Mark 11
Back to Gospel of Mark
Markings
John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 164
The Historical Jesus
Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings, p. 69
Markings
Mary Oliver, “The Poet Thinks about the Donkey,” Devotions, p. 130
"The Poet Thinks about the Donkey"
But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.
Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.
I hope, finally, he felt brave.
I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,
as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.
Virginia Stem Owens, “Superstar Status: Entering Jerusalem,” Looking for Jesus, p. 22-26
J. Barrie Shepherd, “Pinnacle,” The Moveable Feast, p. 39
“Pinnacle”
There is a towering
deep within these forty
days that finds one …
you are teetering across the edge
of everything, a palm leaf
in your face, a shout,
“Hosanna?” trembling
in your eager longing ears.
The more you suffer,
don’t you see, the more you
feel entitled to a reckoning
and to your final triumph over
all the kingdoms of the world
Beware!
Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 170-173
Imaging the Word, Vol. 3, p. 178
10 John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed, Excavating Jesus, p. 261 f.
Excavating Jesus
Mark uses the story as one more negation of Jesus as Son of David. First, in a passage preceding the Entry, 10:46-52, Mark describes a blind man who hails Jesus as “Son of David and who must be healed before he can “follow him on the way.” Next, in a succeeding passage, 12:35-37, Mark argues that he who is David’s Lord cannot at the same time be David’s son. Finally, it is the Kingdom of God that Mark usually connects with Jesus and not the Kingdom of David. From all of that we judge that the proclamation in Mark 11:10, Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David,” is intended in context to be quite wrong. The crowd erroneously prefers the coming Kingdom of David (triumphant and/or militant messiahship?) to the present Kingdom of God.
1 And when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, 2 and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it. 3 If any one says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door out in the open street; and they untied it. 5 And those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said; and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their garments on it; and he sat upon it. 8 And many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!” 11 And he entered Jerusalem, and went into the temple; and when he had looked round at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
11:1 και οτε εγγιζουσιν εις ιερουσαλημ εις βηθσφαγη και βηθανιαν προς το ορος των ελαιων αποστελλει δυο των μαθητων αυτου 11:2 και λεγει αυτοις υπαγετε εις την κωμην την κατεναντι υμων και ευθεως εισπορευομενοι εις αυτην ευρησετε πωλον δεδεμενον εφ ον ουδεις ανθρωπων κεκαθικεν λυσαντες αυτον αγαγετε 11:3 και εαν τις υμιν ειπη τι ποιειτε τουτο ειπατε οτι ο κυριος αυτου χρειαν εχει και ευθεως αυτον αποστελλει ωδε 11:4 απηλθον δε και ευρον [τον] πωλον δεδεμενον προς την θυραν εξω επι του αμφοδου και λυουσιν αυτον 11:5 και τινες των εκει εστηκοτων ελεγον αυτοις τι ποιειτε λυοντες τον πωλον 11:6 οι δε ειπον αυτοις καθως ενετειλατο ο ιησους και αφηκαν αυτους 11:7 και ηγαγον τον πωλον προς τον ιησουν και επεβαλον αυτω τα ιματια αυτων και εκαθισεν επ αυτω 11:8 πολλοι δε τα ιματια αυτων εστρωσαν εις την οδον αλλοι δε στοιβαδας εκοπτον εκ των δενδρων και εστρωννυον εις την οδον 11:9 και οι προαγοντες και οι ακολουθουντες εκραζον λεγοντες ωσαννα ευλογημενος ο ερχομενος εν ονοματι κυριου 11:10 ευλογημενη η ερχομενη βασιλεια εν ονοματι κυριου του πατρος ημων δαυιδ ωσαννα εν τοις υψιστοις 11:11 και εισηλθεν εις ιεροσολυμα ο ιησους και εις το ιερον και περιβλεψαμενος παντα οψιας ηδη ουσης της ωρας εξηλθεν εις βηθανιαν μετα των δωδεκα
Mark 11:12-26 by verse:
General References
Bruce Beasley, “The Cursing of the Fig Tree,” Spirituals, p. 38
“The Cursing of the Fig Tree”
While the apostles slept, or dully
gazed at the afternoon sky, desiring
some woman of Galilee,
or remembering the foam on a demon’s mouth,
or wondering how the damned thing would end,
Christ leaned for a while on a fig tree
and found himself strangely hungry,
touching it leaf by leaf
as if parting the lips of the dumb.
John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 357
Jack Kerouac, “A Pun for Al Gelpi,” Divine Inspiration, p. 369
R. C. Lewontin, “Women Versus the Biologists,” New York Review of Books (April 7, 1994), p. 35
“Women Versus the Biologists”
As is so often the case, the most radical attack on an institution is the demand that it live up to its own myth. It is not an attempt to overthrow it but an attempt to cleanse and perfect it. “Think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfill.” [Matthew 5:17]
Boris Pasternak, “The Miracle,” Divine Inspiration, p. 367
“The Miracle”
He was walking from Bethany to Jerusalem,
Brooding over sad premonitions.
The sun scorched the slope’s prickly shrubs.
No smoke was rising over a nearby hut,
The air was hot and the reeds motionless,
And the calm of the Dead Sea lay still.
And with a bitterness rivalling the sea’s,
He walked with a small throng of clouds
Along a dusty road, to somebody’s backyard,
On his way to a gathering of disciples.
And so immersed was He in His thoughts,
That the field, dejected, sent off a wormwood smell.
All was still. He stood alone in the midst of it,
While the land lay prostrate in swoon.
All became muddled, the heat, the desert,
The lizards, the springs, the streams.
A fig tree rose not too far off,
Fruitless, nothing but branches and leaves.
And He said to it: “Of what use are you?
What joy does your stupor bring me?
“I thirst and hunger, yet you stand barren,
My meeting you is joyless as granite.
O, how offensive and ungifted you are!
Remain as you are, then, till the end of time.”
A tremor of condemnation ran through the tree,
Like a spark of lightning down a rod.
The fig tree was reduced to ashes.
If only a moment of freedom had been given
To the leaves, the branches, roots, trunk,
The laws of nature could have intervened.
But a miracle is a miracle, and a miracle is God.
When we’re in confusion, in the midst of disorder,
It overtakes us instantly, by surprise.
John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 137
The Historical Jesus
Maureen Gilmer, Rooted in the Spirit, p. 143 & 148
Rooted in the Spirit
A legend of [medieval Europe] claimed that on the night Christ was born, all the trees of the forest, despite snow and ice, bloomed and bore fruit. (p. 143)
There is a curious Christmas legend about one famous hawthorn tree that was not native to Britan but the Holy Land, where its season of bloom is much earlier than the British hawthorns. Its story begins after the Crucifixion, when Joseph of Arimathea set off to bring the message of Christianity to distant shores, carrying with him a staff made of the Palestine thorn tree. It was believed he did make it to Britain after a long, arduous journey, landing on the island of Avalon in Somersetshire, which at that time was still seperate from the English mainland. Tired and discouraged, Joseph worried about failing his mission, and knelt down beside his staff to pray for strength and guidance. As he uttered the words “You gree plants of the earth, bless the Lord,” the staff began to grow buds. Joseph’s staff took root there, and later the Abbey of Glastonbury was built beside it, where a trew grew very old and bloomed religiously on Christmas Day each year. (p. 147 f.)
Mary Gordon, “The Fig Tree,” Incarnation, p. 15
“The Fig Tree”
Denise Levertov, “What the Fig Tree Said,” Evening Train, p. 111
Reggie McNeal, The Present Future, p. 148
The Present Future
Not only was this fig tree not supposed to have fruit at this time of year (this point is even made in the Mark account), it wasn’t supposed to have leaves either. This tree was acting out! It was one sick puppy. It was badly out of rhythm. The fig tree was already dying. Jesus knew this. The miracle of the story is not the demise of the tree but how fast it happened. Jesus fast-forwarded the future. By the way, the disciples knew the tree was dying, too. They didn’t exclaim, “You killed that fig tree!” Rather they asked, “How did you do that so quickly?”
Once I understood the miracle I understood Jesus’ teaching on prayer. He tells us that if we can see things the way they really are (not just the way they appear), we can partner with God through prayer in fast-forwarding the future.
Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear, p. 77
No Death, No Fear
Geza Vermes, The Changing Faces of Jesus, p. 272
The Changing Faces of Jesus
[Jesus] is on one occasion depicted as being quite unreasonable. When hungry, he apparently cursed a fig tree for being without fruit, although it was not the season for figs (Mark 11:12-14). Or maybe as a Galilean, used to the availability of figs ten months out of twelve, he forgot that Jerusalem at 800 meters above sea level had a harsher climate than the lakeside.
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
11:12 και τη επαυριον εξελθοντων αυτων απο βηθανιας επεινασεν 11:13 και ιδων συκην μακροθεν εχουσαν φυλλα ηλθεν ει αρα ευρησει τι εν αυτη και ελθων επ αυτην ουδεν ευρεν ει μη φυλλα ου γαρ ην καιρος συκων 11:14 και αποκριθεις ο ιησους ειπεν αυτη μηκετι εκ σου εις τον αιωνα μηδεις καρπον φαγοι και ηκουον οι μαθηται αυτου
John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed, Excavating Jesus, p. 263
Excavating Jesus
Mark 11:15-17 does not describe a symbolic cleansing, but a symbolic destroying of the Temple. That is clear from its fig tree frames … It is clear, next, from the fact that Jesus does not simply attack those who changed foreign currencies into the acceptable coinage for the Temple taxes and donations. He stops all the fiscal, sacrificial, and logistical operations of the Temple. … It is clear, finally, from the appended saying of Jesus about a “den of thieves.”
Think, for a moment, about that phrase. A “den” (hideaway or safe house) is not where thieves do their thieving, but where they flee for safety after having done it elsewhere. That is both the commonsense meaning for “den of thieves” and the precise meaning that it has in that scriptural quotation from Jeremiah 7:11. … How dare you turn my Temple into a safe house for injustice?
Against that prophetic background and with that scriptural citation, Jesus’ action consummates God’s warning about the Temple’s destruction in Jeremiah 7:14. If you continue to separate divine Temple sacrificial worship from divine distributive justice, “I will do to the house that is called by my name, in which you trust, and the to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors, just what I did to [the ancient sanctuary at] Shiloh.”
Dante, “Canto 18,” Paradiso, p. 161
“Canto 18”
Peter Davison, “La Cathedrale Engloutie,” Odd Angles of Heaven, p. 90 f.
“La Cathedrale Engloutie”
Meister Eckhart, from Daily Dig (March 12, 2003)
Daily Dig
As long as we look for some kind of pay for what we do, as long as we want to get something from God in some kind of exchange, we are like the merchants. If you want to be rid of the commercial spirit, then by all means do all you can in the way of good works, but do so solely for the praise of God. Live as if you did not exist. Expect and ask nothing in return. Then the merchant inside you will be driven out of the temple God has made. Then God alone dwells there. See! This is how the temple is cleared: when a person thinks only of God and honors him alone. Only such a person is free and genuine.
Malcolm Muggeridge, Jesus: The Man who Lives, p. 145f. & 113 Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 241
Jesus: The Man who Lives
Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 241
15-18 Amos 8:4-6; Zechariah 14:21
15 Jeremiah 26:2
16 Zechariah 9:8
17 Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11
18 Jeremiah 26:8
15 Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, What’s in a Phrase?, p. 73
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons; 16 and he would not allow any one to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he taught, and said to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and sought a way to destroy him; for they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.
11:15 και ερχονται εις ιεροσολυμα και εισελθων ο ιησους εις το ιερον ηρξατο εκβαλλειν τους πωλουντας και αγοραζοντας εν τω ιερω και τας τραπεζας των κολλυβιστων και τας καθεδρας των πωλουντων τας περιστερας κατεστρεψεν 11:16 και ουκ ηφιεν ινα τις διενεγκη σκευος δια του ιερου 11:17 και εδιδασκεν λεγων αυτοις ου γεγραπται οτι ο οικος μου οικος προσευχης κληθησεται πασιν τοις εθνεσιν υμεις δε εποιησατε αυτον σπηλαιον ληστων 11:18 και ηκουσαν οι γραμματεις και οι αρχιερεις και εζητουν πως αυτον απολεσωσιν εφοβουντο γαρ αυτον οτι πας ο οχλος εξεπλησσετο επι τη διδαχη αυτου 11:19 και οτε οψε εγενετο εξεπορευετο εξω της πολεως
23-24 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Hymn of the Universe, p. 147
Hymn of the Universe
That multitude of beings, so daunting in its magnitude that I so long to help enlighten, to lead to you: it is already there, Lord, gathered together within you. Through you, I can reach into the inmost depths of every being and endow them with whatever I will—provided that I know how to ask you and that you permit it.
23 Fr. Murray Bodo, OFM, “Teresa of Avila,” Odd Angles of Heaven, p. 33
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Master, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
11:20 και πρωι παραπορευομενοι ειδον την συκην εξηραμμενην εκ ριζων 11:21 και αναμνησθεις ο πετρος λεγει αυτω ραββι ιδε η συκη ην κατηρασω εξηρανται 11:22 και αποκριθεις ο ιησους λεγει αυτοις εχετε πιστιν θεου 11:23 αμην γαρ λεγω υμιν οτι ος αν ειπη τω ορει τουτω αρθητι και βληθητι εις την θαλασσαν και μη διακριθη εν τη καρδια αυτου αλλα πιστευση οτι α λεγει γινεται εσται αυτω ο εαν ειπη 11:24 δια τουτο λεγω υμιν παντα οσα αν προσευχομενοι αιτησθε πιστευετε οτι λαμβανετε και εσται υμιν 11:25 και οταν στηκητε προσευχομενοι αφιετε ει τι εχετε κατα τινος ινα και ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις αφη υμιν τα παραπτωματα υμων 11:26 ει δε υμεις ουκ αφιετε ουδε ο πατηρ υμων ο εν τοις ουρανοις αφησει τα παραπτωματα υμων
28 Henri Nouwen, Lifesigns, p. 18 f.
Lifesigns
A careful look at the gospels shows that Jesus seldom accepted the questions posed to him. He exposed them as coming from the house of fear. [list of questions including this verse] To none of these questions did Jesus give a direct answer. He gently put them aside as questions emerging from false worries. They were raised out of concern for prestige, influence, power, and control. They did not belong to the house of God. Therefore Jesus always transformed the question by his answer. He made the question new—and only then worthy of his response.
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you a question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Answer me.” 31 And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From men’?” — they were afraid of the people, for all held that John was a real prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
11:27 και ερχονται παλιν εις ιεροσολυμα και εν τω ιερω περιπατουντος αυτου ερχονται προς αυτον οι αρχιερεις και οι γραμματεις και οι πρεσβυτεροι 11:28 και λεγουσιν αυτω εν ποια εξουσια ταυτα ποιεις και τις σοι την εξουσιαν ταυτην εδωκεν ινα ταυτα ποιης 11:29 ο δε ιησους αποκριθεις ειπεν αυτοις επερωτησω υμας και εγω ενα λογον και αποκριθητε μοι και ερω υμιν εν ποια εξουσια ταυτα ποιω 11:30 το βαπτισμα ιωαννου εξ ουρανου ην η εξ ανθρωπων αποκριθητε μοι 11:31 και ελογιζοντο προς εαυτους λεγοντες εαν ειπωμεν εξ ουρανου ερει δια τι ουν ουκ επιστευσατε αυτω 11:32 αλλ ειπωμεν εξ ανθρωπων εφοβουντο τον λαον απαντες γαρ ειχον τον ιωαννην οτι οντως προφητης ην 11:33 και αποκριθεντες λεγουσιν τω ιησου ουκ οιδαμεν και ο ιησους αποκριθεις λεγει αυτοις ουδε εγω λεγω υμιν εν ποια εξουσια ταυτα ποιω