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Mark 11

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1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?

6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having 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.

14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.

20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

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, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,

28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.

31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?

32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.

33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

   

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Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Од стране New Christian Bible Study Staff

Christ driving the money-changers from the temple

After Palm Sunday, on Monday, Jesus - having spent the night outside the city, re-enters Jerusalem, goes to the temple, and drives out the moneychangers and people who were selling animals for sacrifices. He overturns tables, and takes a whip, and uses it to clean out the temple. (See Mark 11:15-18.)

It's a powerful story. This is a different side of Jesus's personality than the gentle healer or patient teacher in so many stories.

On the face of it, it doesn't seem all that unreasonable for there to be moneychangers in the temple - a little like the bureaux de change at airports. Too, it seems convenient to have people there selling animals to those who need them for the prescribed sacrificial offerings.

So, what's the story about? Why this zealous scourging?

Because... the moneychangers and sellers of animals represent evil loves in our lives that cloak themselves in external piety. They have to be driven out, unmasked, and scourged. See Apocalypse Explained 410[8].

The evils are bad. The cloaking adds an extra layer of corruption that's even more objectionable. If you pretend that you're good, in order to enrich yourself, or empower yourself in some way -- that's a really insidious thing. It's terrible when people fake being good and then take advantage of their targeted victims, in fraud, or selling bad products, or stealing, or trafficking.

The temple was supposed to be a holy place of worship. On an external level, it had been infested by people who were faking piety, and taking advantage of the people who were actually pious, coming to worship there. It's a lot like the frauds who trafficked in fake Christian relics - splinters of the true cross, and the like, or more modern "Christian" televangelists who have - in some cases - turned out to have feet of clay.

When we see those behaviors uncloaked today, we can recognize them as being things that need to be scourged. But... what are the moneychangers in our own lives? Do we ever pretend to be pious so we can advance some evil love?

This is not an easy question. How well, and how fairly, do we know our own minds? One thing is that we have to understand the difference between simulation and hypocrisy -- see this article: Hypocrisy or Simulating.

But... when we've experienced Palm Sunday stages in our minds, when we're feeling inspired and filled with confidence in the Lord, it's a good day to go scourge our inner temple -- to see what surface pieties are there cloaking stealthy loves of evil -- and to overturn them and drive them out.