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Scripture Reading: Mark 11:27-33; 12:1-44
When the Lord Jesus went from Galilee to Judea, His intention was to go to Jerusalem in order to enter into His death and resurrection and also to bring His close followers with Him into His death and resurrection. Peter, John, and James represented all the intimate followers of the Lord. From the very beginning, these three followed the Lord closely. As we read the Gospel of Mark, we see that Peter, John, and James followed the Lord Jesus step by step. Eventually, the Lord brought them into His all-inclusive death. Of course, they did not actually suffer death with the Lord; nevertheless, they went through the process of His death. They saw how the Lord prepared Himself to die. They also saw how He prepared the environment for His death and even prepared His opposers, who put Him to death. Moreover, they saw how the Lord was arrested, judged according to Jewish law, and judged by the Roman governor according to Gentile law. They saw how He was mocked, persecuted, and led as a lamb to the slaughter. They saw how the Lord was put on the cross and how He remained there for six hours.
The Lord passed through death, and the disciples passed through death with Him. The only difference was that they did not actually suffer death. The Lord Himself personally suffered death, whereas the disciples passed through the process of death. Of course, they were not placed in the tomb nor did they go into Hades. However, we may say that the days between the Lord’s death and resurrection were a “tomb” to the disciples. We may also say that, in a sense, they passed through Hades. Then on the morning of the Lord’s resurrection, certain of the disciples discovered the empty tomb and learned that the crucified Jesus had been resurrected from among the dead.
We should not read the Gospel of Mark merely as a book of stories. Neither should we read this Gospel only to learn doctrine. On the contrary, as we read this Gospel, we need to see vision after vision. As we read the Gospel of Mark, we should have the sense that we are watching a heavenly television.
On the day of Pentecost the Spirit was poured out upon the one hundred twenty. Through death and resurrection, the very Slave-Savior revealed in Mark became the life-giving Spirit, who was poured out upon the disciples. This means that the Lord poured Himself out upon those who had seen the visions recorded in the Gospel of Mark. Through this outpouring of the Spirit, the one hundred twenty received the reality of all the visions they had seen.
I hope that these messages in the Life-study of Mark will help you to see the visions contained in this Gospel. Eventually, the resurrected Christ as the living Spirit will pour out Himself upon you to make whatever you see a reality to you. Then in reality you will be in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Truly you will be enjoying Him as the entire, universal replacement.
In this message we shall go on to consider the last part of chapter eleven of Mark. Mark 11 describes events that took place during the last six days of the Lord’s earthly life. These six days were for the new creation. According to the book of Genesis, within a period of six days God completed the old creation. Then on the seventh day, the Sabbath, God rested. In a similar way, the Lord took six days to bring forth God’s new creation. After these six days had been completed, there was another Sabbath. The Lord was crucified on a Friday, and the next day was a Sabbath. From this we see that it took the Lord six days to complete the preparation and bring the new creation into being. In the six days that concluded with His death, the Lord did everything necessary to bring the new creation into existence for God. Then after these six days, He rested on the seventh day, the Sabbath. In these messages we are seeking to understand what took place during these six days.
On the first of these six days the Lord Jesus triumphantly entered into Jerusalem, riding on a colt. The people cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (v. 9). Here we see that the Lord received the approval of the people. After making such an entrance into Jerusalem, He entered into the temple “and having looked around at all things, the hour being already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve” (v. 11).
Returning to the city the next day, He cursed the fig tree and cleansed the temple. In order to be impressed with the seriousness of these matters, we may compare them to someone going into the capital city of a country, burning the flag, and then entering one of the main government buildings and causing a great disturbance. Certainly such deeds would be written about in the newspapers.
After cursing the fig tree, the symbol of the Jewish nation, the Lord entered into the temple and turned over the tables of the moneychangers. Because He had already received the approval of the people, no one dared to stop Him. At the time, all the leaders were silenced. However, they plotted secretly how to destroy the Lord Jesus.
According to 11:19, “When it became late, they went outside the city.” This took place on the evening of the second day. No doubt, that evening the disciples must have talked with one another about what the Lord had done in Jerusalem. Probably throughout the city of Jerusalem many were talking about what the Lord did in cleansing the temple.
On the morning of the third day, the disciples saw the fig tree withered from the roots (v. 20). Then they came again to Jerusalem. Verse 27 says, “As He walked in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him.” If the Lord had not received the approval of the people, He could not have walked in the temple in such a way. Instead, He would immediately have been arrested and put to death. But because He had been received by the people, He was free to walk about in the temple.
The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders — the three categories of those who made up the Sanhedrin — came to the Lord and said to Him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority that you may do these things?” (v. 28). Here the chief priests, scribes, and elders seemed to be saying, “You cursed the fig tree, and then you overturned the tables in the temple. By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you authority to do these things? What you have done is extremely serious. Therefore, we want to know about your origin and authority.”
In dealing with the chief priests, scribes, and elders, the Lord Jesus was very dignified. He was not afraid as He was confronting this situation, but answered their questions with boldness.
The Lord Jesus said to them, “I will question you about one thing, and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John, was it of heaven or of men? Answer Me” (vv. 29-30). On the one hand, the Lord Jesus was not afraid of being questioned by the chief priests, scribes, and elders. On the other hand, He counter-questioned them with dignity.
Before answering the Lord’s question, the chief priests, scribes, and elders held counsel among themselves. “They reasoned with themselves saying, If we say, Of heaven, he will say, Why then did you not believe him? But should we say, Of men — they feared the crowd, for all held that John was really a prophet” (vv. 31-32). Realizing that there was no way for them to answer the Lord’s question without losing the case, they decided to lie. Therefore, they said to the Lord Jesus, “We do not know” (v. 33). The Lord knew what was in their hearts. He knew that they were lying to Him.
The Lord Jesus went on to say to the chief priests, scribes, and elders, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things” (v. 33). This indicates that the Lord knew that the Jewish leaders would not tell Him what they knew. Hence, neither would He tell them what they asked. They lied to the Lord in saying, “We do not know.” But the Lord spoke the truth wisely to them, exposing their lie and avoiding their question.
In the Lord’s answer we need to pay attention to the word “neither.” This word indicates that the Jewish leaders were lying to the Lord. Since they would not tell Him what they knew concerning John the Baptist, neither would He answer their question.
The Lord’s wise answer put the leaders of the Jewish nation to shame. They were exposed as being a group of liars. In dealing with them the Lord manifested both His dignity and His wisdom. We may say that His dignity was human and His wisdom was divine. This combination of human dignity and divine wisdom subdued the chief priests, scribes, and elders.
I believe that the Lord’s disciples were very pleased with the way He dealt with the Jewish leaders. They may have looked at one another, nodding their heads and smiling. They saw the Slave-Savior’s dignity and wisdom in the midst of that situation in the temple. How happy they must have been to see the chief priests, scribes, and elders subdued by the Lord Jesus.
After the Slave-Savior was examined by the chief priests, scribes, and elders, He was tested by the Pharisees and Herodians (12:13-17). Mark 12:13 says, “And they send to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians that they might catch Him in His speech.” The Herodians were those who took sides with King Herod’s regime and took part with him in infiltrating the Jews with Grecian and Roman manners of life. They sided with the Sadducees, but were opposed to the Pharisees. But here they united with the Pharisees to ensnare the Lord Jesus.
The Pharisees were very patriotic, wholly for the Jewish nation. The Herodians were for the Roman imperialists. Hence, these two parties could not work together. But in dealing with this wonderful Person, the Slave-Savior, those who were enemies came together to ask the Lord a subtle question, a question related both to patriotism and imperialism.
Coming to Him, they said, “Teacher, we know that you are true, and you do not care about anyone; for you do not regard the face of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Should we give, or should we not give?” (v. 14). This was really an ensnaring question. To give tribute to Caesar was opposed by the Jews. If the Lord Jesus said that it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar, He would offend the Jews, whose leaders were the Pharisees. But if He said that it was not lawful to give tribute to Caesar, His answer would give the Herodians, who stood with the Roman government, ground to accuse Him.
It may seem to us that there was no way for the Lord Jesus to answer this question. Suppose He had said, “No, we should not give tribute to Caesar.” Then the Herodians would have said, “You are against the Romans. You should be arrested and cast into prison.” But suppose the Lord had said, “Yes, it is right to give tribute to Caesar.” Then the Pharisees would have said, “You are betraying your country, for you are working for the Roman imperialists.” How devilishly subtle was the question raised by the Pharisees and Herodians!
Although the Lord was questioned in a devilishly subtle way, He was not afraid. Rather, maintaining His dignity, He said to them, “Why are you tempting Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it” (12:15). The Lord Jesus did not show them the Roman coin, but asked them to show one to Him. Since they possessed one of the Roman coins, they were caught.
After they brought a coin to Him, He said, “Whose image and inscription is this?” (v. 16). When they answered, “Caesar’s,” the Lord went on to say, “The things of Caesar pay to Caesar, and the things of God to God” (v. 17). To pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s is to pay tribute to Caesar according to his governmental regulations. To pay to God the things of God is to pay the half shekel to God according to Exodus 30:11-16, and also to offer the tithes to God according to the law of God.
The section in the Gospel of Mark concerning the Slave-Savior being tested by the Pharisees and the Herodians concludes with these words: “And they marveled at Him.” The Lord answered them in His divine wisdom, and they were silenced and subdued.
