Mark 12

Study Guide 97: Mark 11-13 THE LAST WEEK Overview As the last week of Jesus’ life on earth begins, Mark brings three distinct themes into focus. In Mark 11:1-33 we gain insight into the mission of the Messiah. On Palm Sunday Jesus was hailed as the Promised One. He cleansed the temple, signifying His ministry of purifying religion. He cursed the fruitless fig tree, which symbolized a ritualistic Israel, and explained the power of personal faith. In Mark 12:1-44 we see the futility of Israel’ s approach to faith explained in great detail. Jesus showed us by contrast how living by faith can please God. In Mark 13:1-37 we have the only prophetic section in this Gospel. Jesus spoke of the end of the age. No one knows just when the events He spoke of will happen. So we are to be on guard, always attending to our assigned task as we expect Christ’ s imminent return. There are many familiar stories in these chapters of Mark’ s Gospel. And there is much to learn from each, as well as from the way Mark linked them to demonstrate his larger themes. PHARISEES, SADDUCEES. You can find background information on these two religious groups of Jesus’ time in the introduction to the Gospels, Study Guide 79.

Commentary The scene now shifts to Judea. It was the last week of Christ’ s life, and Jesus now appeared in Jerusalem. This is the traditional center of Old Testament faith. But it is also the center of the corruption of that faith. In a series of incidents and confrontations Jesus demonstrated how the pure religion of the Old Testament had been corrupted, and in those confrontations helps us better understand the relationship that you and I today are to maintain with our God.

The Messiah’ s Mission: Mark 11:1-26Triumphal Entry (Mark 11:1-11). Jesus told His disciples where to obtain a colt on which He would enter Jerusalem. Mark did not refer to it, but this fulfilled Zechariah’ s prophecy that He who is King of Israel will enter in just this way (Zechariah 9:9). Jesus now presented Himself in Jerusalem as the promised Messiah. As Jesus moved slowly toward the city gate, the crowds waved branches and shouted praises. They recognized Him as Messiah: “ He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Mark 11:9). When Jesus entered Jerusalem He went directly to the temple. He did not go to the Fortress Antonia or to Herod’ s palace. Secular power was not the concern of the Messiah of Israel at this time. Jesus’ choice of the temple established immediately that His first concern was religious. The focus of Jesus’ concern was the faith of Israel as a people of God, not the fate of Israel as a nation. Jesus “ looked around at everything.” After making this evaluation Jesus left. But He would return the next day. Cleansing the temple (Mark 11:12-26). On the way back to Jerusalem the next day Jesus saw a luxuriant-looking fig tree. But the tree had only leaves and not fruit. Jesus cursed the tree: “ May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” He then passed on into the city. Entering the temple area (its outer courts), Jesus “ began driving out those who were buying and selling there.” After He had overturned tables and chased out the merchants, Jesus taught, quoting the Old Testament: My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. Mark 11:17The religious leaders of Judah had made God’ s house a “ den of robbers.” The two incidents are intimately linked. The fig tree represented Israel. Often in the Old Testament the image of a vine or tree is used to represent God’ s people. In these images God spoke of the fruit which He expected His planting to produce. In Isaiah 5:7 we read that the fruit He desired from the house of Israel, the “ garden of His delight,” was justice and righteousness. But like the fig tree, Israel had produced no fruit! Therefore like the fig tree the nation would be cursed, and no one would “ ever eat fruit from you again.” But why the link of this incident with the temple which Jesus looked over, and where He returned to drive out merchants? Because in the Judaism of Jesus’ day, as in much of Old Testament history, the temple and its ritual were assumed by the Jews to provide special standing with God. The people could do anything they wanted in the temple — even robbing the poor in its very courts by forcing them to buy “ approved” animals for sacrifice at inflated prices. They trusted in ritual, unaware that God was unimpressed with great edifices and cared only for hearts tuned to love Him and one another. The next morning the fig tree had withered away. Its deadness was now exposed, even as Jesus was about to expose the deadness of Israel’ s religion. Jesus told the disciples the truth. The true power of religion is not found in buildings or ritual, but in a personal relationship with God which is expressed in faith. The person who trusts God completely can move mountains! We are to pray, believing. We can be sure as we focus our trust in God that we will receive what we ask. But there is a horizontal aspect to faith as well as a vertical. We are to forgive anyone we have something against when we stand praying. The true religion Jesus the Messiah promotes calls for both love for God and love for our fellowmen. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Give an overview of the linkage of the incidents in these chapters. Then have your group members turn to Jeremiah 7:1-11, to which Jesus alluded when He said that the Jews had made God’ s house a “ den of robbers.” The people of Jeremiah’ s day trusted in the temple (e.g., as long as His temple is there, God must protect us). The temple of Jeremiah’ s time was destroyed by the Babylonians, along with Jerusalem. Only a moral and spiritual reformation — not a ritual faith that ignored morality — could have saved them. From this passage ask your group members to define what is wrong with a merely ritual religion. What seem to be the assumptions of the worshipers about what pleases God? What seems to be the lifestyle of the people? From what the Lord criticizes, what can we assume He seeks from His worshipers?

Israel’ s Futile Faith: Mark 11:27-12:44 Mark had established in his first two stories about Jesus’ acts in Judea a theme he then developed. How can it be that Israel’ s faith, rooted in God’ s Old Testament revelation, had become futile and empty? What was it that had distorted in practice the beauty of the faith God Himself revealed? Empty of authority (Mark 11:27-33). The “ chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders” composed the ruling council of Israel. This group had the power to judge both religious and civil matters in the Jewish community. They even claimed, and exercised, the right to expel people from the synagogue (cf. John 9:22; John 12:42). Since these leaders of the community had never commissioned or recognized Jesus, they liked to think that He spoke without any real religious authority. This, despite the fact that the people were amazed just because Jesus did speak as a Man with authority, unlike their official leaders (cf. Mark 1:22). Now, after Jesus had driven the money changers from the temple, a delegation of leaders challenged Jesus. By what authority was He acting? And who gave Him authority to do what He did? Jesus asked them one question that exposed how empty of “ authority” these so-called spiritual leaders really were. Jesus asked them whether John’ s baptism was from heaven or from men. Now, a person who has spiritual authority must derive it ultimately from God. So one who exercises authority must refer to God and God’ s will in making his decisions. But when these religious leaders discussed Jesus’ question, they immediately referred not to God but to the people. “ If we say, ‘ From men.’ . . .” The text notes, “ They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.” Ultimately, they who claimed to be the final court of spiritual appeal, answered Jesus, “ We don’ t know.” No religion which appeals to mere human opinion in making its determinations can have real authority or power. The faith of Israel in Jesus’ day was futile because it had exchanged the authority of God and His Word for mere human opinion! No religion which looks to public opinion to determine its stand can ever be vital and real. Misuse of authority (Mark 12:1-12). Jesus then told a parable about a person who prepared the land and planted a vineyard. He rented it out to some tenant farmers, and left on a trip. But when he sent servants to collect his share, the servants were beaten and some were even killed. Finally the man sent his only son, saying, “ They will respect my son.” Instead the tenants chose to kill the heir, so “ the inheritance will be ours.” The leaders realized that Jesus had spoken the parable against them, and were even more determined to arrest Him. They had not used their authority as God’ s agents to serve Him at all! They had misused their authority, seeking only their own benefit. Their fathers had been willing to kill God’ s servants, the prophets, and now this generation was eager to kill His only Son! Hypocrisy (Mark 12:13-17). The fact that the religion of Israel was now marked by hypocrisy is demonstrated in the next incident. The Pharisees and Herodians came to try to trap Jesus. The Herodians were a political party that believed in accommodation with the Romans. To them Jesus seemed a dangerous revolutionary. Both these groups, usually opposed to each other, feared Jesus and hated Him passionately. When they came to Jesus their hypocrisy was made plain in multiple ways. They addressed Jesus as a “ man of integrity” who teaches “ the way of God in accordance with the truth.” They did not believe what they were saying; they said it only to “ set Jesus up” for their trap. They asked Jesus whether or not the Jews should pay taxes to Caesar. The trap was simple. If Jesus told them to pay taxes, He would lose favor with the people who hated Rome. If Jesus told them not to pay taxes, He could be accused to the Romans, and would be executed! Yet this trap was itself a hypocritical one. It was shown to be even more hypocritical when Jesus had to ask them for a coin! Here these men were trying to trap Jesus and accuse Him of collaboration with the enemy, and they were the ones who were profiting financially from the Roman occupation, for they were the ones who possessed Roman money! Jesus avoided their trap by pointing to the portrait and inscription on the coin. These were Caesar’ s? Then let Caesar have what belonged to him, and give God what belongs to God. What is it that belongs to the Caesars of this world? Only material things: things that have no lasting value and cannot really reflect the issues of life. And what belongs to God? Our heart, our soul, our love, our obedience, our whole being. Let Caesar have his things, but give God your heart. The religion of Jesus’ day was empty and meaningless because it was all hypocrisy and show. The men who led His people were not moved by a passion for God. Without understanding of Scripture (Mark 12:18-27). Now the Sadducees — the “ liberals” of Jesus’ day, who denied the resurrection and life after death, along with angels and miracles — tried to trap Jesus. They raised a hypothetical case. Here’ s a widow who has been married, in turn, to each of seven brothers. “ At the resurrection,” they asked (subtly ridiculing this doctrine in which they did not believe), “ whose wife will she be?” Jesus’ answer affirmed the authority of Scripture. Their error arose from the fact that “ you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” Jesus explained that there is no marriage in heaven: the saints there, like the angels, will not wed. But as for resurrection, Jesus pinned His teaching on the tense of a verb. God said to Moses, “ I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” God did not say, “ I was“ their God! Obviously then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must be living when God spoke those words, even though they had died physically centuries before. What a tremendous confidence we can have in Scripture! Even the tenses of words are rooted in reality, and one can trust each phrase to express divine truth. The Sadducees, like the liberals of every age, were quick to discount the authority of the Word of God. And just because of this fault, they and their religion were “ badly mistaken.” Without focus (Mark 12:28-37). There was another fault in the ritual religion practiced by the Jews in Jesus’ day. They cluttered up their faith with hundreds of rules derived from traditional interpretations of biblical Laws. But somehow all these laws seemed just as important as all the others. Don’ t spit on sand on the Sabbath (because you might inadvertently “ plow a furrow” ) was treated with the same importance as “ love your neighbor.” When one of the teachers of the Law saw that Jesus was answering well, he raised what to Him was an honest question. “ Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Jesus answered, “‘ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘ Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” With this answer Jesus provided the focus for faith which Israel had lost. All of the laws which were so important to the Jews, all the ceremonies and rituals, must be placed in perspective by the realization that man’ s central duty is to love God and to love neighbors. The man affirmed what Jesus had said. “ To love [God] with all your heart . . . and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33). Jesus said to him, “ You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Only when the focus of our faith is squarely on loving God and our neighbor do we even approach the kingdom of our God. Israel’ s faith was futile because in the preoccupation of the religious with ritual and ceremony and tradition, the true heart of God’ s revelation of Himself in Law had been totally missed. The total inability of the religious leaders to understand the Scriptures or its focus is now illustrated by Jesus. The teachers of the Law say that Christ is the Son (descendant) of David. This is clearly true. But how do they explain David speaking of his descendant as “ my Lord?” The crowd was delighted, not because they knew the answer, but because Jesus had shown up the hypocrisy and spiritual fraud of those proud men who claimed to be so much better than common men. Greed (Mark 10:38-44). The final condemnation drew attention to the true motives of the religious leaders of Israel. These men who loved to be treated with respect because of their superior piety actually “ devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.” They were outwardly religious, but within were moved only by greed. Jesus and His disciples sat down to watch worshipers contribute money to the temple treasury. Some who were wealthy “ threw in” large amounts. The sound of the heavy coins told everyone how much they were giving, and they threw in their offerings with force to make sure all could hear. They were outwardly religious. But then a widow timidly “ put in” two tiny coins, almost worthless. Jesus pointed her out, and said, “ This poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on.” What a difference. The size of the gift the rich could give might impress men. But what they gave was really nothing to them: it cost them not one moment of discomfort. It was no sacrifice at all. But the gift of the widow impressed God. She gave all. A religion practiced by greedy men who get their wealth by oppressing the poor is a meaningless faith, no matter how much they may “ give” to God. What God wants is our love, for out of love we will be willing to give Him not a “ tip,” but our all. LINK TO LIFE: YOUTH / ADULT Give a minilecture showing the relationship of each incident in this section to Jesus’ theme of the reasons why Jewish religion had become fruitless. Then tell your group they have been appointed to a “ renewal committee” at their church. They are to study this chapter of Mark’ s Gospel to develop a renewal and revitalization program. From the problems identified by Mark, the committee is to specify modern parallels — and then develop “ action ideas” a congregation might take to help its members develop a more vital, fruitful relationship with God. If your group is large, you might form “ subcommittees” (teams) to examine individual incidents.

The End of the Age: Mark 13:1-37This chapter contains Mark’ s longest report of any connected discourse by Jesus. It closely parallels the report in Matthew 24:1-51 and Matthew 25:1-46 (see Study Guide 90). Jesus warned of terrible tragedies which will be part of human experience while He is away. Finally there will come events foretold in the Book of Daniel and by other Old Testament prophets (Mark 13:14-32). As the end nears there will be “ days of distress unequaled from the beginning when God created the world, until now” (Mark 13:19). That day will close with “ the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26). Jesus concluded His predictions about the future with the statement, “ This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (Mark 13:30). Since that generation is long dead, what could Jesus have meant? The term translated “ generation” here can mean those currently living. But it also can mean a family or national line. Jesus had begun His discourse by predicting the destruction of the temple in which the Jews took such pride. Within the lifespan of the generation then living, the temple Herod had spent 40 years beautifying and expanding was destroyed completely. It was destroyed by the Romans in a.d. 70 in response to yet another Jewish rebellion. The generation that had heard Jesus teach and witnessed His miracles — and had rejected the Son of God — lived to see their city razed and their temple destroyed. What happened to the Jewish people then? For thousands of years they were scattered throughout the world, with no homeland to call their own. And yet they survived. And they maintained their separate identity. That “ generation,” as represented in the Jewish people (the family and national line) “ will certainly not pass away” until all the things Jesus spoke of actually take place. But what about those who believe in Jesus during the interim? Jesus gives His followers this warning: “ Be on guard! Be alert!” No one knows when the Lord will come, so each of us must be alert and about his assigned task. And what, then, must we be alert for? Why, we must be alert that the very things which crept into the religion of Israel and sapped it of its vitality do not slip into the practice of our faith! How good it is to know that, until Jesus does return, you and I can worship Him, with others, in Spirit and in truth.

Teaching Guide Prepare What distortion of biblical faith in Israel seems most likely to be a danger for your group members as well?

Explore

1. Play a tape recorded reading of Isaiah 5:1-7 as Old Testament background. Then tell the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree. Against the Old Testament background, what do your group members suppose the fig tree represents? What was Jesus communicating in His curse of the fruitless tree?
2. What is the background of the “ den of robbers” accusation leveled by Jesus against those who bought and sold in the temple? Look with your group members into Jeremiah 7:1-34, guided by the approach outlined in “ link-to-life” above.

Expand

1. Give most of your group time to a study of the specific attitudes and viewpoints revealed as Jesus confronted the religious leaders of His time. Let your group serve as a “ renewal committee” to identify elements in “ religion” which are destructive to a biblical faith. Based on what your group members discover, what practical suggestions might they give a local congregation to guard against the errors that crept into Judaism? See “ link-to-life” above for ideas on how to go about this study.
2. Cover Mark 13:1-37 in a brief minilecture, keeping your focus on Jesus’ command to His present disciples to watch, and be ready for His return.

Apply Name one thing that you are doing now to guard against any of the attitudes that sapped the spiritual strength of Judaism.