30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? give me an answer.
And in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the waste land of Judaea, Saying, Let your hearts be turned from sin; for the kingdom of heaven is near. For this is he of whom Isaiah the prophet said, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight. Now John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judaea went out to him, and all the people from near Jordan; And they were given baptism by him in the river Jordan, saying openly that they had done wrong. But when he saw a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? Let your change of heart be seen in your works: And say not to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father; because I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children for Abraham. And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; every tree then which does not give good fruit is cut down, and put into the fire. Truly, I give baptism with water to those of you whose hearts are changed; but he who comes after me is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to take up: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire: In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned up in the fire which will never be put out. Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be given baptism by him. But John would have kept him back, saying, It is I who have need of baptism from you, and do you come to me? But Jesus made answer, saying to him, Let it be so now: because so it is right for us to make righteousness complete. Then he gave him baptism. And Jesus, having been given baptism, straight away went up from the water; and, the heavens opening, he saw the Spirit of God coming down on him as a dove; And a voice came out of heaven, saying, This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
The first words of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Even as it is said in the book of Isaiah the prophet, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way; The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight; John came, and gave baptism in the waste land, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed. And there went out to him all the people of Judaea, and all those of Jerusalem, and they were given baptism by him in the river Jordan, saying that they were sinners. And John was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather band about him; and his food was locusts and honey. And he said to them all, There is one coming after me who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo. I have given you baptism with water, but he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit. And it came about in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was given baptism by John in the Jordan. And straight away, coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens broken open and the Spirit coming down on him as a dove: And a voice came out of heaven, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
Now in the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being ruler of Judaea, and Herod being king of Galilee, his brother Philip king of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias king of Abilene, When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land. And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed. As it says in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight. Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth; And all flesh will see the salvation of God. So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come? Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham. And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire. And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do? And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same. Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do? And he said to them, Do not make an attempt to get more money than the right amount. And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you. And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not, John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire: In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned in the fire which will never be put out. And so comforting them with these and other words, he gave the good news to the people; But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done, Did this most evil thing of all, and had John shut up in prison.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came for witness, to give witness about the light, so that all men might have faith through him. He himself was not the light: he was sent to give witness about the light.
John gave witness about him, crying, This is he of whom I said, He who is coming after me is put over me because he was in existence before me. From his full measure we have all been given grace on grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and the true way of life are ours through Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time; the only Son, who is on the breast of the Father, he has made clear what God is. And this is the witness of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to him with the question, Who are you? He said quite openly and straightforwardly, I am not the Christ. And they said to him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you the prophet? And his answer was, I am not. So they said to him, Who are you then? We have to give some answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the waste land, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said Isaiah the prophet. Those who had been sent came from the Pharisees. And they put this question to him, saying, Why then are you giving baptism if you are not the Christ, or Elijah, or the prophet? John's answer was: I give baptism with water; but there is one among you of whom you have no knowledge; It is he who is coming after me; I am not good enough to undo his shoes. These things took place at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was giving baptism. The day after, John sees Jesus coming to him and says, See, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, One is coming after me who is put over me because he was in existence before me. I myself had no knowledge of him, but I came giving baptism with water so that he might be seen openly by Israel. And John gave this witness, saying, I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I had no knowledge who he was, but he who sent me to give baptism with water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit coming down and resting, it is he who gives baptism with the Holy Spirit. This I saw myself and my witness is that he is the Son of God. The day after, John was there again with two of his disciples; And looking at Jesus while he was walking he said, See, there is the Lamb of God!
Then a question came up between John's disciples and a Jew about washing. And they went to John and said to him, Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the man to whom you gave witness, is now giving baptism, and everyone is going to him. And this was John's answer: A man is unable to have anything if it is not given to him from heaven. You yourselves give witness that I said, I am not the Christ. What I said was, I am sent before the Christ. He who has the bride is the husband: but the husband's friend, whose place is by his side and whose ears are open to him, is full of joy because of the husband's voice: such is my joy, and it is complete. He has to become greater while I become less. He who comes from heaven is greater than all others: he who comes from earth is of the earth, and of the earth are his words: he who comes from heaven is over all. He gives witness of what he has seen and of what has come to his ears; and no man takes his witness as true. He who so takes his witness has made clear his faith that God is true. For he whom God has sent says God's words; and God does not give him the Spirit by measure. The Father has love for the Son and has put all things into his hands. He who has faith in the Son has eternal life; but he who has not faith in the Son will not see life; God's wrath is resting on him.
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.