The Gospel of Mark Chapter 11:20-33

Have Faith 20 - 24 11.20 - 21. In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter

remembered and said to him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered."

The following morning after Jesus had cursed the fig tree while they were on their way to Jerusalem

the disciples noticed that the fig tree was completely dead from the roots up. Peter remembering

that the Lord had cursed it drew His attention to it. Why the disciples should have been astounded

that this should happen after all that they had witnessed must have amazed the Lord, such is our

human nature. The fact that it did happen shows us that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh for "He

spoke the word" and it was as good as done although it did not happen straight away. It also tells us

of the power that He has that there is nothing that He cannot do (Acts 10: 38, Rom.1: 4). They had

witnessed His power in the stilling of the tempest the provision of food for the multitude the healing

the sick the casting out demons the controlling of the forces of nature and the raising the dead.

11.22. Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God.

Jesus uses the fig tree to exhort His disciples to have faith and to demonstrate the truth that nothing

is impossible when we have faith in God. It is having a constant faith in God and taking Him at His

word and believing without any shadow of doubt that what He has said He will do (Heb.11:1).

11.23. I tell you the truth, if someone 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.

So He says whoever has this kind of faith there is nothing impossible. He uses the mountain as an

example of an immovable object (problem, need, situation etc.) being completely uprooted and

removed by telling it to do so by faith alone. Notice the conditions needed for this to happen. There

is to be no shadow of doubt, that is, no uncertainty, no two ways about it. Where are we too

believe? Not in the mind but in the heart. Believe that what you have spoken to the problem, need,

situation etc will take place (Mark 9: 23).

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11.24. For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and

it will be yours.

Here we have a promise from the Lord that whatever we desire, that are good desires if we believe

that we have received them when we pray then they are ours (John 15: 7).

Hindrance to Prayer 25 - 26. Although we have access to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ at all times (Eph. 2:18)

there can be things in our lives that will hinder our prayer life. Unbelief, unconfessed sin and here in

this passage of scripture Jesus tells us that an unforgiving spirit. Forgiveness is to completely cancel

sin, any debt or offence and any punishment that these may bring. When we remember that God

through Jesus Christ has forgiven us all these things how can we not forgive (Eph. 4: 32, Col. 3: 13).

11.25. Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your

Father in heaven will also forgive you your sins."

Jesus says if there is anything that you hold against anyone no matter whether it is small or large

makes no difference it has to be put right. There is no such thing as a small sin for if the least of

God's law is broken it is accounted the same as if we have broken all of them. He says anyone this

means not only those who are brothers and sisters in Christ but also any unbeliever's. The reason

why we should always forgive is that we too may receive forgiveness. This does not mean that God is

ever unwilling to forgive us for our God is ever ready to pardon (Neh. 9: 17) but that our unforgiving

spirit creates a barrier for us to be able to receive His forgiveness.

11.26. (NKJV) But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."

If we do not forgive, if we harbour any bitterness or if we do not show mercy then we cannot be in

any right place to receive from God the Father what we are not willing to give others. Our prayers

will go unanswered because of our own fault not God's or anyone else's.

Whose Authority 27 - 33. 11.27. They came again to Jerusalem. While Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests,

the experts in the law, and the elders came up to him

Arriving at Jerusalem Jesus returns to the Temple where He is confronted by the chief priests and

scribes who are joined by the elders, these would be the heads of the tribes and clans of the Jewish

nation.

11.28. and said, "By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do

these things?"

They have certainly not forgiven Jesus for what He had done in the Temple the day before and

therefore challenge His authority in doing such things. They wanted to know what kind of authority

He had, political, religious or military and who was it that gave Him this authority?

The unbeliever still has this problem today but as believers we know the answers to them for we

have received the benefits of Christ's authority.

11.29. Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question. Answer me and I will tell you by what

authority I do these things:

Jesus will not give them an answer unless they answer His question first. The question He asks will

force them to face the deceit and hypocrisy of their own hearts. The Lord will do this to us

sometimes when we come and question Him He will turn the tables on us in order to cause us to

examine our own hearts and perhaps face up to some truths concerning ourselves. This is what

happened when Job questioned God - God questioned Job and Job had no answers to give, God

silenced him.

11.30 - 32. John's baptism — was it from heaven or from people? Answer me." They discussed with

one another, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?' But if

we say, 'From people — ' " (they feared the crowd, for they all considered John to be truly a prophet).

The very fact that they could not give Jesus an answer straight away concerning the source of John

the Baptist authority but had to make one up shows what kind of men they were. They were in a

right quandary if they admitted that it was from God then they would have no cloak for their sin of

unbelief in not heeding John's message. If they said John spoke of his own accord and not the word

of God then they knew the people would turn on them because they knew John was a prophet sent

from God. What could they do?

11.33. So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." Then Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by

what authority I am doing these things."

They tried to cover up by saying they did not know although in their hearts they knew where both

Jesus and John the Baptist's authority came from. They did not want to admit it because they would

have no excuse for not accepting Jesus as the Son of God. So they received no answer from the

Lord. Let us make certain that when the Lord comes asking a question of us whether it be through

His word, by the Spirit or personally that we answer Him openly and honestly for He only does so for

our eternal benefit.

© Derek Williams 2013 Bible Studies Online UK www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk You may copy, print

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