Edited January 1, 2019

Summary Jesus, coming from the direction of  Bethany on the east side of the Mount of Olives, prepares to enter Jerusalem; the entry is clearly staged as the accomplishment of an act and certainly the end of a journey. The disciples are sent to bring a colt upon which Jesus will ride into the city: he is proclaimed Lord in the tradition of the "coming kingdom of David." On first entering Jerusalem, he enters the temple, looks around and leaves.  He is next reported as cursing a fig tree which has leaves but not fruit. This is followed by a return to and cleansing of the temple. After this cleansing, the narration returns to the fig tree and the reason for the curse, emphasizing the power of God over faith. In Jerusalem, Jesus is now confronted by Pharisees, scribes, and elders questioning his authority. Jesus deflects this question to one about whether John the Baptist had been authorized by heaven or by men.

Pasted from <http://crain.english.missouriwestern.edu/Mark/newpage17.htm>

The summary here is succinct; my interpretation explores largely the entry into Jerusalem, the fig tree, and the Temple cleansing. Rather than re-invent, here I will quote from my earlier work regard these events; first, the triumphal entry:

• What does one make of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, coming in the eleventh chapter of Mark, signaling the end of the opening events and journey into the Holy City?
  • Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
  • 11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’ " 4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" 6 They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!

Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

• Then he 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.

• Remember, Jesus has just been proclaimed Messiah in the tradition of David.  Now, suddenly, he sends his disciples to find a colt that has never been ridden and instructs them to untie it and bring it to him. This event, of course, signals for Christians the last week in the life of Christ.  For Jews, this event continues the lead-in to the celebration of Passover.   What is one to expect? Advocates of tradition go back to  Zechariah 9:9:

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

• When was Zechariah written? codified? Almost everyone recognizes it as post-exile (after the Babylonian captivity). Let's look at the Oxford annotation:

• Zechariah, whose prophecies date from 520 to 518 b.c. and are found in Zechariah 1–8, was contemporary with Haggai (Ezra 5.1; Ezra 6.14). He shared Haggai’s zeal for a rebuilt temple, a purified community, and the coming of the messianic age (see "Introduction to Haggai"). Like Haggai also, Zechariah forms a link between earlier prophecy (especially Ezekiel) and mature apocalyptic thought (Daniel 7–12). But Zechariah differs from his contemporary in the form and presentation of his message, employing the literary style of night visions and dialogues between God, seer, and interpreting angel. With him, therefore, both the form and imagery of Jewish apocalyptic thought are significantly developed.

• Zechariah 9–14, which nowhere claims to be from Zechariah, portrays nothing of the early Persian period but speaks rather of the Greeks (Zechariah 9.13). Instead of Joshua and Zerubbabel, unnamed shepherds lead the community. Instead of peace and rebuilding, there are expectations of universal warfare and the siege of Jerusalem. Style, vocabulary, and theological ideas differentiate these chapters from Zechariah’s work. Although they may contain some earlier bits, they were written during the Greek period, principally in the fourth and third centuries b.c., by unknown authors. Since the eschatological and messianic themes found in the first section are here further elaborated, the authors are spiritual disciples of Zechariah. The pictures of the messianic Prince of Peace and the Good Shepherd smitten for the flock are used in the New Testament in order to describe the person and work of Jesus Christ.

• In the Greek period, the fourth and third centuries BCE, eschatology and Messianism have intensified.  Jesus is now placed in this tradition of expectation: as Prince of Peace and Good Shepherd.   His own understanding and prediction of the Passion has been that he will be smitten for the flock.  The Romans, by the era of Jesus, have replaced the Greeks; not being particularly religious, they have accepted hellenized religion.  Multiple gods are familiar; they often seem to be humans made into gods.  They symbolize forces of nature, and the ordinary mortal procedure is to sacrifice and pray to them in order to incur favorable human outcomes.  The Romans in this era are generally tolerant of the religions but suspect anything which is contrary to political allegiance. Only when religion calls attention to itself as being in opposition to current rule is there likely to be a political backlash which includes overt overriding of rebellious cults.  To be proclaimed, even symbolically, as involved in any overthrow of contemporary rule in Jerusalem is judged to be in opposition to the established hegemony.  So, here comes Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a colt. The outcome is expected, although it is not immediate.  Jesus simply journeys into Jerusalem, ends up in the temple, and walks out.

 

• Pasted from <http://crain.english.missouriwestern.edu/Mark/newpage17.htm>

 

Next, the cursing of the fig tree, though seemingly bizarre, carries important meaning contextually and symbolically:

 

Mark next records what seems to be a bizarre event: Jesus curses a fig tree.  Why?  The first answer is, of course, natural: the fig tree has leaves, an indication of at least green fruit.  The fig tree shows leaves in March followed by edible knobs which drop off before the true figs form. Beneath the leaves, however, nothing is found.  Symbolically, Jesus has had this sad reality demonstrated in every city he has visited, and has heard it realized all too often in the religious hierarchy.  Jesus has wanted to see the invisible written into the physical manifestations; what he has observed is outward piety (show) and little substance.  He, thus, curses this instance of hypocrisy in the natural order. This, of course, causes one to wonder if in the natural and mortal order hypocrisy [added: mimetic] is not the thin lacquer between the absolute and real. Jesus is further saying prophetically that the Jews with their rituals have failed to produce genuine spirituality. The withering of the fruitless fig tree becomes a prophetic symbol of the doom which is coming to the Jewish nation.

 

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And finally, this chapter presents the symbolic cursing of the Temple; one may well remember here N.T. Wright's understanding of Messiahship in Judaism as three pronged--with the Messiah expected to win the victory over the pagans, to cleanse the Temple, and to bring justice and peace (The Resurrection of the Son of God, 557).

 Mark records Jesus as again entering into the temple and acting immediately to clean it up:

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying, "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 when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

It needs to be clear here that the temple is permitting the Jewish obligatory shekel a year (from every male adult) to be used for taxes.  The Greek and Roman money must be changed into Tyrian currency.  Additionally, the last part of verse fifteen indicates people are carrying baggage from their pilgrimage into the temple's outer court. Jesus is, also, fulfilling scripture; the first scripture alluded to is Isaiah 56:

6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

and to be his servants,

all who keep the Sabbath, and do not profane it,

and hold fast my covenant—

7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.

8 Thus says the Lord God,

who gathers the outcasts of Israel,

I will gather others to them

besides those already gathered

This reference also ndicates that Gentiles are coming to the temple and finding it to be used for business rather than prayer.  The next reference is from Jeremiah, but to understand the implications clearly, one needs to recognize that Jeremiah is prophesying the destruction of the temple.  The Oxford annotation makes clear the connection between the apostasy of Judah and the destruction of the temple:

7.10–12: As Shiloh (Jeremiah 7.12, eighteen miles north of Jerusalem), the earlier central shrine, was destroyed (around 1050 b.c. in the days of Samuel; compare 1 Samuel 4–6; Psalm 78.56–72), so also this house, desecrated by idolatry, will be destroyed (Jeremiah 7.10; Jeremiah 7.11; compare Matthew 21.13). Immediately following this sermon, Jeremiah was arrested (see Jeremiah 26.8).

Now, read the entire section from Jeremiah:

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah, you that enter these gates to worship the Lord. 3Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and let me dwell with you † in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: "This is † the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord."

5 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7 then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.

8 Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, "We are safe!"—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? You know, I too am watching, says the Lord. 12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors, just what I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your kinsfolk, all the offspring of Ephraim.

Like Jeremiah, Jesus will be arrested shortly after this cleaning of the temple.  The reader should recall, too, that Jesus had entered the temple when he first came into Jerusalem but merely observed and left.  His look must have been profoundly sad as his eyes swept through the Court of the Gentiles.

 

Pasted from <http://crain.english.missouriwestern.edu/Mark/newpage17.htm>

With these key events in mind, one may well ask what has been missed, or what remains to be said. Michael Turton has remarked on several important points, the first being a parallel or doublet (Robins, 1976):

Turton allows possibility for  there really being no crowd attending Jesus's entry into Jerusalem or at least that any crowd there may well have been responding to the Passover celebration:

Although some have objected that the Romans would probably not have permitted a man the crowd acknowledged King to enter the city to cheering crowds, Price (2003, p 292) argues that what is really going on is a bit of Markan irony. The crowd is simply giving out the Hosanna! as part of the usual Passover wish that the Davidic messiah would come and restore the Davidic monarchy. And sure enough, in front of them, is the Davidic messiah -- but the crowd doesn't know. To them, Jesus is just one of tens of thousands of entrants to the city for the Passover festival, who happens like thousands of others, to be arriving on a donkey. 

In Mark's scene, the "crowd" does not acknowledge that Jesus is the messiah, whereas in Luke, they clearly do. However, the vast distance being traversed here during Jesus entrance, as well as the presence of both straw and garments, may be signals that Mark did not frame it the way Price is arguing. 

Pasted from <http://www.michaelturton.com/Mark/GMark11.html>

 Turton also points out parallels (crediting Brodie 2000, 92) in this chapter of Mark with the Elijah-Elisha cycle as well as paralleling the structure in Zechariah 14 (Duff, 1992) as well as passages in 1Samul:

The E-E Cycle also explains some of the stranger details of this passage.   

"The structure of Zechariah 14 can be outlined as follows. First, the threat against Israel is described: the nations gather against Jerusalem (vv. 1-2). Second, the conflict between YHWH and his enemies is described and YHWH's victory is implied (v. 3). This is followed by YHWH's appearance on the Mount of Olives, after which YHWH prepares a processional highway by the rending of that mountain (vv. 4-5). On this highway, he and his holy ones enter the city of Jerusalem (v. 5b). YHWH's entrance into the holy city results in a new order of creation (vv. 6-8). Next is mentioned the manifestation of YHWH's universal reign (vv. 9-11), followed by a description of how the enemies of YHWH and his people will be destroyed (vv. 12-15). The Gentiles who survive this destruction will recognize YHWH's universal sovereignty and will themselves come to Jerusalem to observe the feast of Tabernacles (vv. 16-19). Finally, the passage ends with a scene in a sanctified Jerusalem, where the distinction between the sacred and the profane has been overcome (vv. 20-21)."(p58) 

1 Sam 9 

3 Now the donkeys belonging to Saul's father Kish were lost, and Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go and look for the donkeys." 4 So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and through the area around Shalisha, but they did not find them. They went on into the district of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. Then he passed through the territory of Benjamin, but they did not find them.  5 When they reached the district of Zuph, Saul said to the servant who was with him, "Come, let's go back, or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and start worrying about us."  6 But the servant replied, "Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let's go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take." (NIV)

and 1 Sam 10:2-7:

1 Sam 10:2-7 

2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you set out to look for [1 Sam 9] have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?" 3 "Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them. 5 "After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. (NIV)

The scene may also represent a common convention of Greek drama, the hyporcheme, as proposed by Bilezekian (1977):

"The hyporcheme was a well-known dramatic convention practiced especially by Sophocles. It consisted of a joyful scene that involves the chorus and sometimes other characters; takes the form of a dance, procession, or lyrics expressing confidence and happiness; and occurs just before the catastrophic climax of the play. The hyporcheme emphasizes, by way of contrast, the crushing impact of the tragic incident."(p127)

Duff (1992) also points out that the procession surrounding the entrance of the warrior-king into the city was originally modeled on Greek epiphany processions, in which the deity enters the city. Frequently the entering King is either greeted as a god, or performs sacrifices that "function as an act of appropriation" (p60). 

 This chapter concludes with a controversy about Jesus's teaching and the source of his authority; Jesus, in debate format, asks a counter-question about John's authority, whether of heaven or men [readers should note the return to the suggested motif of following the crowd in its mutiplicity of opinions or standing alone in confession of truth]. When they do not answer--fearing a crowd with whom John had been considered a prophet and sensing that divine designation would bring a retort of "Why didn't you believe him?"

Stephen H. Smith in "The Literary Structure of Mark 11:1-12:40" (Apr. 1989) demonstrates how carefully readers must look at structure in Mark. Smith says that it is possible to see the journey from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem as the final stage of the journey from Galilee, the travel narrative beginning at 9:30, the disciples continuing to play a role, and the treatment of Bartimaeus not necessarily suggest appendagre to 10:46-52. Developed is a Davidic messianism at the point that Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem (105). Smith says the passage could also be transitional. Smith further quotes V. K. Robbins to suggest this transitional episode fuses together a "suffering-rising christology" and a Son of David image, healing Bartimaeus in a "Son of David activity."

Smith next provides the following structural summary:

We have argued that Mark 11:1-12:44 consists of various sub­sections. The first of these, 11:1-12:12, contains an introduction in which Jesus is presented as the messianic king coming in triumph to his holy city and Temple. Much of the journey appears to be a re-enactment of the prophecies in Zechariah, notably Zech. 9:9; 14:4, and it is evident that this Markan presentation of Jesus as a Davidic deliverer is intended to contrast sharply with the next movement of the narrative (11:12-12:12) in which Jesus' role as judge of his people confounds the traditional Jewish notion of messiahship. The two closely related citations from Ps. 118 (Mark 11:9,10; 12:10,11) actually form a kind of inclusio, marking off these judgement pericopae from the remainder of the section.

In each of the narratives in 11:12-12:12, apart from 11:27-33, Jesus is presented as the judge who indicts his people through sym­bolism and parable. His condemnation of the fig tree is really a con­demnation of fruitless Israel, while the so-called 'cleansing' of the Temple directs this condemnation to the cultic heart of Jewish institutionalism. Unlike the performance of similar rituals in bygone days (2 Kgs. 22:3-23:25; 2 Chr. 29:12-36; 34:3-35:19; Neh. 13:4-9; I Macc. 4:36-61; 2 Macc. 10:1-8) Jesus' act was not for resanctification, but for destruction: the cultic regime of the Jewish leaders was coming to an end. A specific reason for this judgement is suggested in the parable in 12:1-9 where, although Jesus may have been rebuking the leaders for their treatment of God's prophets, Mark clearly regards their treatment of God's own Son as the prime reason for their judgement.

Within the context of the adjacent pericopae, the question on authority (11:27-33) takes on a significance beyond that which is superficially evident. The question, [And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?] refers not only to Jesus' cleansing' of the Temple, nor even only to the work and words of Jesus in general, but to the role of Jesus as judge of Israel. This narrative represents the sum total of all other questions about authority because, in a sense, it transcends them all. For Jesus to act as judge of his people would be to claim the divine prerogative more openly and more boldy than ever before, and, of course, this is precisely what Mark intends to assert: for him Jesus is God, no less.

The next sub-section consists of three narratives-12:13-17,18­27,28-34. The first two distinguish sharply between the beliefs of the religious leaders and those of Jesus who is at this point presented as a sage deftly side-stepping the devious designs of his adversaries. In 12:13-17 he turns the question of the Pharisees and Herodians on its head, showing that the emphasis placed by the opponents on whether or not one should pay taxes to Caesar should be transferred to the matter of what is due to God. When one has made a response to the latter issue, the initial question answers itself.

In 12:18-27 Jesus appears to be siding with the Pharisees against the Sadducees on the resurrection issue, and in 12:28-34 the favourable response of a scribe indicates, as we have seen, that Jesus has finally triumphed in his long struggle with the legalists. In his offensive against the scribes (12:35-40) the note of judgement  returns. Having already served as judge against cultic, Israel, Jesus now condemns legal Israel for her misconceptions of messiahship (12:35-37) and abuse of the law (12:38-40). True obe­dience to the law as epitomised by a scribe in 12:28-34, and particu­larly in the double citation from Deut. 6:4; Lev. 19:18, is sharply contrasted with the legal deception of the scribes as a group; so, too, is the example of the poor widow in 12:44.

In all this, we can appreciate that the structure of Mark 11,12 reveals an image of a Jesus who assumes the role of God as both plaintiff and judge of his people—a symbolism which is ultimately deutero-Isaianic.26 Cultic stagnation and abuses of the Law—and, of course, from Mark's own perspective, the crucifixion of Jesus-

26 See, for instance, Isa. 41:1-5,21-29; 43:8-13; 44:6-8; 45:18-25.

bring condemnation, but glimpses of the true road to God, through loving obedience and devotion, are here provided, in marked contrast, by a scribe and a widow.

Stephen S. Short remarks that Jesus' s entry into Jerusalem on a donkey indicates that Jesus was not entering the city as a warrior, royalty more properly expected to use a horse. The overtone, however, is clearly messianic with an expectation of a promised king and promised kingdom (1172). The cleansing of the temple (11: 15-19) was an action predicted of the messiah by Malachi (3:1-3). Jesus reacted to two abuses of the temple: the exchange of Tyrian currency for the Greek and Roman coinage of the Jewish pilgrims and the short cut with baggage being taken through the temple precincts.  Short sees the cursing of the fig tree as prophetic symbolism (2 Chr. 18:10 and Jer. 27), the absence of edible knobs (these dropping off before figs appeared  in June) would indicate the barrenness of the tree (mid-April); Short understands the  ritual observances of the Jews as a show of religion without spiritual qualities (1172).

Mark, alone of the gospels, continues the quote from Isaiah 56:7 to show that in the Messianic age, the Gentiles were also to be permitted to use the Jerusalem temple. The parable of the wicked husbandmen (12:1-12), in response to question concerning the authority of Jesus,  identifies Jesus as having authority superior to that of the prophets, who were to act as servants of God, the authority of Jesus deriving from his being God's Son (1173).  Thus, clearly, the one who is to be rejected and killed will subsequently be exalted to the honored position of Son, a decisive answer to messiahship.