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The Triumphal Entry
11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 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. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “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!”
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.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 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. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
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. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 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.” 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. And when evening came they went out of the city.
The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree
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.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 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. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 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.”
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
(ESV)
Mark 11 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
The Pharisees were reeling. Jesus had just cleansed the Temple and done it with supreme authority. Aside from that one event, however, they were most likely trying to figure out who this man really was and what higher power He was appealing to. Investigating this truth was a responsibility that came with their title.
“As the official guardians of the Law, the members of the Sanhedrin had both the right and the responsibility to investigate anyone who claimed to be sent by God; and that included Jesus (see Deu 18:15-22). However, these men did not have open minds or sincere motives.”
Warren Wiersbe
and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?”
Mark 11:28 NASB
Jesus responds with one question. It was all He needed to expose their hypocrisy.
“Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.”
Mark 11:30 NASB
Jesus takes them back to John the Baptist to reveal that God’s truth is consistent. This is important. Many people today claim to have a direct line to God in which they discover new truth and insight that cannot be supported by Scripture. But God does not uncover new truth if we deny the truth He has already revealed. This is a tactic of false teachers. If they do not like what God has taught, they just change it or look for new information to fit their agenda and lifestyle. The Pharisees came with presuppositions that Jesus was not from God, therefore, the purpose of their question was to find evidence to convict Jesus, not to learn from Him.
“The Jewish religious leaders had not accepted what John had taught, so why should God say anything more to them?”
Warren Wiersbe
Their evaluation of John’s authority was the determining factor. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “You already know the answer, but now I’m going to make you say it out loud.” In fact, the Pharisees quickly discover they have walked into a trap. If they answer that John’s authority was not from God, then Jesus will question why they do not believe in Him. This was obvious. Everyone knew that John’s ministry pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. However, if they answer by saying John was not of God, the people would surely turn against the religious leaders as they believed wholeheartedly that John was a real prophet.
The presence of fruit is what will speak the loudest to those who question our character.
This was a problem and certainly an embarrassing one for the Pharisees. They had no answer.
Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Mark 11:33 NASB
Even though they are lying, this admission was certainly difficult for such self-righteous men. Note, they would rather embarrass themselves than stake a claim that Jesus was actually sent from God. Their lack of a response revealed their unbelievably calloused hearts. Interestingly, Jesus doesn’t answer them in the end. He will not contribute to their hypocrisy. Had they been honest with Jesus, He would have been honest with them. We must understand that when we come to Jesus with questions, we must deal honestly with the truth He has already revealed.