House of Prayer

House of Prayer Mark 11:11-24

Mark 11:11 This scene comes during the Palm Sunday scene where Jesus comes riding into the city with everyone cheering and singing praises.

• Jesus goes into the Temple and looks around. He took in what he saw.
  • He went to sleep that night thinking and praying about what He saw.

Mark 11:12-14 Jesus comes on this fig tree that doesn’t have any fruit.

• He curses the fig tree and a few verses later we see that the tree has died.

• First, there is a metaphor between the fig tree not having any fruit and what Jesus saw in the Temple the day before. He was looking for fruit in both places, but didn’t find any.
• Second, Jesus is teaching the disciples a lesson about faith filled prayer.

Mark 11:15-17 Jesus now enters the Temple again. But this time He has a plan,  He begins driving out the merchants.

• The Greek word here translated as driving out means: throw, cast, put out, banish

• What is the problem with the merchants?
  • Briefly: They were preventing people from worshipping. They were charging exorbitant prices.
  • Preventing people from being able to purchase the required animal sacrifice for worship.
  • The Temple had become more about the business than worship.

Verse 17 Now Jesus begins to teach and admonish them.

• He says that, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
  • This is a quote from Isaiah 56:7
    • This passage in Isa has a heading and a topic of “Salvation for others.”
    • In Isa the Lord is speaking prophetically about what is to come in the Kingdom.
  • And the “den of robbers” is a quote from Jer 7:11
    • The prophet Jeremiah was warning against what he called false religion.
  • When Jesus visited the Temple the day before, these two passages clearly came to mind for him.

Verse 17 continues “But you have made it a den of robbers”

• Jesus’ teaching or admonition then turns to that quote from Jer.
• The topic or heading in that passage in Jer is “False Religion is Worthless”
• The people in the Temple of Jesus’ day had made it about religious practice and false religion.

The alternative:  If the Lord’s house is not a house of prayer, what will it be?

• Being known for these other things, makes us easy prey for the enemy, and ineffective for the kingdom.
• And quite honestly, all of these other things are easier.

Mark 11: 20-24 The next day after Jesus clears out the Temple, they all come upon that fig tree.

• Jesus doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that it wasn’t the season for figs.
  • But uses the incident to teach His disciples a lesson on faith filled prayer.
  • The fig tree in this time period was typically seen as a symbol or representation for Israel.
    • And a barren fig tree symbolized sin and corruption in the nation.
  • So, the death of the fig tree at the command of Jesus represents the coming judgment on Israel if there isn’t fruit found in the Temple.
  • The same holds true for the church.

Verse 23 Jesus talks about telling mountains to go jump in a lake.

• In his day “The Mountains” were a euphemism for troubles.
  • Jesus is saying can you pray with faith in the midst of great Troubles?
  • I believe Jesus is also saying don’t pray small prayers that you can do in your own strength.
  • In order to pray faith filled prayers, they must be big enough to be beyond us.
• The Greek verb that is translated as “Go, throw yourself” is in the passive verb form.
  • Which means the action of our command is happening to the mountain or trouble, with no volition on the part of the Mountain or trouble.