24 For this reason I say to you, Whatever you make a request for in prayer, have faith that it has been given to you, and you will have it.
And all things, whatever you make request for in prayer, having faith, you will get.
And he gives us all our requests, because we keep his laws and do the things which are pleasing in his eyes.
But if any man among you is without wisdom, let him make his request to God, who gives freely to all without an unkind word, and it will be given to him. Let him make his request in faith, doubting nothing; for he who has doubt in his heart is like the waves of the sea, which are troubled by the driving of the wind.
Again, I say to you, that if two of you are in agreement on earth about anything for which they will make a request, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
Make a request, and it will be answered; what you are searching for you will get; give the sign, and the door will be open to you: Because to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire, and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open. Or which of you, if his son makes a request for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he makes a request for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, being evil, are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who make requests to him?
And whatever request you make in my name, that I will do, so that the Father may have glory in the Son.
If you are in me at all times, and my words are in you, then anything for which you make a request will be done for you.
And I say to you, Make requests, and they will be answered; what you are searching for, you will get; when you give the sign, the door will be open to you. For to everyone who makes a request, it will be given; and he who is searching will get his desire; and to him who gives the sign, the door will be open. And which of you, being a father, will give a stone to his son, who makes request for bread? or for a fish, will give him a snake? Or for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If, then, you who are evil are able to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who make request to him?
And on that day you will put no questions to me. Truly I say to you, Whatever request you make to the Father, he will give it to you in my name. Up to now you have made no request in my name: do so, and it will be answered, so that your hearts may be full of joy. All this I have said to you in veiled language: but the time is coming when I will no longer say things in veiled language but will give you knowledge of the Father clearly. In that day you will make requests in my name: and I do not say that I will make prayer to the Father for you, For the Father himself gives his love to you, because you have given your love to me and have had faith that I came from God.
And he made a story for them, the point of which was that men were to go on making prayer and not get tired; Saying, There was a judge in a certain town, who had no fear of God or respect for man: And there was a widow in that town, and she kept on coming to him and saying, Give me my right against the man who has done me wrong. And for a time he would not: but later, he said to himself, Though I have no fear of God or respect for man, Because this widow is a trouble to me, I will give her her right; for if not, I will be completely tired out by her frequent coming. And the Lord said, Give ear to the words of the evil judge. And will not God do right in the cause of his saints, whose cries come day and night to his ears, though he is long in doing it? I say to you that he will quickly do right in their cause. But when the Son of man comes, will there be any faith on earth?
And by the prayer of faith the man who is ill will be made well, and he will be lifted up by the Lord, and for any sin which he has done he will have forgiveness. So then, make a statement of your sins to one another, and say prayers for one another so that you may be made well. The prayer of a good man is full of power in its working. Elijah was a man of flesh and blood as we are, and he made a strong prayer that there might be no rain; and there was no rain on the earth for three years and six months. And he made another prayer, and the heaven sent down rain and the earth gave her fruit.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Mark 11
Commentary on Mark 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 11
Mr 11:1-11. Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, on the First Day of the Week. ( = Mt 21:1-9; Lu 19:29-40; Joh 12:12, 19).
See on Lu 19:29-40.
Mr 11:11-26. The Barren Fig Tree Cursed with Lessons from It—Second Cleansing of the Temple, on the Second and Third Days of the Week. ( = Mt 21:12-22; Lu 19:45-48).
11. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon—surveyed.
all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out into Bethany with the twelve—Thus briefly does our Evangelist dispose of this His first day in Jerusalem, after the triumphal entry. Nor do the Third and Fourth Gospels give us more light. But from Matthew (Mt 21:10, 11, 14-16) we learn some additional and precious particulars, for which see on Lu 19:45-48. It was not now safe for the Lord to sleep in the city, nor, from the day of His Triumphal Entry, did He pass one night in it, save the last fatal one.
The Barren Fig Tree Cursed (Mr 11:12-14).
12. And on the morrow—The Triumphal Entry being on the first day of the week, this following day was Monday.
when they were come from Bethany—"in the morning" (Mt 21:18).
he was hungry—How was that? Had he stolen forth from that dear roof at Bethany to the "mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God?" (Lu 6:12); or, "in the morning," as on a former occasion, "risen up a great while before day, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed" (Mr 1:35); not breaking His fast thereafter, but bending His steps straight for the city, that He might "work the works of Him that sent Him while it was day?" (Joh 9:4). We know not, though one lingers upon and loves to trace out the every movement of that life of wonders. One thing, however we are sure of—it was real bodily hunger which He now sought to allay by the fruit of this fig tree, "if haply He might find any thing thereon"; not a mere scene for the purpose of teaching a lesson, as some early heretics maintained, and some still seem virtually to hold.
13. And seeing a fig tree—(In Mt 21:19, it is "one fig tree," but the sense is the same as here, "a certain fig tree," as in Mt 8:19, &c.). Bethphage, which adjoined Bethany, derives its name from its being a fig region—"House of figs."
afar off having leaves—and therefore promising fruit, which in the case of figs come before the leaves.
he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet—What the precise import of this explanation is, interpreters are not agreed. Perhaps all that is meant is, that as the proper fig season had not arrived, no fruit would have been expected even of this tree but for the leaves which it had, which were in this case prematurely and unnaturally developed.
14. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever—That word did not make the tree barren, but sealed it up in its own barrenness. See on Mt 13:13-15.
And his disciples heard it—and marked the saying. This is introduced as a connecting link, to explain what was afterwards to be said on the subject, as the narrative has to proceed to the other transactions of this day.
Second Cleansing of the Temple (Mr 11:15-18).
For the exposition of this portion, see on Lu 19:45-48.
Lessons from the Cursing of the Fig Tree (Mr 11:20-26).
20. And in the morning—of Tuesday, the third day of the week: He had slept, as during all this week, at Bethany.
as they passed by—going into Jerusalem again.
they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots—no partial blight, leaving life in the root; but it was now dead, root and branch. In Mt 21:19 it is said it withered away as soon as it was cursed. But the full blight had not appeared probably at once; and in the dusk perhaps, as they returned to Bethany, they had not observed it. The precision with which Mark distinguishes the days is not observed by Matthew, intent only on holding up the truths which the incident was designed to teach. In Matthew the whole is represented as taking place at once, just as the two stages of Jairus' daughter—dying and dead—are represented by him as one. The only difference is between a more summary and a more detailed narrative, each of which only confirms the other.
21. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him—satisfied that a miracle so very peculiar—a miracle, not of blessing, as all His other miracles, but of cursing—could not have been wrought but with some higher reference, and fully expecting to hear something weighty on the subject.
Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away—so connecting the two things as to show that he traced the death of the tree entirely to the curse of his Lord. Matthew (Mt 21:20) gives this simply as a general exclamation of surprise by the disciples "how soon" the blight had taken effect.
22. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed … he shall have whatsoever he saith—Here is the lesson now. From the nature of the case supposed—that they might wish a mountain removed and cast into the sea, a thing far removed from anything which they could be thought actually to desire—it is plain that not physical but moral obstacles to the progress of His kingdom were in the Redeemer's view, and that what He designed to teach was the great lesson, that no obstacle should be able to stand before a confiding faith in God.
24. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them—This verse only generalizes the assurance of Mr 11:23; which seems to show that it was designed for the special encouragement of evangelistic and missionary efforts, while this is a directory for prevailing prayer in general.
25. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses, &c.—This is repeated from the Sermon on the Mount (see on Mt 6:12); to remind them that if this was necessary to the acceptableness of all prayer, much more when great things were to be asked and confidently expected.
Mr 11:27-33. The Authority of Jesus Questioned—His Reply. ( = Mt 21:23-27; Lu 20:1-8).
See on Mt 21:23-27.