I always appreciate when you're asked to be seated.
The chairs in the back half, the folding chairs with the pads on them,
! When you guys all sit down at the exact same time, they go...
Have you ever heard that or not?
Just to give you a little insight into my mind,
if you've ever seen a guy do squats and he exhales before he pushes up,
that's what I imagine all the chairs going...
when you guys all sit down on them at the same time.
Like that.
Mark chapter 11.
I'm going to begin reading to you in verse 11.
And he, being Jesus, entered Jerusalem and went into the temple.
And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late,
he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry.
And seeing in the distance a fig tree and 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.
And he said to it,
May no one ever eat fruit from you again.
And his disciples heard it.
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.
And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.
And he was teaching them and saying 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.
And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him,
for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
And when evening came, they went out of the city.
As they passed by in the morning,
they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.
And people remembered and said to him,
Rabbi, look, the fig tree that you cursed has withered.
This is God's word to us,
written for his glory and our good.
We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises
and obey its commands.
Let's pray together.
Father God, we do thank you this morning for your word.
And this is the expression,
the physical thing that we gather around today,
because it speaks of Jesus, the word of God.
It points us to him.
And every single word, every verse,
every passage points us to the one, Jesus Christ.
And we thank you for the gospel of Mark
that we have been able to behold the life,
the practice, the words of Jesus here.
And I pray, Father, this morning,
that you will have your way with us
as we sit under the instruction of your word.
That you will shape our hearts.
That you will make us look more like Christ
for your glory and for our good.
And we pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, interestingly, here we find,
in Mark's gospel,
kind of a bookend literary technique.
We see a story framed within a story.
And it would seem that this is meant to help us
interpret both events properly.
There can be some confusion about the chronology of these events.
In Matthew chapter 21,
they're not recorded in this way,
in this bookended fashion.
But rather, the temple cleansing happens,
and then the fig tree event happens.
And Matthew records that it withers at once.
Jesus curses it,
and it withers right away.
Some people get very troubled by this,
that the chronology is different
in Matthew's gospel
and in Mark's gospel.
And let me just say to you,
pastorally,
please don't let your hearts be troubled
by such things.
I believe that the chronology
probably happened in reality
the way Matthew records it,
but that Mark,
under inspiration,
records it for us in this way
to highlight the meanings for us,
to help us better understand.
It doesn't mean that the meaning
has changed
by any stretch of the imagination,
but simply that he's trying
to better help us understand
the greater purposes
of these two stories
in the Gospels.
The fact that it happened
is recorded by both Matthew and Mark.
Both of these events
did indeed happen.
And so here we find ourselves
in Mark's gospel account.
Verse 11,
at the end of Jesus' triumphal entry,
he goes into Jerusalem
and into the temple,
and he has a look around.
It's kind of a scouting trip for him.
He goes in to see
what has been happening
in the temple,
but it's late at this hour
and people have gone home
at this time,
and so they return back to Bethany,
to the house of Mary and Martha
is where they're staying
at this time.
And they had back out.
And the following morning
in verse 12,
we see that they had now back in.
And we see this wonderful expression
of Jesus' humanity
that he is hungry.
He's hungry to the degree
that he's rather frustrated
when he doesn't find
the food that he needs
for his hunger.
And we may ask,
does Jesus not eat breakfast
before he heads off
for an important day?
He had a big day ahead of him.
Certainly, we should all eat breakfast
before big important days.
And it's likely that Mary and Martha
and their production of food,
their providing for all
that the disciples needed,
that Jesus missed this
because it was his habit
to go out early in the morning
and to pray.
This is conjecture on my part.
Please hear me.
The text doesn't state this to us.
But I would assume that Jesus,
knowing what was confronting him
that week,
we're in the Passion Week,
the very week that he'll be crucified,
was extra fervent in prayer,
that he was out on his knees
before the Lord,
making sure that he was walking
properly before him.
He also knew what he was about
to go do at the temple.
You remember the evening before,
he had gone in and scouted it out.
He had seen the tables
of the money changers
and those who were selling
the pigeons and the doves.
And he knew what he was coming back in
to do.
And so, likely,
again conjecture,
he missed breakfast.
And so he's hungry.
He was a man,
fully human,
and experienced all of the same
pains that we do in life.
So he sees,
from far off,
a fig tree in leaf,
in verse 13.
Now, it's interesting as we read this
because he arrives at this tree
that has no figs on it,
and Mark records for us
that it's not the season for figs.
And so it seems interesting
when you first look at the text
because you say,
how is it that Jesus got upset
at a thing,
created thing,
following its proper order,
that had not created food
for him to eat?
How was it that he was
so upset at it
that he curses it
so that it'll never produce fruit
again,
knowing full well
the case that it should be in?
And the point is,
you've got to look a little bit,
you've got to dig a little deeper,
and you've got to understand figs.
I had to do this.
I don't know anything about figs
until this past two weeks.
A fig tree puts on fruit
before it puts on leaves.
So the fruit is first produced.
The fig puts its energy
into producing the fruit
first,
and then the leaves,
and then the fruit
begins to mature.
Now remember,
this is Passover week.
On our calendar,
March or April,
sometime in this span,
which is when the fruits
would have come on
to the fig tree,
followed by the leaf.
But those fruits
wouldn't have come
to full maturity
until somewhere
between August and October.
So in the fall
is when the ripened fruit
was actually harvested.
However,
people in this day
would eat the green fruit
from the fig tree,
particularly if they were
very hungry.
So what Mark is telling us
is it's not the full time.
It's not the fall.
It's the full ripe fruit
shouldn't be on this thing yet,
but the green ones
should have been
because the tree is in leaf.
That's why that is recorded for us
that the fig tree is in leaf.
So Jesus would have expected
that there would have been
small, hard, green fruit
that would have satisfied
his hunger.
So the fruit comes first
and second comes the leaf.
And it's an important thing
to understand
about why he would have
expected fruit.
In verse 14,
when he doesn't find it,
we see Jesus'
only destructive miracle,
that is,
he produced lots of miracles
that were always constructive
or reconstructive,
healing people,
but this is the only one
where he produces a miracle
that actually destroys something
as he utters a curse
against the tree.
We know it's a curse
because down in verse 21
it says,
And Peter remembered
and said to him,
Rabbi, look,
the fig tree that you cursed
has withered.
The curse he utters is,
May no one ever eat fruit
from you again.
It seems a little bit
like a spiteful act
against the tree,
doesn't it?
Like, why is Jesus
so frustrated
and so upset
that he curses a tree?
Is this some type
of random act of anger
on behalf of our Lord?
No.
Of course,
the answer is no
to that question.
Jesus' curse on the tree
was meant to prefigure
the destruction
of the fruitless.
He's displaying something
for the disciples
to see.
Does Jesus ultimately care
about the life of the tree?
No, he doesn't.
Was he so frustrated
that he had to take out
his anger on the tree?
No, he didn't.
He's doing something here
to teach the disciples
and therefore us
something as well.
The coming destruction
of the fruitless,
of those who do not
bear fruit.
Now, our minds,
as the fastidious students,
I'm sure we all are
of the Scriptures,
likely go to
New Testament texts.
Places like
Matthew 7,
the Sermon on the Mount,
verses 17-19.
So,
every healthy tree
bears good fruit.
The diseased tree
bears bad fruit.
A healthy tree
cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a diseased tree
bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not
bear good fruit
is cut down
and thrown into the fire.
Or John 15,
verses 5 and 6.
Jesus says,
I am the vine,
you are the branches.
Whoever abides in me
and I in him,
he it is that bears
much fruit.
For apart from me
you can do nothing.
So those who are in Christ
produce good fruit.
verse 6 says,
if anyone does not
abide in me,
he is thrown away
like a branch
and withers.
And the branches
are gathered,
thrown into the fire
and burned.
So there's a judgment
that comes on those
in Matthew 7
who don't bear
good fruit,
fruit that accords
with godliness.
And in John 15,
those who bear
no fruit at all,
who are cut off
from the life-giving
force of the vine,
and wither
and are thrown
into the fire.
The judgment comes.
Now,
the apostles
wouldn't have had
our New Testament text
as part of their scriptures,
but they also,
as students of the scriptures,
would have gone
to their scriptures,
the Old Testament texts.
Ones like Jeremiah 8.13
When I would gather them,
declares the Lord,
there are no grapes
on the vine,
nor figs
on the fig tree.
Even the leaves
are withered,
and what I gave them
has passed away from them.
Jeremiah is proclaiming
judgment on Israel.
Jeremiah 24.
Jeremiah has a vision
of Israel's judgment
in terms of good figs
versus bad figs.
In Hosea 9.10,
Like grapes in the wilderness
I found Israel,
like the first fruit
on the fig tree
in its first season
I saw your fathers.
But they came to Baal Peor
and consecrated themselves
to the things of shame
and became detestable
like the things they loved.
Verse 16 and 17.
Ephraim,
another name
for the northern tribe,
is stricken.
Their root is dried up.
They shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will put their beloved children
to death.
My God will reject them
because they have not listened to Him.
They shall be wanders
among the nations.
So they would have been
very familiar
with this imagery.
They would have understood
that Jesus proclaiming judgment
on the fig tree
was a foreshadowing
of the judgment
that would come
to the fruitless.
In either case,
New Testament or Old,
the theme holds.
Those who are fruitless
will be judged.
And so we must ask the question
at this point,
do you bear fruit?
I must ask the question to myself,
do I bear fruit?
We should examine our fruit.
Now our fruit does not give us
merit before God.
It doesn't give us merit.
It doesn't earn.
I don't have a big basket of fruit
and I have enough fruit,
enough good working
out of my life
that He'll put it on a scale
and say,
your good fruit
outweighs your bad fruit.
Welcome to my kingdom.
This is not what's happening.
We're not meriting ourselves
to Him.
If you are found in Christ,
God is pleased with you
because of the righteousness
of Christ.
This is the beauty
of the Gospel.
Because none of us
are ever going to be able
to amass enough good fruit
to outweigh the bad fruit.
This is not a possibility
for us to earn our way.
But if we are in Christ,
we have been made perfect
in Him.
This is the glorious truth
that God is pleased with us
regardless,
that nothing takes us
out of His hand,
that when He looks at us,
He sees Jesus.
Even when we fail,
even when we bear
the guilt of that,
we know that we've failed,
we know that we don't walk
in the way that we should walk.
He looks at us
and He is pleased.
Beloved,
this is precious
for us to know.
This is what enables us
when we fall flat
on our faces,
when we commit
grievous sin
against God,
to stand back up
and look at Him
to repent,
to enter back
into His presence,
to be back in relationship
with Him
because Christ
has purchased that
for us.
This is the reality
of those of us
who have placed
believing faith
in Jesus Christ.
However,
we are instructed,
we are meant
to test that salvation,
to be sure of it,
to know without a doubt
that we are found
in Christ
by what?
Our fruit.
the outworking
of the reality
of who we are.
Old has passed away.
New has come.
Right?
I am now a good tree.
I was once a bad tree
and I produced bad fruit,
but I am now a good tree
and therefore
I produce good fruit.
But I should examine that.
2 Corinthians 13.5
Paul says,
examine yourselves
to see whether you are
in the faith.
He's writing to the church.
Those that we would all
presume were in the faith.
He says,
examine yourselves.
Test yourselves.
Or do you not realize
this about yourselves,
that Jesus Christ
is in you
unless indeed
you fail to meet
the test?
The test is this
issue of fruit,
which is ultimately
an issue
of worship.
How do you spend
your life?
What do you ultimately
care about?
How do you
align everything
that you have
and all that you do
to show that you
worship the one
true God?
You don't worship
yourself.
You don't worship
the things of this world.
You worship God.
This is what God
is concerned about
in the Old Testament.
Obedience to the law
was ultimately
an act of worship.
Aligning the Old Testament
peoples,
aligning themselves
with God,
worshipped Him
by obeying His law.
This is what God
is concerned
within the New Testament.
This is what Jesus
is concerned about.
It's heart worship
worship that matters.
He could have spoken
about all kinds
of things.
We're now in the
11th chapter of Mark.
We've come through
10 chapters already
and we've seen Jesus
teach on numerous
occasions.
He could have spoken
about lots of things.
Political issues,
social issues,
there were troubles
in this day.
He could have spoken
to all of those things.
He would have had
wisdom for all of
those things,
but He instead spoke
repeatedly about
heart worship.
He knew that if we
would align ourselves
with God,
that all those things
would begin to sort
themselves out.
The primary thing
reigns over those
secondary things.
Jesus constantly
pressed at people.
You were created
for something.
God is calling you
back to Him.
Worship Him
from the heart.
It's not merely
the exterior that
matters,
but the interior.
Let's look at one
example.
We should turn back
to Mark chapter 7.
There's one example
of His teaching on this.
Begin reading in verse 14.
And He called the people
to Him again and said
to them,
Hear me,
all of you,
and understand.
There is nothing
outside a person
that by going into Him
can defile Him,
but the things that
come out of a person
are what defile Him.
The fruit, right?
And when He had
entered the house
and left the people,
His disciples asked Him
about the parable.
And He said to them,
Then are you also
without understanding?
Do you not see
that whatever goes
into a person
from outside
cannot defile Him
since it enters
not His heart
but His stomach
and is expelled?
Thus He declared
all foods clean.
Mark's little
parenthetical
addition
commentary.
Jesus is saying
all of these regulations
about food,
don't you see that
this isn't what
changes your heart
because it just goes
into your stomach
and goes back
out of you.
Verse 20,
And He said,
What comes out
of a person
is what defiles Him?
For from within
out of the heart
of man
come evil thoughts,
sexual immorality,
theft,
murder,
adultery,
coveting,
wickedness,
deceit,
sensuality,
envy,
slander,
pride,
foolishness.
All these evil things
come from within
and they defile a person.
So the evidences
of someone's heart
not being shaped by God,
not being made new
in Christ
is the bad stuff
that's coming out of them.
Those things
that are not
fruits of the Spirit
but are rather
fruits of the flesh.
This issue
is pressed
constantly throughout
the Gospel account.
It's pressed in all
the Scriptures
as a matter of fact
that true worship
of God
is an issue
of our hearts.
That works out
in proper ways.
Hear me say that.
It works out
in proper ways
but it's primarily
about our hearts
and the fruit
is the way
in which
we test this.
The issue
is continued
in Jesus' activity
in the temple
picking back up
in verse 15.
You see,
the temple
was at the heart
of Israel's worship.
Metaphorically,
it was the heart
of the nation.
Just as proper worship
now proceeds
from our hearts
figuratively
and in a practical sense,
proper worship
proceeded from the temple.
If the leaders
of the temple
were corrupt
then the people
of God
were also corrupted.
This was a truth
in this day.
The apostasy began
at the temple
and this is what
Jesus is going in
to sort out
and to cleanse
from this place.
This is why
and this is much debated
I'll tell you
but this is why
I believe
that Jesus
started His ministry
with the cleansing
of the temple
and then ends it
here
as He's wrapping
things up
with a second
cleansing
of the temple.
Now I'll tell you
there's a lot
of argument
about this kind
of thing
but John
records it
very early
in his gospel
account
John chapter 2
verses 13
through 17
it seems
that Jesus
goes and makes
a side journey
takes off
goes to Jerusalem
does some temple
cleansing
in that account
we see that
He makes a
whip of cords
I love this one
He's so frustrated
that He braids
up something
and drives people
out in this
account here
there's a different
record of what
said to Him
and what proceeds
after what happens
in the actual
temple event
so I think
He began it
here
He spends
three years
ministering to
the people of
Israel
and He comes
back now
and I think
this is why
He went in
to scout out
what was going
on
He's back
again
on the Passover
week
He's going
to see if
they've sorted
things out
in Israel
or not
He's sorely
disappointed
so He goes
in to cleanse
it once
again
an interesting
parable that
he tells
which I think
gives us
some clue
to the
validity
of my stance
here
is Luke
chapter 13
verses 6
through 9
he says
and he told
this parable
a man had
a fig tree
planted in his
vineyard
and he came
seeking fruit
on it
and found
none
first cleansing
he came
seeking fruit
on it
he found
none
and he said
to the
vine dresser
look
for three
years now
I have
come
seeking fruit
on this
fig tree
and I
find
none
cut it
down
why
should
it
use
up
the
ground
and he
answered
him
sir
let it
alone
this
year
also
until I
dig
around
it
and put
more
on
manure
then it
should
bear
fruit
next
year
well
and
good
but if
not
you
can
cut
it
down
so
you
see
this
three
year
gap
he even
speaks
about
in this
end
why
because
he had
taught
them
the way
they
should
align
their
hearts
he taught
them
the proper
fruit
that should
proceed
and they
had yet
to do
it
so he
does at
the beginning
he concludes
the ministry
with his
miracles
cleansing
the temple
we've got
one more
miracle
which is
the miracle
of the
resurrection
but except
for that
we don't
see any
other
miracles
in
Mark's
gospel
account
this is
the last
one
except
for
the
resurrection
that he
does
Jesus
was upset
about the
improper
use
of the
court
of the
Gentiles
this is
the
outer
court
of the
temple
of the
worship
the
Gentiles
were allowed
in this
arena
of the
court
we see
that there
are money
changers
there
they were
turning
various
currencies
into
Tyrian
coinage
this was
the coinage
that was
accepted
in temple
worship
they were
selling
pigeons
or
doves
which were
required
for
sacrifice
Leviticus
5
7
says
but if
he
cannot
afford
a
lamb
then
he
shall
bring
to
the
Lord
as his
compensation
for the
sin
that he
has
committed
two
turtle
doves
or two
pigeons
one
for a
sin
offering
and the
other
for a
burnt
offering
so
these
activities
would have
been
things
that
needed
to
happen
people
would have
needed
to
purchase
a
turtle
dove
or
purchase
pigeons
they
would have
needed
their
coinage
to see
that
Jesus
actually
drives
out
both
those
who
sold
and
those
who
bought
so
it
would
actually
seem
that
the
activity
itself
wasn't
so
sinful
that
these
things
were
permitted
to
happen
but
not
in
this
place
they
had
come
into
a
place
that
was
meant
for
something
altogether
different
and
they
had
turned
it
into
a
place
for
the
exchanging
of
money
for
the
extortion
of
God
the
court
was
also
not
to
be
used
as
a
thoroughfare
he
stopped
people
from
cutting
the
corner
around
the
temple
and
cutting
across
this
temple
court
on
the
outside
and
then
we
get
some
clue
that
it's
possible
that
there
was
some
unfair
trade
happening
because
he
says
in
verse
17
at
the
end
but
you
have
made
it
a
den
of
robbers
so
lightly
there
was
beyond
the
fair
exchange
of
money
and
selling
of
these
sacrificial
animals
they
were
extorting
people
above
and
beyond
what
they
should
have
been
to
do
this
thing
but
he
is
altogether
displeased
with
what
is
happening
in
the
court
and
he
drives
them
out
people
could
have
been
there
so
the
fact
that
he
drove
people
out
probably
mean
he
kind
of
herded
them
out
and
that's
something
I
would
have
loved
to
have
seen
both
the
account
with
the
whip
and
then
him
flipping
over
tables
in
his
anger
and
pressing
people
out
of
this
place
I
mean
one
man
couldn't
have
done
this
by
his
own
human
physical
strength
it
was
probably
because
he
was
mean
that
we
have
righteous
anger
we
could
wrongly
do
that
the
main
point
of
this
text
now
I
would
exhort
you
that
at
times
speaking
the
truth
in
loves
means
turning
over
a few
tables
there's
actually
not
enough
of
that
in
our
culture
today
people
who
are
willing
to
contend
for
the
truth
people
who
are
willing
to
toss
a
table
now
and
then
and
stand
up
for
the
Lord
we
need
more
of
this
we
need
mighty
men
right
not
mansy
pansy
Christians
but
people
who
will
stand
firm
on
the
word
of
God
and
do
what
is
necessary
to
correct
doctrine
at
times
in
love
these
things
should
be
done
we
should
not
primarily
make
Jesus
action
here
about
setting
an
example
for
our
zeal
although
true
we
shouldn't
make
it
primarily
about
that
I
want
you
to
!
me
to
the
Old
Testament
book
of
Nehemiah
I
want
to
share
with
you
a
story
that
I
particularly
love
I
realized
in
this
past
few
weeks
that
when
we
preach
through
the
book
of
Nehemiah
that's
now
been
two
summers
ago
which
just
kind
of
made
my
head
explode
Nehemiah
is
a
prophet
of
God
who
has
returned
to
Israel
he
has
been
the
cup
bearer
for
King
Artaxerxes
the
Persian
king
and
King
Artaxerxes
has
begun
to
let
the
Israelites
go
back
to
the
nation
and
they
have
yet
to
rebuild
Jerusalem
so the
major
activity
of
Nehemiah
is
he
goes
back
and
he
leads
the
people
in
rebuilding
the
city
which
was
the
visible
way
in
which
people
saw
the
glory
of
God
like
how
are
the
people
of
Israel
doing
so
he
went
back
and
he
built
the
wall
they
rebuilt
the
temple
at
this
time
and
he
had
some
antagonists
all
throughout
the
story
one
of
those
antagonists
was
a
guy
named
13
we
see
that
Nehemiah
goes
back
to
King
Artaxerxes
for a
time
and
some
things
transpire
in
that
time
beginning
in
verse
4
now
before
this
Eliashib
the
priest
who
was
appointed
over
the
chambers
of
the
house
of
our
God
and
who
was
related
to
Tobiah
prepared
for
Tobiah
a
large
chamber
where
they
had
previously
put
the
grain
offering
the
frankincense
the
vessels
and
the
tithes
of
grain
wine
and
oil
which
were
given
by
commandment
to
the
Levites
singers
and
gatekeepers
and
the
contributions
for
the
priests
now
these
things
are
storehouses
built
prescribed
to be
built
and
there
were
things
put
in
them
to
care
for
those
who
were
leading
people
in
the
worship
of
God
right
instead
of
that
Eliashib
clears
a
mountain
gives
it
as
a
house
to
Tobiah
verse
6
while
this
was
taking
place
I
was
not
in
Jerusalem
for
in
the
32nd
year
Artaxerxes
king
of
Babylon
I
went
to
the
king
and
after
some
time
I
asked
leave
of
the
king
and
came
to
Jerusalem
and
I
then
discovered
the
evil
that
Eliashib
had
done
for
Tobiah
preparing
for
him
a
chamber
in
the
courts
of
the
house
of
God
and
I
was
very
angry
and
I
threw
!
the
household
furniture
of
Tobiah
out
of
the
chamber
then
I
gave
orders
and
they
cleansed
the
chambers
and
I
brought
back
there
the
vessels
of
the
house
of
God
with
the
grain
offering
and
the
frankincense
so
he
comes
back
and
the
house
of
God
had
been
used
for
something
that
it
was
not
meant
to
be
used
for
this
was
not
the
purpose
that
this
place
had
been
built
for
provision
for
the
worship
of
God
so
he
goes
in
and
he
cleans
up
another
event
I
would
have
loved
to
be
held
he
throws
all
of
Tobias
furniture
out
onto
the
lawn
and
tells
him
to
get
Nehemiah
in
this
way
prefigures
Christ
imagine
that the
Old
Testament
followers
of
God
would
have
seen
this
and
understood
this
cleansing
using
the
temple
for
the
proper
use
was
not
meant
to
be
used
as
a
place
to
sell
things
was
meant
to
be
used
for
the
worship
of
God
so
we
would
wrongly
understand
it
that
way
primarily
that
this
is
about
having
zealous
anger
although
it
can
mean
that
the
example
of
our
Lord
has
its
place
and
its
time
in
our
day
we
can
also
wrongly
take
the
main
point
to
be
a
prophecy
of
the
coming
destruction
of
be
completed
and
when
it
is
it
will
be
destroyed
in
70
AD
by
Titus
Vespasian
who was
a Roman
general
at the
time
later
became
a
ruler
you're
welcome
Clay
I hope
I
pronounced
that
properly
so
the
temple
was
to
be
destroyed
and
is
to
this
day
but
this
is
not
mainly
what
he's
saying
here
in
some
way
we
can
see
some
foreshadowing
because
we
know
what
came
to
pass
but
I
don't
believe
this
is
what
he
meant
to
teach
the
disciples
at
all
he
does
so
in
other
places
though
like
Mark
chapter
13
verse
1
and
2
he
says
and
as
he
came
out
of
the
temple
one
of
his
disciples
said
to
him
look
teacher
what
wonderful
stones
and
what
wonderful
buildings
and
Jesus
said
to
him
do
you
see
these
great
buildings
there
will
not
be
left
here
one
stone
upon
another
that
will
not
be
thrown
down
so
there
we
see
right
a
prediction
of
what
would
happen
but
I
don't
think
that's
primarily
what
he's
trying
to
accomplish
here
so
neither
of
these
is
the
main
point
so
what
is
what
is
the
main
point
again
it's
Jesus
coming
judgment
on
the
fruitless
this
is
how
Mark's
literary
prowess
if
you'll
allow
serves
us
as
we
look
at
the
story
of
the
fig
tree
and
the
story
of
Jesus
cleansing
the
temple
together
bookended
in
this
way
one
helps
us
understand
the
other
and
the
other
helps
us
understand
the
one
we're
supposed
to
see
these
things
in
conjunction
he's
coming
to
the
very
place
in
which
people
are
supposed
to
worship
God
rightly
and
they're
doing
it
wrongly
in
this
place
fruitless
in
this
way
and
so
he
is
expected
to
see
people
rightly
worshiping
God
by being
concerned
with
God's
concerns
and we
must ask
ourselves
again
at this
point
do you
love
the
things
that
God
loves
do you
love
the
things
that
God
loves
Jesus
quotes
in
his
condemnation
in
this
cleansing
process
from
Isaiah
56
7
and
Jeremiah
7
11
now
we've
talked
already
a bit
about
how
he
said
but
you
have
made
it
a
den
of
robbers
this
is
the
thing
this
is
the
bad
fruit
that
you
have
produced
or
the
fruitlessness
if you
prefer
that you
have
produced
Jeremiah
7
11
has
this
house
which
is
called
by
my
name
become
a
den
of
robbers
in
your
eyes
behold
I
myself
have
seen
it
declares
the
Lord
and
he
puts
us
along
with
Isaiah
!
56
The
activity
that they
should have
been about
in the
court of
the
Gentiles
was
prayer
for the
nations
they
should
have
been
concerned
about
God's
glory
globally
they
should
have
been
concerned
that
everyone
everywhere
would see
God
rightly
and
worship
Him
from
the
heart
this
should
have
been
the
matter
that
was
moving
at
them
to
worship
Him
rightly
in
this
place
the
same
is
true
for
us
today
we're
concerned
about
the
things
that
God
is
concerned
about
that
we
love
the
things
He
loves
namely
His
own
glory
to
be
the
activity
of
those
who
fear
God
and
want
to
worship
Him
from
the
heart
turn
with me
to
Psalm
96
let me
just
emphasize
this
point
to
you
let's
read
to
you
verses
1
through
9
Psalm
96
oh
sing to
the
Lord
a new
song
sing
to
the
Lord
all
the
earth
sing
to
the
Lord
glory
and
strength
ascribe
to
the
Lord
the
glory
do
his
name
bring
an
offering
and
come
into
his
courts
worship
the
Lord
in
the
splendor
of
holiness
tremble
before
him
all
the
earth
this
is
what
we
are
meant
to
be
concerned
about
all
the
activity
of
our
lives
are
meant
to
press
at
people
our
lives
and
their
lives
to
sing
praises
!
glory
everywhere
that we
go
that
is
the
fruit
of
hearts
that
are
changed
hearts
that
are
devoted
in
worship
to
God
now
you'll
notice
in
verse
18
and
19
he's
once
again
caused
a bit
of
controversy
the
chief
priests
now
have
entered
the
scene
and
are
offended
and
the
scribes
as
well
the
intellectuals
the
religious
intellectuals
of the
day
and
they
begin
to
seek
to
kill
him
which
is
not
a
new
thing
at
all
right
because
they
feared
him
though
they
were
losing
control
of
the
crowds
they
could
no
longer
keep
their
thumb
down
on
them
because
Jesus
is
coming
and
he
is
destroying
their
power
right
their
apostolic
power
it
doesn't
it's
not a
reality
of a
thing
they've
created
this
new
religion
by
which
they
control
the
!
they're
going
to
see
Jesus
crucified
at
the
end
of
this
week
on
Friday
this
is
Tuesday
that
we're
in
the
Passion
Week
by
Friday
they're
going
to
see
him
put
to
death
and
praise
God
by
Sunday
he's
going
to
raise
again
we
have
life
in
him
as
a
result
his
sacrifice
on
our
behalf
did
a
little
just
quick
flip
through
the
end
of
Mark
just
to
see
!
how
much
longer
I
thought
we
would
be
in
Mark's
Gospel
account
I
think
it's
going
to
take
us
through
May
to
complete
it
so
we're
going
to
spend
months
gosh
I'm
horrible
at
math
in
this
way
on
the
calendar
eight
months
I
feel
like
that
is
it's
a
good
chunk
of
time
right
in
a
week
right
Jesus
is
going
to
say
so
much
in
this
last
week
to
the
apostles
and
to
us
it's
going
to
really
cause
us
to
face
the
realities
as
this
all
winds
down
to
an
end
and
cause
us
to
deal
with
all
the
implication
of
the
Son
of
God
sacrifice
on
our
behalf
we're
really
going
to
have
to
do
that
together
as
I
hope
we
do
every
Sunday
anyway
it's
really
going
to
press
us
into
that
how
should
we
live
properly
in
response
to
if
we
are
found
in
Christ
our
lives
are
going
to
look
different
they're
going
to
be
different
from
the
lives
of
this
world
God's
going
to
set
us
apart
he's
going
to
sanctify
us
in
his
truth
he's
going
to
lead
us
in
the
way
we
should
go
when
we're
going
to
have
to
wrestle
with
all
of
that
to
find
ourselves
to
examine
ourselves
!
find
that
we
are
we
are
reoriented
now
those
things
are
done
we
are
now
picking
up
new
passions
and
desires
and
those
are
the
passions
and
desires
of
our
Lord
let's
pray
together