention to their lack of spiritual fruit, warning of the consequences. The temple system had withered too.

What was the result of Jesus clearing the temple? The religious leaders sought a way to destroy him. He's now set a collision course with the religious leaders, which ensures his destiny. They're motivated by fear, survival, jealousy, profit.

Tuesday: The Power of Prayer (11:20-11:25) What does Peter say? Why does Jesus answer the way he does? What does prayer have to do with the fig tree and the temple? "Master, look!" – Peter is surprised that Jesus' words have been effective. Jesus responds with a reference to the temple. The temple is supposed to be the house of prayer, but has withered. In the temple system, whether a prayer was effective was determined by proper ritual, location of the prayer (in the temple), sacrifices, proper stance, money. Jesus is showing instead that the determining factor is faith in God, forgiveness.

What's the mountain? "Have faith in God" versus what? The mountain is Mt Zion, Jerusalem, at the peak of which is the temple. Have faith in God vs the temple, the mountain. Aside from faith, what else is essential to prayer? What does this have to do with the temple? Forgiveness. As far as the temple is concerned, the Jews hated the Gentiles – no reconciliation or forgiveness was offered or made possible. Their lack of concern for the Gentiles was evident in the use of the Gentile Court.

The temple was no longer a place of prayer. So Jesus sets the pace for a new type of relationship with God, not mediated by temples or priests, but one in which forgiveness is available as people pray directly to God.

Application Questions  What robs our life of prayer? Where are we leafy but not fruitful?  Are there things we do that rob God of his worship, or people of their worship?  Are we part of the religious system? Are there old wineskins we need to cast off? Mark 11:27 – 12:17 (Week 20) Study Notes and Questions

Key Theme Jesus' authority, rendering to God what is God's.

Tested by Religious Authorities (11:27-11:33) What is the scene? What's just happened? What day is it? They're in Jerusalem, at the temple. It's Tuesday morning, and on Monday (the previous day), Jesus cast out the money-changers. So there's a lot of tension in the air. People are probably wondering whether Jesus is back to pick a fight.

What question is he asked? What are they referring to? He's asked by the religious establishment what authority he's acting under. The question relates to his actions of the previous day, in cleansing the temple.

How does he answer? Why doesn't he answer the specific question? Why does he ask the question he does? He asks them about John's authority. Gives them a chance to think about John and repentance, and perhaps to reconsider John and hence his message.

Why does he focus on John's baptism? John's baptism prepared people for Jesus.

How do they answer? Were they telling the truth? "We do not know". They were telling the truth – the irony was that they didn't know, because they'd chosen not to know.

What was their dilemma? What was the issue for them? What wasn't the issue for them? They were concerned with politics, fearful of the crowd's reaction. They really weren't concerned about the truth. They have never investigated the truth of John's claims – or Jesus' – so they are telling the truth when they claim not to know.

This question about John is also a parable about Jesus: John baptized Jews, called people to repentance and back into relationship with God. Jesus cleansed ("baptized") the Temple and called its leaders to repentance and back to the original purpose of the Temple.

Why didn't he answer them directly? But what does he say about his authority? He didn't answer directly because they weren't prepared for it (John the Baptist's words hadn't done the work in their hearts), so they wouldn't have accepted it. But Jesus does imply that his authority is from the same place that John's authority is from. Parable of the Vineyard (12:1-12:12) What is the relationship between this parable and the context? They'd asked Jesus about his authority. He continues to spell it out here.

What does the parable represent? It represents the nation of God in the Old Testament – see Isaiah 5:1-7, where a similar parable is told. The Vineyard is Israel, the planter is God.

How does the vineyard owner provide for his vineyard? He set a hedge around it and built a tower for protection. He also dug a pit for the wine press, which shows that he expected fruit and productivity.

Who are the tenants? The chief priests, scribes, religious leaders – the whole Temple institution. What does the owner want? Some of the fruit, not even all. What is the tenants' problem? They are stewards, but act like owners. How did their disobedience begin? Began by withholding fruit and hurting servants, but escalated. What is their idea of their owner? Think he's weak, mistook his patience for weakness. Who are the servants who are killed? The prophets, John the Baptist. What motivates the owner in continuing to send people? Mercy. Why do they kill the son? To get the inheritance. Is this logical? No, but they think the landlord is inept, weak, powerless. How well do they know the owner? Not well. What happens in the story at this point? In v.9, the tense changes – now future. The story is not over, but the outcome is certain. Destruction for the tenants. What does the quotation about the stone (from Psalm 118-22-23) mean? What was rejected? The stone, the son. What happened to it? It became the head of the corner. Of what? A new building, a new Temple. Did they understand? Enough to know that the parable is about them. What are they afraid of? The multitude, losing power. What should they be afraid of? God, the vineyard owner, who is against them. How did they respond? Left Jesus and went away. Wrong response. Outsiders. Why did he tell this parable? In response to their original question about his authority. Does he answer their original question? How? Yes – with 3 parables – John's baptism, the vineyard, the rejected stone. What is the answer? This was the Lord's doing: Jesus' authority is from the Lord.

Another Test (12:13-12:17) Why do they send these two groups to trap Jesus? Ironice, because these two groups (Pharisees and Herodians) hated each other. Shows how threatened the religious authorities felt -- willing to go to any lengths to silence Jesus.

What is the issue? Why is it a difficult question? Paying taxes – the Pharisees (church) and Herodians (state) would disagree about the answer, so he couldn't win. Also, if he says "yes", the crowds won't like it (they're looking to Jesus to free them from Roman oppression), but if he says "no", he could get in trouble with the Romans.

What is ironic about what they say to Jesus? They correctly note that he is true, not influenced by trying to win favor with people – they use this to flatter him, even though they are the opposite. They speak the truth to him, but it is flattery and hypocrisy – they don't believe their own statements.

What is the evidence of their hypocrisy? The coin they produce has Caesar's likeness and inscription – it is not legal in the temple (which is why moneychangers are needed). They show him a Roman coin.

What does Jesus say should be done with the coin? Render it to Caesar, because it has Caesar's likeness and inscription, saying "Caesar son of the divine Augustus", which attributes deity to Caesar.

What does one give to God? That which is God's. What's another word for likeness? Image. Who bears God's image? People (see Genesis 1:26-27). What is the job of priests? To render people to God. What were they doing? Keeping the people, using them for their own purposes. What were the tenants doing? Keeping the fruit, not giving it to the rightful owner. When the son came to the vineyard, what did he want? Fruit. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, what did he want? Spritiual fruit (remember the fig tree): prayer & worship, Gentiles, the people, the leaders.

What is the temptation for leaders? To draw people to ourselves, to make people dependent on us, keep the fruit of the people for ourselves, rather than pointing people to God. It is possible to be at the apex of religion and miss God. In fact, people in this position are in danger of competing with God and withholding what is rightfully his.

What are the first signs of this? Not killing the son, just holding back some of the fruit. It can start deceptively small.

Ultimately, Jesus most perfectly bears the image of God. Ironically, the Pharisees rendered him to Caesar, rather than to God. Application Questions  In what ways do we keep from rendering to God what is his?  How do we as leaders draw people into dependence on ourselves rather than on God?  How are we tempted to render ourselves, our lives, our loyalties etc to Caesar rather than to God? Example: "Die for your country" is not a Christian sentiment. There is only one cause worth dying for, and only one being we are to render ourselves to – God, in whose image we are created.