Mark 11:1-11. The Triumphal Entry 1. _And when_ The order of events at this point needs explanation. (1) The Saviour apparently reached Bethany on the evening of Friday, Nisan 8. There (2) in quiet retirement He spent His last earthly Sabbath; and (3) in the evening, sat down to a festal meal provid... [ Continue Reading ]
_into the village over against you_ Either Bethphage or an adjoining hamlet. _a colt tied_ "In the East the ass is in high esteem. Statelier, livelier, swifter than with us, it vies with the horse in favour. Among the Jews it was equally valued as a beast of burden, for work in the field or at the m... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Lord hath need of him_ The words suggest that the man may have been a secret disciple. "Secret disciples, such as the five hundred who afterwards gathered to one spot in Galilee, and the hundred and twenty who met after the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:6; Acts 1:15), were scattered in many pl... [ Continue Reading ]
_in a place where two ways met_ So Wyclif, "in þe meeting of tweye weyes," following the Vulgate _bivium_. The word in the original thus rendered denotes (1) _any road that leads round a place, a street, or a crooked lane;_(2) _a block of houses surrounded by streets;_(3) _the quarter of a town_= La... [ Continue Reading ]
_and cast their garments on him_ over both indeed (Matthew 21:7), to do Him regal honour, just as the captains "_took every man his garment, and put it under Jehu on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king_" (2 Kings 9:13). _he sat upon_ the unused colt, while probably s... [ Continue Reading ]
_spread their garments in the way_ i. e. their "abbas" or "hykes," the loose blanket or cloak worn over the tunic or shirt. So myrtle-twigs and robes had been strewn by their ancestors before Mordecai, when he came forth from the palace of Ahasuerus (_Targ_. Esther 8:15), so the Persian army had hon... [ Continue Reading ]
_they that went before_ From St John 12:12 we gather that a second stream of people issuing from the Holy City came forth to meet the Saviour, and these joining the others coming from Bethany, turned round and swelled the long procession towards Jerusalem. See Stanley's _Sinai and Palestine_, p. 191... [ Continue Reading ]
_blessed be the kingdom_ The feelings of the multitudes found expression in the prophetic language of the Psalms, and they heralded the coming of the "Son of David" to establish His Messianic kingdom. See Psalms 118:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus entered_ At a particular turn in the road the whole of the magnificent city, as if rising from an abyss, burst into view. Then it was that the procession paused, and our Lord wept over the devoted capital (Luke 19:41-44), and afterwards resumed His route towards Jerusalem, crossing the br... [ Continue Reading ]
The Second Cleansing of the Temple 12. _he was hungry_ Probably, after a night of fasting; "shewing His Humanity, as usual, when about to give a proof of His Deity, that we may believe Him to be both God and Man." Bp Wordsworth.... [ Continue Reading ]
_seeing a fig tree_ The very name Bethany means "_the place for dates_," while Bethphage is "_the place for the green or winter fig_," a variety which remains on the trees through the winter, having ripened only after the leaves had fallen. _having leaves_ It stood alone, a single fig-tree, _by the... [ Continue Reading ]
_answered and said unto it_ "arbori fructum neganti." Bengel. _No man eat fruit_ "_And presently_," i. e. _immediately_, writes St Matthew (Matthew 21:19), "the fig tree withered away," though the disciples did not notice it till the following morning. Thus our blessed Lord exhibited at once a Para... [ Continue Reading ]
_and Jesus went into the temple_ The best MSS. omit the word _Jesus_here. The nefarious scene, which He had sternly rebuked on the occasion of His first Passover, and which is recorded only by St John (John 2:13-17), was still being enacted. _them that sold and bought_ For the convenience of Jews a... [ Continue Reading ]
_any vessel_ i. e. a pail or basket. He would not allow laden porters and others to desecrate the honour due to His Father's house by crossing the Temple courts as though they were public streets, "quasi per plateam." Bengel. This particular is peculiar to St Mark.... [ Continue Reading ]
_of all nations_ Rather, FOR ALL NATIONS. See margin. The words are cited from Isaiah 56:7. _a den of thieves_ Literally, A CAVE OF ROBBERS or BANDITS. See Jeremiah 7:11. The distinction is to be borne in mind between "the robber," brigand or violent spoiler (Matthew 21:13; Matthew 26:55; Luke 22:52... [ Continue Reading ]
_chief priests_ This title was applied to (i) the high-priest properly so called; (ii) to all who had held the high-priesthood (the office under Roman sway no longer lasting for life, and becoming little more than annual); (iii) the heads of the twenty-four courses (1 Chronicles 24; Luke 1:9). _was... [ Continue Reading ]
_he went out_ or rather, they went out, of the city, crossed the ridges of Olivet, and sought once more the retirement of Bethany.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Withered Fig-Tree 20. _And in the morning_ The early morning of Tuesday in Holy Week. _as they passed by_ On their return to the Holy City. _dried up from the roots_ From St Matthew (Matthew 21:19) it would appear that "some beginnings of the threatened withering began to shew themselves, alm... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Peter_ who doubtless related the incident with all its attendant circumstances to St Mark.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Have faith in God_ as the personal source of miraculous power. (Comp. Matthew 17:20; Luke 17:6.)... [ Continue Reading ]
_verily I say unto you_ With great solemnity He seeks to impress upon them a truth which would be of the greatest import to them, when they went forth, as His Apostles, to establish and spread His kingdom that an unfaltering faith in God would overcome all difficulties, even the most insuperable to... [ Continue Reading ]
_What things soever ye desire, when ye pray_ Because _Prayer_is the very language of _Faith_, He passes on to speak concerning Prayer.... [ Continue Reading ]
_when ye stand praying_ The posture of prayer among the Jews seems to have been most often _standing;_comp. the instance of Hannah (1 Samuel 1:26), and of the Pharisee (Luke 18:11). When the prayer was offered with especial solemnity and humiliation, this was naturally expressed by (_a) kneeling;_co... [ Continue Reading ]
_your trespasses_ The original word thus translated denotes (1) _a falling beside, a falling from the right way_. It is rendered in our Version (1) _fault_in Galatians 6:1; James 5:16; (2) _offence_in Romans 4:25; Romans 5:15; Romans 5:17-18; Romans 5:20; (3) _fall_in Romans 11:11-12; (4) _trespass_... [ Continue Reading ]
Question respecting John the Baptist 27. _as he was walking_ This is in keeping with St Mark's vivid style of delineation. _elders_ "eldere men," Wyclif. The ancient senators or representatives of the people. With the chief priests and scribes they constituted on this occasion a formal deputation f... [ Continue Reading ]
_By what authority doest thou these things?_ They evidently wished to bring Him to account for His act of the day before, and for His assumption to teach as a Rabbi, without any license from the Schools, which was contrary to the established rule. The same question had been put to Him three years be... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Jesus answered_ They doubtless hoped that He would have claimed Divine authority, and then they would have had matter for accusation against Him, but He answered their question by another.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The baptism of John_ John was the most recent upholder of the validity of the prophetic order in Israel, and he had distinctly testified to the Messianic authority of our Lord (John 1:29-34; John 1:36); from whom did _he_receive _his_commission to baptize? Was it from heaven, or a mere human assump... [ Continue Reading ]
_if we shall say, Of men_ Observe the impressive abruptness here, which is more significant than the full expression of St Matthew (Matthew 21:26) and St Luke (Luke 20:6). They dared not face the alternative, and were driven to a feeble evasion.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Neither do I tell you_ The counter-question of Jesus was the consequence of the question of these men. "Him that inquires," saith one of old, "we are bound to instruct; but him that tempts, we may defeat with a stroke of reasoning.... [ Continue Reading ]