✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Marcos 11

ARC · Chapter 11/16

1E, logo que se approximaram de Jerusalem, de Bethphagé e de Bethania, junto do monte das Oliveiras, enviou dois dos seus discipulos,

2E disse-lhes: Ide á aldeia que está defronte de vós; e, logo que ali entrardes, encontrareis preso um jumentinho, sobre o qual ainda não montou homem algum; soltae-o, e trazei-m'o.

3E, se alguem vos disser: Porque fazeis isso? dizei-lhe que o Senhor precisa d'elle, e logo o deixará trazer para aqui.

4E foram, e encontraram o jumentinho preso fóra da porta, entre dois caminhos, e o soltaram.

5E alguns dos que ali estavam lhes disseram: Que fazeis, soltando o jumentinho?

6Elles, porém, disseram-lhes como Jesus lhes tinha mandado, e deixaram-n'os ir.

7E levaram o jumentinho a Jesus, e lançaram sobre elle os seus vestidos, e assentou-se sobre elle:

8E muitos estendiam os seus vestidos pelo caminho, e outros cortavam ramos das arvores, e os espalhavam pelo caminho.

9E aquelles que iam adiante, e os que seguiam, clamavam, dizendo: Hosanna, bemdito o que vem em nome do Senhor;

10Bemdito o reino do nosso pae David, que vem em nome do Senhor; Hosanna nas alturas.

11E Jesus entrou em Jerusalem, no templo, e, tendo visto tudo em redor, e sendo já tarde, saiu para Bethania com os doze.

12E, no dia seguinte, quando sairam de Bethania, teve fome,

13E, vendo de longe uma figueira que tinha folhas, foi vêr se n'ella acharia alguma coisa: e, chegando a ella, não achou senão folhas, porque não era tempo de figos.

14E Jesus, fallando, disse á figueira: Nunca mais alguem coma fructo de ti, para sempre. E os seus discípulos ouviram isto.

15E vieram a Jerusalem; e Jesus, entrando no templo, começou a expulsar os que vendiam e compravam no templo; e derribou as mesas dos cambiadores e as cadeiras dos que vendiam pombas.

16E não consentia que alguem levasse algum vaso pelo templo.

17E os ensinava, dizendo: Não está escripto: A minha casa será chamada por todas as nações casa de oração? Mas vós a tendes feito covil de ladrões

18E os escribas e principes dos sacerdotes, tendo ouvido isto, buscavam occasião para o matar; pois elles o temiam, porque toda a multidão estava admirada ácerca da sua doutrina.

19E, sendo já tarde, saiu fóra da cidade.

20E elles, passando pela manhã, viram que a figueira se tinha seccado desde as raizes.

21E Pedro, lembrando-se, disse-lhe: Mestre, eis que a figueira, que tu amaldiçoaste, seccou-se.

22E Jesus, respondendo, disse-lhes: Tende fé em Deus;

23Porque em verdade vos digo que qualquer que disser a este monte: Ergue-te e lança-te no mar; e não duvidar em seu coração, mas crêr que se fará aquillo que diz, tudo o que disser lhe será feito.

24Portanto vos digo que tudo o que pedirdes, orando, crêde que o recebereis, e tel-o-heis;

25E, quando estiverdes orando, perdoae, se tendes alguma coisa contra alguém, para que vosso Pae, que está nos céus, vos perdôe as vossas offensas;

26Mas, se vós não perdoardes, tambem vosso Pae, que está nos céus, vos não perdoará as vossas offensas.

27E tornaram a Jerusalem, e, andando elle pelo templo, os principaes dos sacerdotes, e os escribas, e os anciãos se approximaram d'elle,

28E lhe disseram: Com que auctoridade fazes tu estas coisas? e quem te deu esta auctoridade para fazer estas coisas?

29Más Jesus, respondendo, disse-lhes: Também eu vos perguntarei uma coisa, e respondei-me, e vos direi com que auctoridade faço estas coisas:

30O baptismo de João era do céu ou dos homens? respondei-me.

31E elles arrazoavam entre si, dizendo: Se dissermos: Do céu; elle nos dirá: Pois porque o não crêstes?

32Se, porém, dissermos: Dos homens; tememos o povo. Porque todos sustentavam que João verdadeiramente era propheta.

33E, respondendo, disseram a Jesus: Não sabemos. E Jesus, respondendo, lhes disse: Tambem eu vos não direi com que auctoridade faço estas coisas.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a young donkey, acclaimed by the crowd, curses a fruitless fig tree, drives the merchants out of the temple, and, on returning, teaches about faith and forgiveness upon seeing the withered fig tree, then is questioned by the religious leaders about his authority.

Explanation

The triumphal entry into Jerusalem, with people spreading cloaks and branches along the road, fulfills Zechariah's prophecy of a humble king arriving on a young donkey, rather than a war horse. The cursing of the fruitless fig tree, even though it was not the season for figs, functions as a symbolic prophetic sign against the apparent, unproductive religiosity of Israel represented by the temple. The cleansing of the temple, driving out sellers and money changers, denounces the commercial exploitation of a space that was meant to be devoted to prayer for all nations, including the Gentiles, who could only pray in that outer court. The teaching on faith that moves mountains and on the need to forgive before praying, linked to the episode of the withered fig tree, connects genuine faith with a heart willing to forgive, not merely with isolated spiritual power.

Fun facts

  • The 'court of the Gentiles' in the temple of Jerusalem was the only area where non-Jews could come near to pray, which is why the commercialization of that specific space was particularly offensive to the purpose of inclusion mentioned by Isaiah.
  • Fig trees in the region of Judea would typically produce small green fruits (called 'paggim') before the full leaves appeared; the presence of leaves with no fruit at all, not even those early buds, signaled an abnormally barren tree.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Marcos 11:1The Mount of Olives carried prophetic weight in Jewish tradition, linked to the arrival of important events, a symbolic setting for the start of this entry into Jerusalem.
  2. Marcos 11:2Asking for a colt that no one had ever ridden echoes an ancient prophecy about a king arriving mounted this way, besides the fact that an animal never used before was considered more fitting for a special purpose.
  3. Marcos 11:3The instruction sounds almost like a prearranged password: saying "the Lord hath need of him" would settle any objection, suggesting either a prior arrangement or knowledge the text does not spell out.
  4. Marcos 11:4The disciples find exactly what Jesus had described, in the exact spot, confirming the instruction they had received.
  5. Marcos 11:5The question from bystanders is the natural reaction of anyone seeing two strangers untying a tied-up animal, unaware that there was authorization.
  6. Marcos 11:6Repeating the same explanation Jesus had given is enough to make them let the disciples move on without further argument.
  7. Marcos 11:7Placing their own cloaks on the animal worked as an improvised saddle, a practical gesture before the triumphal entry.
  8. Marcos 11:8Spreading garments and branches along the road were traditional gestures of honor used to welcome kings or important figures arriving in a city.
  9. Marcos 11:9Hosanna was originally a cry for help, something like "save us, we pray", but by that time it also worked as a shout of celebration and recognition, used during pilgrimages to the Passover feast. Calling Jesus the one who comes in the name of the Lord is the crowd treating this entry as the arrival of a king from the right line.
  10. Marcos 11:10The mention of the "kingdom of our father David" ties this festive welcome directly to the hope for a king from the ancient royal line, and "Hosanna in the highest" extends the same greeting all the way to heaven.
  11. Marcos 11:11After all the acclaim of the entry, the scene ends almost anticlimactically: Jesus simply looks around the temple and heads back to spend the night in Bethany, saving any more decisive action for the next day.
  12. Marcos 11:12Jesus' hunger on this daily walk between Bethany and Jerusalem is what sets up the fig tree scene right after.
  13. Marcos 11:13This episode puzzles many people because the text itself says it was not the season for figs, but fig trees in the region often carried small edible buds before the regular harvest, so a tree full of leaves at least promised that much. Jesus curses the tree that promised fruit and delivered nothing, a gesture Mark uses as a figure for the temple, criticized right after in the same chapter.
  14. Marcos 11:14The curse is spoken in front of witnesses. The detail that the disciples heard it is recorded on purpose, because it matters again when the tree turns up withered a few verses later.
  15. Marcos 11:15Anyone coming from far away to the temple needed to exchange Roman coins, which carried forbidden images under Jewish law, for currency accepted for offerings, and to buy doves, the cheapest sacrifice for those who could not afford a larger animal. Jesus is not attacking commerce itself, but the fact that this courtyard, the only part of the temple open to non-Jews, was taken over by business instead of serving as a place of prayer.
  16. Marcos 11:16Forbidding even the ordinary carrying of goods through the temple courtyard shows that Jesus' action there was not only against the merchants, but against treating the sacred space as a mere shortcut.
  17. Marcos 11:17Jesus combines two Old Testament quotations: one about the temple being a house of prayer for all nations, including non-Jews, and another about it becoming a den of thieves. Together they reinforce His criticism of what was happening there.
  18. Marcos 11:18The religious leaders' fear did not come only from Jesus' boldness, but from the popular support He had: acting against Him openly could provoke a reaction from the crowd that the leaders themselves wanted to avoid.
  19. Marcos 11:19The pattern repeats: Jesus spends the day in Jerusalem and leaves the city at night, likely for Bethany, as already indicated earlier in the chapter.
  20. Marcos 11:20From one day to the next, the cursed tree was withered down to the root, a sign too fast to go unnoticed. Peter reacts with astonishment, and it is from this scene that Jesus goes on to speak about faith and prayer, tying the tree's fate to a broader teaching.
  21. Marcos 11:21Peter notices the exact fulfillment of the previous day's curse, confirming out loud that the fig tree had withered very quickly, from the root up.
  22. Marcos 11:22Instead of commenting directly on the tree, Jesus uses the episode as a bridge to a broader teaching about trusting God.
  23. Marcos 11:23The image of moving a mountain into the sea is a deliberate exaggeration to describe faith without hesitation, not a literal promise about geology, but about the size of the trust expected.
  24. Marcos 11:24The promise about prayer is bold: asking with the certainty of having already received, not as a magic condition, but as an expression of total trust.
  25. Marcos 11:25Jesus ties the effectiveness of prayer to forgiveness: praying while holding a grudge against someone contradicts asking God for forgiveness for oneself.
  26. Marcos 11:26The same logic repeats even more directly: withholding forgiveness from others brings the same refusal in return from the Father.
  27. Marcos 11:27The scene returns to the temple, now with a formal delegation of chief priests, scribes, and elders, the three groups that made up the official religious leadership of Jerusalem.
  28. Marcos 11:28The religious leaders wanted to know who had authorized Jesus to act that way in the temple, since formal title and authorization were serious matters in the religious structure of the time. He answers with a question about John the Baptist that traps them: any answer they gave would compromise them politically, so they choose to say they do not know.
  29. Marcos 11:29Jesus answers the challenge with a counter-challenge, a common tactic in debates of the time: I will only answer if you answer first.
  30. Marcos 11:30The question about John's baptism is a mirrored trap: any answer they gave would land them in trouble, the same way the original question tried to do to Jesus.
  31. Marcos 11:31The dilemma is clear: admitting that John came from God would require explaining why they had not believed him earlier.
  32. Marcos 11:32The other option was also risky, this time out of fear of the people, who regarded John as a true prophet. Their decision is purely political, not a sincere search for the right answer.
  33. Marcos 11:33By saying, "We cannot tell", the religious leaders take the safest way out, and Jesus answers in the same coin: if they will not answer honestly, He will not answer either.

Chapters

12345678910111213141516

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play