A Commentary on Mark’s gospel, chapter 11.

The passage in Mark’s gospel chapter 11 opens with Jesus at the Mount of Olives, close to Jerusalem. He then chooses two of His disciples and gives them a strange job to do; they are to go into the nearby village where they will find a colt tied there which no one has ever sat on, and they are to bring it to Him. And should anyone ask why they are loosing the colt, the disciples are to respond by saying, “The Lord needs it, and will return it shortly.”

One can only imagine what may have been going through the two disciples’ minds. Probably a little bit of hesitation, and some bit of apprehension about their task, and a bit of fear? However, they proceed to obey Jesus. The first point I see in this opening story is that the two disciples, perhaps in spite of their own reservations, just obeyed Jesus’s instructions regarding the colt. Maybe this is the setting of the tone for the rest of the chapter? Obedience to the instructions of the LORD.

The next event is how this colt is rode on by Jesus, and the people greet Him as He enters Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

The King enters His city, looks around, and since it was already late, He goes to Bethany with the 12 disciples.

The next event is the interesting, strange, and even somewhat humorous one. Jesus is hungry as He leaves Bethany to come back into Jerusalem. He sees a fig tree with leaves, indicating that even though it was not season for figs, perhaps there were early firstfruits? He finds nothing, and He directly speaks a curse to the tree, “May no one eat of your fruit again!”. At this point, His disciples, already used to his “eccentricity”, did not think too much of this episode, until the next day that is.

The next event after the cursing of the fig tree finds Jesus causing a commotion in the temple by turning over money changers tables and driving out the buyers and sellers operating in the temple’s premises. He thunders, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.” Whilst this caused the chief priests and scribes to look for ways to kill Him, the whole crowd is astonished at Jesus’s teaching. As evening comes, Jesus leaves Jerusalem again.

The following day, returning to Jerusalem meant that they were going to take the same route that the hapless fig tree is on. And they see an astonishing sight! The fig tree Jesus cursed the previous day had withered to its roots. The curse was so strong and complete it was unmistakable to the human eye and comprehension.

Jesus seizes this moment to teach faith in God.

Jesus used a “negative” event-the cursing of the fig tree-to teach faith in God, faith so audacious that it only requires speaking or saying or commanding with words for a mountain to be removed, and it would, provided there is no doubt but only belief in the heart of the person speaking it, for that mountain to move.

Jesus had already used an experience as the starting point to teach this lesson. Faith can be so abstract, and yet, so tangible! Jesus now teaches didactically what He had taught experientially through the cursing of the fig tree.

When Jesus cursed the fig tree, He expected it to be cursed, and for the fig tree to die. If a tree is cursed from having any fruit on it to be enjoyed by others, it is left only with death. It has lost its point for living. It does not have any purpose any more.

Jesus then caps His teaching on faith, prayer, speaking and saying to the mountain with verse 24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Jesus is clearly teaching that when we pray with faith in God, we are to believe that the answer is already on its way. In the spiritual realm, in the kingdom of God, in the realm of the spirit, the answer is already on its way. We are to acknowledge that the answer is already on its way. We are to reckon it done. Now we only wait for its materialization.

Jesus cursed the fig tree and went about His life. We too believe, and speak, and go about our life, expecting the materialization of our answered prayers. It is a walk of faith. We come to God, we ask of Him, we wait for Him, we let His Word fill our hearts with His will. His will is in our prayers. We pray His Word, His will, and we wait for its materialization. To His glory.