Mark 11
BSASBJesus enters Jerusalem as the promised King, but He rides a humble donkey and the city’s leaders do not welcome Him. The fig tree and the cleansing of the temple show that outward religion without fruit is under judgment. Jesus then teaches about faith, prayer and forgiveness, and silences the leaders who challenge His authority.
Mark 11:1-3
Jesus is nearing Jerusalem for the last time before the cross. He sends two disciples to fetch a young donkey and gives them exact instructions. The words ‘The Lord needs it’ show that He speaks with the right of a King, and that He knows what lies ahead.
BSA: Lord (“the Master”): Jesus claims the right of a master over what belongs to others, and the owner willingly lets it go.
See also: Zechariah 9:9.
Mark 11:4-6
Everything happens just as Jesus said. The colt is tied in the street by a doorway, the bystanders ask their question, and the disciples give the answer they were given. The owners let the animal go. Jesus’ word proves reliable down to small details.
BSA: untied (“loosed, set free”): The colt is released for the King’s use, a quiet picture of things freely given to the Lord.
Mark 11:7
The disciples lay their cloaks on the colt as a makeshift saddle, and Jesus sits on it. No one had ever ridden this animal, which marked it as set apart for a sacred purpose. The King chooses a donkey, not a warhorse.
BSA: cloaks (“outer garments, clothing”): Giving up their own outer garments is a sign of honor and submission to Jesus.
Greek: πῶλον (pōlon, G4454) — “a young animal, a colt or foal.” The word points to a young donkey. Zechariah 9:9 pictures a king coming in peace on exactly such an animal.
See also: Zechariah 9:9.
Mark 11:8
The crowd gives Jesus a royal welcome. They spread cloaks on the road and lay down leafy branches cut from the fields. This was how people honored a king, and it shows how many were ready to hail Jesus as the one who comes from God.
Mark 11:9-10
The crowd quotes Psalm 118, a psalm pilgrims sang going up to Jerusalem. They welcome the coming kingdom of their father David. Their cry is a prayer and a praise at once. They are right about who He is, though many still misunderstand what kind of kingdom He will bring.
BSA: Hosanna (“oh save, a cry of praise”): The word began as a plea for rescue and became a shout of praise to the one who rescues. kingdom (“royal power, dominion”): They look for the rule of David’s line to be restored, and Jesus brings that rule in a deeper way.
Greek: ὡσαννά (hōsanna, G5614) — “save, please.” It comes from the Hebrew of Psalm 118:25, ‘Save, we pray.’ It started as a prayer for help and became a cry of welcome.
See also: Psalm 118:25-26.
Mark 11:11
After the shouting, the scene is strangely quiet. Jesus enters the temple, looks at everything, and leaves because it is late. He is surveying His Father’s house before acting. The visit prepares for what happens the next day.
Greek: περιβλεψάμενος (periblepsamenos, G4017) — “having looked all around.” The word describes a slow, searching look around. Jesus misses nothing in the temple and weighs all He sees.
Mark 11:12-14
Jesus, hungry, finds a fig tree covered in leaves but with no fruit. Leaves suggested figs, so the tree promised more than it gave. Jesus’ words to the tree are a sign of judgment on show without fruit, and the disciples hear them. The temple scene that follows shows what He means.
BSA: season (“the right time”): It was not the normal time for ripe figs, yet the tree’s leaves claimed it had fruit, so the fault was its false show.
Greek: καιρός (kairos, G2540) — “an appointed time, a right moment.” Mark uses a word for a fitting season, not for the clock. The tree’s trouble was not the date. Its leaves claimed something that was not there.
See also: Hosea 9:10.
Mark 11:15-16
Jesus drives out the buyers and sellers from the outer court of the temple and upsets the tables of the money changers and the dove sellers. Pilgrims needed animals and coins for worship, but the trade had crowded out the place meant for the nations to pray. He also stops people using the courts as a shortcut.
BSA: overturned (“to completely turn upside down, to overthrow”): His action is complete and forceful, a decisive overturning of what had taken over His Father’s house.
Greek: κατέστρεψεν (katestrepsen, G2690) — “turned upside down, overturned.” The word means to upend something fully. Jesus is not nudging the tables, He is turning them over.
Mark 11:17
Jesus teaches from Scripture. Isaiah said God’s house was meant for prayer for all nations, but the busy trade in the outer court, where the nations were meant to pray, left no room for them. Jeremiah had called a corrupt temple a den of robbers, and Jesus applies those words to what He finds.
BSA: den (“cave, hiding place”): A robbers’ den is where thieves retreat to feel safe after doing wrong, as if the temple were a shelter for them. robbers (“thieves, rebels”): The word points to violent bandits, not petty thieves, and suggests people who use the holy place to cover exploitation.
Greek: σπήλαιον (spēlaion, G4693) — “cave, hideout.” The word pictures a hideout where bandits hide. The people who profited from trade in the temple were treating it as a safe place for their own gain.
See also: Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11.
Mark 11:18-19
The leaders react to the teaching by plotting to kill Him. They fear Him because the crowd is held by His words. Their fear leads them to hatred, not repentance. Jesus calmly leaves the city again for the evening.
BSA: astonished (“amazed, struck with wonder”): The people are overwhelmed by Jesus’ authority, which is what threatens the leaders.
Greek: ἐξεπλήσσετο (exeplēsseto, G1605) — “was struck out of their senses, amazed.” The word describes being so amazed that one is nearly knocked off balance. Jesus’ teaching hit the crowd with that force.
Mark 11:20-21
In the morning the disciples see the fig tree dried up from the roots. It did not just lose its leaves, it died through and through. Peter remembers the words of the day before and points it out. What Jesus said has come to pass, and the tree is a warning of judgment.
BSA: withered (“dried up, exhausted”): The tree is utterly spent, with no life left in it. roots (“the source, the foundation”): The damage reaches the very source of the tree’s life, not just its surface.
Mark 11:22
Jesus turns Peter’s surprise into a lesson: ‘Have faith in God.’ Faith here rests on God Himself, not on the believer’s own strength or feelings. The power at work in the fig tree is the power of the God who hears His people.
Mark 11:23
Jesus uses the picture of a mountain thrown into the sea to show that nothing is too great for God. The ‘mountain’ may stand for any huge obstacle. Real faith has no inner doubt about God’s power. Believers have long recognized that this is faith in God’s will and power, not a tool for personal whims.
BSA: mountain (“a high elevation, a seemingly insurmountable obstacle”): It stands for any obstacle that seems impossible to move. heart (“the seat of thoughts, feelings, and emotions”): Faith is a settled trust in the inner person, not just words on the lips.
See also: Matthew 17:20.
Mark 11:24
Jesus invites bold, trusting prayer. Believe that you have received what you ask, and it will be yours. This is confident trust in a good Father who hears. It sits alongside other teaching that we ask according to His will.
BSA: received (“taken, accepted”): Faith treats God’s answer as already on its way, taking hold of it in trust before it is seen.
See also: 1 John 5:14-15.
Mark 11:25
Prayer and forgiveness belong together. Standing to pray, a person must let go of any grudge against another. A heart holding on to bitterness is out of step with the Father who has forgiven so much. Jesus links our readiness to forgive with our own forgiveness.
BSA: forgive (“release and let go of”): To forgive is to release a debt and stop holding it over someone.
Greek: ἀφίετε (aphiete, G863) — “release, let go, send away.” The word is used for cancelling a debt or sending something away. Forgiving means opening your hand and letting the offense go.
See also: Matthew 6:14-15.
Mark 11:27-28
Back in the temple, the chief priests, scribes and elders challenge Jesus. They ask what right He has to do such things, likely meaning the cleansing of the temple. They are the official authorities, and they feel their place is threatened.
BSA: authority (“power, freedom to act”): They are asking what gives Jesus the right to act as He did in God’s house.
Greek: ἐξουσίᾳ (exousia, G1849) — “authority, the right to act.” The word means more than raw power. It is the recognized right to do something, and the leaders want to know who granted Jesus that right.
Mark 11:29-30
Jesus answers with a question about John the Baptist. Was John’s baptism from heaven or from men? The question is not a dodge. John had pointed to Jesus, so the answer about John would settle the answer about Jesus.
BSA: heaven (“the realm of God, the sky”): ‘From heaven’ means from God Himself, with divine backing.
See also: Mark 1:7-8.
Mark 11:31-33
The leaders reason among themselves, weighing politics instead of truth. Saying ‘from heaven’ would condemn their unbelief, and ‘from men’ would anger the crowd. So they say, ‘We do not know.’ Because they refuse to answer honestly, Jesus does not answer their question either.
BSA: prophet (“one who speaks for God, a messenger of God”): The people saw John as God’s spokesman, and the leaders feared that opinion.
See also: Matthew 21:25-27.