Faith in The King - Mark 11: 12-25

Well, I wonder, are you praying the big prayers? Are you praying for an end to the conflict in Iran or the Middle East? Are you praying for the conversion of Xi Jinping to Christianity? Are you praying for an end to human trafficking? They're big prayers, aren't they? If God was to answer any of them with a yes, that would be earth-shattering news. So I wonder what stops us from praying like that? Maybe you're here today and you're not really a praying person and so you would rightly think that these are pipe dreams at best, dangerous delusions at worst. If you are a praying person, then these sorts of prayers I imagine might be on your lips but maybe not really in your heart. They're nice intentions but better to keep within God's willhouse of, you know, praying for visitors to church, safe travels or relief from cold and flu symptoms. So when we hear Jesus this morning, speak of prayers that move mountains, you might squirm in our seats a little. We straight away want to hear two things, don't we? That can't be what he meant and you don't have to have faith like that because I'm not sure that I even have faith in God to bring my friend to church, prevent a bingo on the bypass or cure a cold, let alone move a mountain. This passage wrinkles our hearts for that reason but even and especially more. If you have been praying faithfully for years for the salvation of a loved one, if you have been praying faithfully for the healing of a chronic condition, then you might well hear this passage and think, is my lack of faith, sorry, is my lack of an answer, a measure of my faith. And so this passage I think offends us whether we are praying those big prayers or not. But it's not just this exchange that we find uncomfortable. All three moments in today's passage are disturbing. I have the privilege of teaching the entirety of Mark's Gospel to a year eight out of track every year and these three episodes easily cause the most offence amongst my students. Why is Jesus so mean to that fig tree? I thought Jesus was perfect, so why is it losing temper in the temple and as if you can throw a mountain into the sea. Now in isolation detached from their context, these are three baffling bouts with Jesus, aren't they? But as I try and stress to year eight, it's a mistake to look at these three episodes in isolation from one another. Mark intends for them to be read together. He intends for his entire gospel to be read as a whole of course. But particularly here, Mark is offering us one of his sandwiches. It's a storytelling device that's not to be served as a deconstructed dish, but rather it's meant to be a hand-held helping of hope in Jesus the King. I asked Chatship E.T. to try and make a sandwich out of these three events. I don't know if that's helpful. But that's what it looks like. So in the same way that the two bits of bread on their own are kind of dry and dissatisfying to chew. And likewise with a sandwich, the filling would just ooze into a mess in your hands without the binding of the bread. Well, the cursing of the fig tree and the call to move mountains, they actually hold together the central moment, which is the cleansing of the temple. And it's relish of meaning seeps into the bread and enhances their flavor and their meaning for you. So this morning, let's make a sandwich together. As we consider our three points, the faith was fig tree, the intolerant temple and the movable mountain. We're told in verse 12 that this is the next day. That is, it's the day after last week's passage. That was where Jesus finally entered into Jerusalem. The Messiah arrived to his temple. All that John the Baptist had foreshadowed back in chapter one, echoing Malachi 3 is coming true. There he said, "See, I'm going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the messenger of the covenant you delight in. See, here's come in," says the Lord of armies. And all that is now here. Last week was a day of delight, wasn't it? The Galilean crowd rejoicing with shouts of Hosanna. But it was something of an anticlimax because Jesus went into the temple, into the heart of Israel's worship of God and he found no one there to welcome him. No one recognized him. It was all a bit of a letdown from delight to disappointment. The next verse of Malachi 3 though, it changes the mood even further. It says, "But who can endure the day of his coming and who will be able to stand when he appears, for he will be like a refinance fire and like launderous bleach?" That's not disappointment, is it? It's disaster. Who can endure the arrival of the Messiah in the temple? It seems the first thing unable to endure his arrival is that poor fig tree on the Mount of Olives just outside Bethany. In verse 13 from a distance, Jesus sees it in leaf and he goes to collect a fig. Of course, it doesn't have any because it wasn't the season for figs. And so Jesus is a state of you know, hungreness, hangreness, they say. He curses the fig tree to eternal barrenness, which is completely unreasonable. And so we should just write off Jesus and His entire ministry from this one moment of low blood sugar. That's kind of how Bertrand Russell felt in his 1927 manifesto, why I am not a Christian. And he claimed that Jesus is so unreasonable here that I cannot myself feel that either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history. That's how my ear writes, but it's not as eloquent as that. But it's not so unreasonable when you know how fig trees function. See after a fig tree is harvested, it pretty soon sprouts a whole bunch of little buds that remain there throughout the winter. They ripen into little nodules known as nops or early figs and that's followed soon by leaves. So a fig tree in leaf should be a fig tree with nops even if the figs themselves have not yet fully emerged. And snagging a snack of nops or early figs, that's a common custom. It's actually documented throughout the Bible. The prophet Hosea, he likened the early fig to Israel itself. When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert. When I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. So when Mark tells us that it only had leaves because it was not the season for figs, well it was the season for nops for those early figs. And the lack of them on this tree suggests that something is wrong with this fig tree. The sign of decay, of disease in the roots. And like Hosea, many other Old Testament prophets portrayed Israel's unrighteousness, particularly that of Jerusalem at its temple as a fig tree that widows or produces vile fruit. There's a whole stack of examples up there on the screen. But the most telling is that last one from Micah 7 that describes the arrival of the Lord as a vile dresser arriving to his vineyard to find no clusters of grapes, no early figs which he craves, no cider fruit whatsoever. For this vineyard, this fig tree is corrupted. And so before we loathe Jesus' low blood sugar boil over, we must remember the feeling that this piece of bread and the sandwich is leading us towards. It's leading us down the mountainside across the Kydren Valley and up the next mount to the temple, to a place that is hustling and bustling with the leaves of parts of the pilgrims. They're heading in to offer their sacrifices. But there's no fruit on this tree. It is deceptive. No real growth is occurring here. There are no knots of knowledge that the Messiah is here. No buds of belief. Just the hustle and bustle of routine, ritual and even deception and denial. So I guess I'm saying we need not miss the wood for the fig tree here. The Messiah has arrived and who can endure his day of arrival? See now rush to find fault with Jesus. We might only really be exposing our own faulty view of him. See we're viewing Jesus as a kind of one-dimensional, emotionless and therefore clinically perfect cyborg. And so this is kind of our gotcha moment. However we have to remember that there is in Jesus the glorious mix of gentle and lowly but also righteous and holy. And this is the divine dynamic that makes him the Messiah. A Messiah that has come to his kingdom and to stand in opposition to him is not just fruitless. It's fraught with danger. Now in verse 15 Jesus only makes it to the outer court of the temple and already he has seen enough because this outer court which is the the only designated area for gentle converts to Judaism to pray and to make their offerings. Well this out a court has been transformed into a hive of economic activity. Now it's interesting that it had not always been like this. We're told in Josephus' antiquities of the Jews that the selling of animals for parts of a sacrifices and the converting of currency into acceptable Jewish coinage, that all used to take place outside the temple near the Mount of Olives. But in AD 30 just three years prior to this moment, the high priest Caiaphas, he had brought all the money changes and all the animal settlers into the temple complex itself. No doubt he had built it as a means of ensuring there'd be proper pious process, but it would have also been a nice little renterner for the sagesis, the custodians of the temple. And it was big business. Josephus tells us that in one year at Passover over 255,000 lamps were sacrificed. So Caiaphas had used his authority to draw in the Jewish businesses, which was driving out the faithful Gentiles. Jesus is using his authority to do the very opposite. He drives out the den of robbers that he might draw in the nations. The Messiah is cleansing the temple as Malachi 3 foretold. This is the refining fire burning those who were selling the burnt offerings. This is the launderers bleach, whitewashing the money launderers. Jesus' anger here is not just about the fact that they've turned the temple into a gift shop. It's about the deceptive exclusion of the nations. He makes this point by combining Isaiah 56 and Jeremiah 7, which was our Old Testament reading. He does that there in verse 17. And as he taught them, Jesus said, "Is it not written, my house would be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers." So the temple has become like the leafy fig tree, bristling with leaves of promise on the outside, dubs and coins changing hands, but this hustle and bustle conceals the fruitless den of robbers and their hard hearts towards the nation and ultimately towards God. If you see, just beyond this outer court, if you tried to go into the next three intersections of the temple, you found these signs which were written in Greek and Latin and Aramaic, ironically very inclusive of all the Gentile languages, and they said this, "No foreigner may enter within the railing and enclosure that surround the temple. Anyone apprehended shall have himself to blame for his consequent death." Many years ago when Sarah and I took a holiday to Russia, not a wise trip to make today, our Western tour group were actually allowed to walk through the outer court of the Kremlin in Moscow. Before entering, we observed Russian guards with automatic weapons, standing every 15 meters or so on the road inside the court. And we were told that when we walked around, what was effectively just the car park of the Kremlin, we were told that we must not take photos and we must stay on the footpath. If we stepped out onto the road, we were told one whistle then shot. We all laughed, our tour guide didn't. This was a sign that our presence was not really welcome. Actually risked my life to take that photo, good serve and illustrations, they're very costly. And you see, consying the Gentiles to worship amidst the hustle and bustle of greedy profit, it was a sign of Jewish disdain, hatred of the Gentiles. They didn't even want them there in the first place. Indeed, in the 400 years between the old and the New Testament, Jewish writings about the Messiah had distorted him to become someone who they thought was going to bring bitter revenge on Gentiles, particularly driving them out of the temple. One text, the Psalms of Solomon, not written by Solomon, and not found in our Bible, that's from a little over a century before Jesus. And it claimed that the Messiah would come to cleanse Jerusalem from Gentiles who trample her to destruction, to drive out in wisdom and in righteousness the sinners from the inheritance, namely from the temple. But Jesus' actions are the exact opposite. And how would they receive? Well, in verse 18, the chief priest and the teacher of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him. This is the first of three moments where the Jerusalem leaders are described as planning to kill Jesus, just as Jesus has foretold his death in Jerusalem three times. The dangerous irony here is that the chief priests and the teachers of the law, they hear God's very words, but they fail to listen to understand. And in Mark's Gospel, failure to understand is not about incompetence. It's about hard hearts. Hearts that are so hard that they plot and murder. But notice the rest of verse 18, it says, "For they feared him because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. They don't seize Jesus on the spot. Their fear actually leads to inaction. It's a further testimony to their lack of faith." I mean, consider how Jesus links these ideas. Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith, Mark IV? Don't be afraid. Just believe, Mark V. Take courage at his eye. Don't be afraid. Mark VI. Now in contrast, the crowd are amazed at Jesus. And that recalls his very first teaching moment back in the cappurting of synagogue in chapter 1. The people there were amazed at his teaching because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. And so he and now in the temple itself. Jesus' authority as teaching the very words of God again leads the crowd to amazement. But their amazement is not just that Jesus is all about multiculturalism, welcoming in every tribe and tongue. But it's that the very people that are considered by the Jews to be impure, defiled enemies, this place of worship is for them, Jesus is saying. See, as a Jewish person, if you wanted to join the Ascene cult who were very popular at this time, they may have written the Psalms of Solomon, you actually had to swear your allegiance to the hatred of the sons of darkness. That's the Gentiles. But Jesus' call of allegiance is to expose the darkness of our hard hearts. For if you are with Jesus, or when the darkness of night descended in verse 19, you followed him out of that city, away from that temple. Jesus separates from this temple that separates people on the basis of ethnicity and economy. Because Jesus is about to establish that real worship of God is about sincerity of heart before him, of love of enemy. This is faithful access to God in worship. It's very telling to note the inaction of the chief priest here at this moment. So hard and are their hearts to Jesus and to those Gentiles he loves that they're actually indifferent to the destruction that he's caused. He's just smashed up the place and they don't do anything. See, we often say that the opposite of love is hate, but hate kind of requires a bit of effort, doesn't it? You've got to actively seek to harm your enemies. That's going to come later at Easter time, but the real opposite of love is indifference. Simple and utter inaction, the results in exclusion and ignorance of the needs of others. So it's worth pondering in our hearts how our settled patterns of piety, the rhythms that we feel that we can manage of worship in God, how they might actually be keeping our hearts from thoring out further. Is that long-term friend that you've never shared the gospel with? Just a case of never having found the right moment or just being indifferent to their eternity? When the tables are turned over in front of you every time that you are reminded of your own need for repentance and grace, are you amazed and willing to step out in faith and proclaim the gospel? What do you freeze in fear and quietly scoop up your coins and think back into your den? See what's at the heart of the matter? Well, the heart of the matter is on the movable mountain. Mark tells us that it's the next morning now in verse 20, which reminds us that these events are sandwiched together, otherwise this passage on its own is insurmountable. See, it might look great, might on a mug from Kurong. Whatever you ask for, I believe that you will receive it and it will be yours. That's not real, I made that on church epitome. But you're a mug if you think that this verse could be cherry-picked out as a kind of pick me up with your morning coffee. And we see that there's certainly no figs to pick because the fig tree has whithed from the roots in verse 21. a phrase from Israel's. it's in I, a Hosea 9. But it also calls to might I think the power of the solar, where Jesus said that the seed sewn among the rocky soil sprung up, looking promising, but as soon as the heat was applied it withered, for it had no root, was stuck in the rocky soil of hardheartedness. And just as the fig tree is now withered and will be uprooted, so to will the temple. Access to God is being replaced with Jesus, and the means of entry into God's presence is not burnt offerings or priestly credentials. No, it's in verse 22, it's to have faith in God. Faith that can apparently move mountains. From verse 23 there are those enigmatic words, truly I tell you, if anyone says this mountain go, throw yourself into the sea and does not doubt in their heart, but believes what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Now remember the sandwich, this is all happening together for a reason. Jesus says this mountain, and they are on the mount of olives at that moment. Nearby in view of the temple was the fortress of Herodium, and that was built during Herod the Great's reign, and they built it by actually gouging out part of a hill to form a citadel around a fortress. So mountain moving of a sort has already been done by people nearby. But Jesus is not talking of a bit of digging. He's talking of throwing this very mount of olives into the sea, an earth shattering up people, one that will change the landscape forever. Just as Zechariah envisioned the Messiah arriving, and he said there in Zechariah 14, on that day his feet will stand on the mount of olives, east of Jerusalem. Next slide please joke. And the mount of olives will be split into from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. And earlier as we saw in our call to worship Zechariah had asked, what are you great mountain before Sir Rubble, who's a messianic ancestor of Jesus, you're going to become a plain, and he will bring up the capstone accompanied by shouts of grace, grace to it. You see as absurd as it sounds, Jesus is telling his disciples that a mighty upheaval is at hand. There's going to be a great moment of dividing judgment, splitting east and west, and the mountains and valleys will be turned to rubble, smoothed out into a plain like mountains crashing into the sea. Do you have faith in God to do that? At the centre of the Messiah's judgment is the temple. Jeremiah knew that it seemed insurmountable for the temple to be toppled. Israel had to see themselves in our Old Testament reading chanting, this is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. But Jesus brought a more certain word. The time has come, he said, the kingdom of God has come near repent and believe the good news. And here we see how faith and prayer fit together. The request or prayer of throwing a mountain into the sea is to be accompanied by faith in God. Jesus is called to believe the good news that the kingdom has come requires prayer also, particularly a prayer of repentance, a turning in faith to God. Mark's gospel equates prayer with saving faith in the Messiah all the time. Consider but a man's as Christ of prayer for mercy, your faith has saved you, Jesus told him. We're back in chapter 9 when the father begged Jesus to drive out the demon from his son, Jesus told him everything is possible to the one who believes. And then later explain to his disciples that this possibility is only achieved by prayer. Jesus is reiterating to his disciples on the Mount of Olives that what it seemed impossible for so long that the Messiah would arrive and judge his temple will it is finally at hand now. Do they believe that in their heart? Will they pray for the kingdom of God to not just come near but to unfold in earth shattering glory. If you do, within verse 24, believe that you have received it and it will be yours. See the overturned tables. Hear the clang of coins in the Gentile court smell the rotting fig tree. The impossible is coming true. What is impossible with man throwing mountains into the sea is possible with God to the one who believes. God's kingdom is come and so his will be done. It's interesting the Lord's prayer is not recorded in Mark's gospel but it's logic lies in the background here. Do you have faith in Jesus the Messiah? Are your prayers aligned to his will? Well then it will be done as certain as his kingdom has come turning mountains to mold hills. So there's not a call to mountain moving faith that can bring about anything that you want. Notice the call to have faith in nothing other than the mountain moving reality of God's kingdom come. And then to let that shape our child like dependent prayers for our daily bread. See this is the big prayer to desire that every request we make of God is aligned to his will that we pray in his name as our Father. And Jesus follows the logic of the Lord's prayer in our final verse bringing forgiveness of sins as we forgive others. See the verse 25 Jesus says and when you stand praying now that's that's temple language to stand in prayer in the temple but of course you won't stand in that barren temple any longer. You'll stand in Jesus Christ the new temple the capstone laid on the plane where faith is expressed in confident prayer before God and his will being done. And the first piece of business to be done Jesus says is forgiveness. If you have faith in the reality of God's forgiveness of you in Jesus Christ the one whose body was offered as the true sacrifice for sin that tore open that temple curtain and welcomed the nations into the presence of God's kingdom. The one who is the true early fig the first fruits of resurrection. If you have faith in him then you will express that faith in forgiveness of others. You won't harbor that inaction of indifference that crowded out the nations in the temple. You will have that faith that takes the loving action to look a brother or sister in the eye and repent or to forgive them. This is the big prayer the mountain moving prayer. The unfolding of God's heavenly kingdom on earth is well being done expressed in the forgiveness of sins. That immovable mountain of sin that seemed impossible to overcome has been thrown into the sea by the Messiah and images that is even more absurd and more impossible than a camel through the eye of a needle when it comes to salvation with God all things are possible. He is bringing in an upside down kingdom where valleys are raised, mountains made low, the rough ground smooth into a plane so that God's righteous mercy will roll on and it'll happen in our daily forgiveness of our neighbor, of our enemy. So keep praying for that friend to come to church. Pray that they might find the welcome of forgiveness in the Lord's house and then invite them. Keep praying for safe travels so that wherever you go you are bearing the fruit forgiveness with others and then do it. Keep praying for relief from a common cold that you might not wither with impatience at others but remain rooted in God's grace and then leave it. Keep praying for deliverance from your chronic suffering for forgiveness when you have cursed God so that you can demonstrate God's ongoing forbearance of cost within yourself in order to offer forgiveness to others. Keep praying for a run and jeezing pings and human trafficking for these mountains will move whether they turn to Christ or not. For the kingdom of God is at hand the Messiah has planted his feet on the Mount of Olives and those feet were pierced on God goth that they might then take earth shattering steps of resurrection life ensuring that all who call on his name will stand with him in the new temple forever. Let's pray. I heavily Father we ask that we might have the faith that moves mountains by having faith in Jesus the King. Father replace the inaction of our doubt and fear with confident prayer in the arrival of your kingdom. Such earth shattering news. May you shatter our hardened hearts and may our forgiveness of one another. be test to money to our faith in your kingdom come and your will being done on earth as is in heaven. Amen.