A Barren Temple

Mark 11:1-25

1 When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this? ’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.’ ”
4 So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it, 5 and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt? ” 6 They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go.
 7 They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted:

Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord!
 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom
of our father David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!

 11 He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
12 The next day when they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again! ” And his disciples heard it.
Cleansing the Temple
 15 They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. 17 He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves! ”
 18 The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching.
 19 Whenever evening came, they would go out of the city.
The Barren Fig Tree Is Withered
 20 Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
 22 Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for — believe that you have received it and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”
 

GOING DEEPER
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 21:1-22; Luke 19:28-48; John 12:12-19
 
1) WHEN THE KING ARRIVED

• Zechariah 14:4 — The Lord will stand on the Mount of Olives in the day of final judgment and deliverance.
• Numbers 19:2, Deuteronomy 21:3 — An animal that has never been worked or worn a yoke.
• 2 Kings 9:13 — Garments laid underfoot in honor of the king.
• Zechariah 9:9–10 — The King comes to Jerusalem, righteous and bringing salvation, humble and riding on a donkey.
• Psalm 118:25–26 — “Hosanna… Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
• Malachi 3:1–3 — The Lord comes suddenly to His temple to purify and judge.
• Mark 1:2–3 — Mark’s opening prophecy
• Matthew 21:4–5, John 12:14-15 — Matthew and John identify Jesus’s entrance as the fulfillment of Zechariah 9.

 
2) WHAT THE KING SAW
Examples of “Sandwiches” in Mark

• Mark 3:20–35 — Jesus’s family / Beelzebul accusation / Jesus’s true family.
• Mark 5:21–43 — Jairus’s daughter / bleeding woman / Jairus’s daughter.
• Mark 6:7–30 — Sending the Twelve / death of John the Baptist / return of the Twelve.

 
Fig Tree in Prophecy

• Matthew 21:4–5, John 12:14-15 — Matthew and John identify Jesus’s entrance as the fulfillment of Zechariah 9.
• Jeremiah 8:13 — No figs on the fig tree as a picture of judgment.
• Jeremiah 24:1–10 — Figs representing the people under judgment or preservation.
• Hosea 9:10 — Israel once like early figs, now corrupted.
• Micah 7:1–6 — No first-ripe fig, representing moral barrenness.
• Joel 1:7 — The fig tree devastated under judgment.
• Zechariah 3:10 — Restored fig tree imagery as future blessing.
• Jesus Quotes Isaiah and Jeremiah
• Isaiah 56:7 — “My house… a house of prayer for all nations.”
• Jeremiah 7:11 — “Has this house… become a den of robbers?”

 
Temple Corruption and Judgment

• Exodus 30:11–16 — The half-shekel temple tax.
• Jeremiah 26:6–9 — The people’s hostile response to Jeremiah’s prophecy against the temple.
• Genesis 3:7 — Adam and Eve sew fig leaf coverings.
• Mark 13:1–2 — Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple.
• Romans 9–11 — God’s purposes for Israel in judgment, mercy, and future hope.
• Isaiah 1:11–17 — God rejects false worship devoid of righteousness.
• Amos 5:21–24 — God rejects religious activity without justice and righteousness.
• Malachi 1:6–14 — The Lord rebukes corrupt and polluted worship.
• Psalm 51:16–17 — God desires a broken and contrite heart.

 
3) WHAT THE KING SEEKS
Jesus as the True and Final Temple

• John 1:14 — The Word became flesh and “tabernacled” among us.
• John 2:19–21 — Jesus identifies His body as the temple.
• Matthew 12:6 — “Something greater than the temple is here.”
• Colossians 2:9 — The fullness of deity dwells bodily in Christ.
• Hebrews 9:24 — Christ entered the true presence of God for us.
• Hebrews 10:19–22 — We enter God’s presence through the blood of Jesus and through His flesh.
• Ephesians 2:18–22 — Through Christ we have access to the Father and become God’s dwelling place.
• Revelation 21:22 — The Lord Almighty and the Lamb are the temple.

Have Faith in God

• John 15:1–8 — Fruit comes from abiding in Christ, the true vine
• Ephesians 2:8–10 — We are saved by grace through faith, not by works, and created for good works.
• Titus 3:4–8 — God saves us by His mercy, not by works, and makes us fruitful in good works.
• Hebrews 4:14–16 — We draw near with confidence through our great high priest.
• 1 Peter 2:4–10 — Believers are living stones, a spiritual house, and a holy priesthood.