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Mark 11

KJV · Chapter 11/16

1And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

2And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

3And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

4And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

5And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?

6And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

7And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

8And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

9And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

10Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

11And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

12And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

13And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

14And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

15And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

16And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

17And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

18And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

19And when even was come, he went out of the city.

20And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

21And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

22And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

23For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

25And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

26But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

27And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,

28And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

29And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.

31And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?

32But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.

33And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

📖 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 11:4The disciples find exactly what Jesus had described, in the exact spot, confirming the instruction they had received.
  5. Mark 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. Mark 11:6Repeating the same explanation Jesus had given is enough to make them let the disciples move on without further argument.
  7. Mark 11:7Placing their own cloaks on the animal worked as an improvised saddle, a practical gesture before the triumphal entry.
  8. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 11:12Jesus' hunger on this daily walk between Bethany and Jerusalem is what sets up the fig tree scene right after.
  13. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 11:22Instead of commenting directly on the tree, Jesus uses the episode as a bridge to a broader teaching about trusting God.
  23. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 11:25Jesus ties the effectiveness of prayer to forgiveness: praying while holding a grudge against someone contradicts asking God for forgiveness for oneself.
  26. Mark 11:26The same logic repeats even more directly: withholding forgiveness from others brings the same refusal in return from the Father.
  27. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 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. Mark 11:31The dilemma is clear: admitting that John came from God would require explaining why they had not believed him earlier.
  32. Mark 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. Mark 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.

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