Inductive Bible study (SOAP) is an approach to God’s Word focusing on three basic steps that move from a focus on specific details to a more general, universal principle. Through these three steps, we apply inductive reasoning, which is defined as the attempt to use information about a specific situation to draw a conclusion. The steps are observation (what does it say?), interpretation (what does it mean?), and application (what does it mean for my life?). Inductive Bible study is a valuable tool in understanding and applying the principles of God’s Word. In an inductive study everyone participates. We will be working through as much of a chapter of Marks Gospel each week, taking turns to do the following:
SOAP Meathod
S: SCRIPTURE: Read a section of scripture, then summarise in your own words (What does it say? What verse stuck out to you most?).
O: Observation: Read the related Companion material below, then summarise one point/observation in your own words (Is their an issue being addressed?)
A: Application: How do you apply this truth to your life? What does it mean for us today?
P: Prayer: Following the study we will spend time in small groups praying. How do you implement this verse into your life? finish with the quiz below.
Mission 119 Weekly Reading
Readings can be prepared for prior to the study by reviewing The Mission 119 accessed online or through the app. Create a login, click on “grow” (bottom tab) and search “Mark” from the top search bar. Review the chapter of study and 10 minute devotional provided in Mission 119.
Mark Chapter 11
Jesus arrives in Jerusalem: the destination of the previous chapters. This is the end of a gruelling walk from Jericho that may have taken 8 hours or perhaps even two days. The road from Jericho entered Jerusalem through the Eastern or Golden Gate in the wall surrounding the city. It so happened that the eastern wall of the city was also the eastern wall of Herod’s temple. So, a traveller entering the Eastern gate also entered the temple area. However, Herod’s temple was a massive structure many times larger than Solomon’s temple. So, although a traveller entered the area of Herod’s temple, that traveller was not yet entering the temple proper. The traveller could turn left or right and travel through the covered walkways that ran around the perimeter of the massive structure.
If the traveller did not turn left or right but continued straight on, he would climb some steps and enter the temple proper. Firstly, walking through the Court of Women, then through the Court of Israel, then past the altar of Burnt Offering, then through the Court of Priests, before climbing the final set of stairs to enter the Holy Place. Thus, the temple proper, like Solomon’s temple faced eastward. Surrounding this temple proper was a very large area called the Court of the Gentiles which was surrounded by the protective wall of the covered walkway.
But before Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, he would’ve travelled through the towns of Bethany and Bethphage. Bethany was over 2.5 kilometres from Jerusalem and was the town, we learn from John’s Gospel, where Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived. The house where Jesus and his apostles may have stayed overnight. At Bethany, Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead to the next village (Bethphage) to obtain a colt. Bethphage was only about 900 meters from Jerusalem and was the limit of travel a devout Jewish person could travel on the Sabbath.
From Bethphage, it is all downhill— around the base of the Mount of Olives down to the Kidron Valley lying on the eastern perimeter of Jerusalem. Then a final steep, zigzag route up to the Eastern Gate.
Mark 11: 1 – 11 Jesus Approaches Jerusalem
The two disciples are successful in their task and secure the colt Jesus knew was awaiting him. How did Jesus know? The only answer that makes sense is this is another example of Jesus knowing things supernaturally. Like he knew that someone specifically had touched him in the midst of a crowd. Like he knew to take Peter, James, and John up the mountain. Like he knew what his opponents were thinking. Jesus had such a relationship with his Father and he trusted his Father so much, he did whatever his Father told him – even if it seemed a bit weird (like obtaining a colt that no one had ridden). The detail of this procurement is a surprise given the brevity of so many of the other accounts of Jesus’ ministry. Perhaps Mark has now joined the disciples and witnessed this for himself, firsthand.
But, more probably, this incident of Jesus entering Jerusalem in this manner was so important, the account demanded such detail.
The travelling crowd with Jesus also sensed the importance of this occasion and spread clothes and branches in front of the colt for it to walk on. The Messianic cry of Bartimaeus, who we were told at the end of the previous chapter joined the crowd in travelling with Jesus to Jerusalem, was probably discussed and considered by the crowd in their eight-hour journey. They were all convinced this entrance into Jerusalem was a messianic entrance, so they shouted, “Hosanna in the highest!” Furthermore, as devout Jews, they would’ve known all the prophetic promises of Scripture. In particular Zechariah’s prophecy in chapter 9:9: Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Thus, to see Jesus mount a colt for this final leg of his journey to Jerusalem was a poignant moment and an eye-opening realisation that Jesus really was the Messiah.
It is the end of an exhausting day. Jesus has just completed his journey from Galilee with a final tedious walk from Jericho to Jerusalem which climaxed with the messianic entrance into Jerusalem on the back of a colt. It is quite late when he observed the conditions within the temple. He decided to return to Bethany with just his 12 apostles to rest for the evening. I assume the apostles returned the colt to its owners in Bethphage on their way back.
Mark 11: 12 – 14 Jesus Speaks to a Fig Tree
Jesus walked back to Jerusalem from his overnight rest in Bethany, most likely at the home of Lazarus. He’s human, of course, and peckish. By the roadside was a fig tree. Jewish custom allowed travellers to glean. The tree was in leaf but without fruit and Jesus says, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” Now this seems quite strange to our western minds, especially when the text tells us that it wasn’t the season for figs! There must be a sensible explanation otherwise all readers would think Jesus was using his supernatural spiritual powers out of selfish disappointment and with an over-the-top reaction.
It begins to make sense when we understand there are two crops from a fig tree. There is a main crop of figs that comes six weeks after the tree comes into leaf. Hence, the statement that it was not the season for figs. But just prior to the first leaves appearing, there is a preliminary crop of fruit. This fruit is small, knob-like and about the size of green almonds. It is sweet to eat. It is this that Jesus was expecting to find. (This makes the season at the end of March/beginning of April and coincides with the beginning of Passion Week!) If a fig tree does not produce this first fruit it will not produce any figs six weeks later! This roadside fig tree was barren.
The tree with leaves looked well and useful, but it was useless. It was a living parable of Jerusalem in general and of the Pharisees in particular. They looked good on the outside, but they yielded no spiritual fruit. By condemning the fig tree, Jesus was symbolically condemning the hypocrisy he found in the contemporary expression of the Jewish faith.
Mark 11: 15 – 19 Jesus Enters the Temple Again
After speaking to the fig tree, Jesus entered the temple through the East gate into the Court of the Gentiles. As mentioned, this was a very large area that, it would appear, the Jewish priests had turned into a market place for the purpose of selling livestock available for sacrifice. The priests, by controlling which animals were suitable for sacrifice, profiteered from the worshippers’ requirement to only sacrifice an animal that was certifiably spotless.
The devout Jew was also required to pay an annual half shekel temple tax. But pilgrims to Jerusalem came from all over the Roman world, especially during times of festivals, and these pilgrims carried coinage from different countries. These overseas coins often had images of idols which were deemed unacceptable to put into the Jewish treasury. So they needed to be exchanged for acceptable Jewish coinage. In the market, the traders made a good profit on this business.
Of course, Jesus saw all this the previous evening and had purposed in his heart to physically expel the traders and bring an end to their profiteering. We have to imagine this physical activity took some time, and Jesus was probably assisted by his apostles acting under his direction. At some point during this activity, Jesus explained his actions. He quoted from two powerful and highly respected prophets: Isaiah and Jeremiah. From Isaiah he says: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? This cry from the lips of Jesus gives me confidence to locate the market in the Court of Gentiles. The second cry from Jesus is a quote from Jeremiah, “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?”
Now the important question to ask is, “Why did Jesus do this? Or what was his driving motivation?” The answer comes from the understanding Jesus had of who he was and the role of the temple in the life of Israel.
Herod’s temple was a replacement for the small temple rebuilt by Ezra after the Jews returned from their exile. Prior to that temple, Israel worshipped at the beautiful temple Solomon built around 900 BC. Solomon’s temple replaced the Tabernacle built by Moses during the years of the wilderness wanderings, prior to Israel becoming a settled nation. The tabernacle was a tent or transportable “building” erected in the centre of the people of Israel during their 40 years of wilderness wanderings.
The design of the Tabernacle was God’s. The precise design and the plan of how to build it were given to Moses while he was on the mountain receiving God’s instruction for the government of Israel. When the erection of the Tabernacle was completed, the presence of God came upon it in the form of a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. Thus, God was in the centre of his people. Furthermore, God was the “King” of his people. Moses was only his spokesperson. To look at it another way, the Tabernacle was God’s Palace with the Holy of Holies, which contained the Arc of the Covenant and the winged golden cherubim, being the very throne for God himself.
About 400 years later, the nation of Israel asked the Prophet Samuel (1040 BC) to give them a king like the other nations. (1 Samuel 8) Samuel was distressed, but the Lord said to him in verse 7, “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”All of this to say the original intention of the Tabernacle and by extension, the temple, was for it to be an earthly throne that reminded Israel of their God King.
This concept of God as the King of Israel was never abandoned. In about 760 BC, 280 years after Samuel, Isaiah (44:6) writes, “Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel…”showing that for devout Israelites, Yahweh was always their real King. This truth was renewed by Jesus in his earthly ministry, especially as he taught repeatedly on the topic of the Kingdom of God. So when Jesus entered the temple on that April day, he was distressed in heart at the faithlessness of Israel the nation. Jesus had come down from Bethany as a King riding on a donkey, which traditionally heralded the fact that the king was arriving into his city peacefully. By going to the temple, Jesus— as the real King of Israel— was going to his throne, and he was disgusted at the state in which he found it. So the temple, as the place to honour the real King of Israel, needed to be cleaned up and converted back to its original intent: as a place of prayer for all the people of the earth.
In doing this righteous deed, Jesus aggravated the ire of the priests and scribes who were headquartered in the temple, and who profited from the business functions they’d established. It reinforced their decision to find a way to execute Jesus. The problem for them was Jesus had gained so much popularity, it made an open arrest difficult.
At the end of this very eventful day, Jesus retired again to Bethany with the 12.
Mark 11: 20 – 26 Jesus Teaches: Prayer and Faith
The next day, Jesus and his apostles travelled again from Bethany to Jerusalem. Peter noticed the fig tree Jesus had spoken to the previous day. It had withered from the roots. This was a miracle over nature. Plants that die naturally do so from the leaves and outer twigs first and eventually, over time, the whole plant dries up and dies. Overnight, this fig tree had died totally from its very roots up!
Jesus used this miracle as a platform for some advanced teaching to his graduating apostles. (It is only about a week before Jesus is crucified.) He taught them three basic truths they needed in order to minister effectively as his apostles in the coming years.
The first truth was in verses 22 – 23: “Have faith in God.” This was meant to mean more than just having faith in God when you needed something. Jesus was teaching that your life needs to be constantly lived always connected to God. This is called a living faith. With such a living faith relationship focussed on the wonderful person of God, himself, you can say to a mountain to move into the sea—and it will happen! This is another of those hyperbolae Jesus loved to use. On this occasion, to teach that the power of the spirit world was greater than that of the fallen world.
The second truth is in verse 24: “I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”Based on your life of faith in God, such is your fellowship with the Father that being led by him you will receive whatever you ask.
The third truth is in verse 25 where Jesus continued, “And when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your sins.” We need to note there is a variant reading that adds verse 26, “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins” which doesn’t really add very much to the teaching of verse 25. So verse 25, in the context of the previous two pieces of teaching, emphasises the debilitating consequences of failing to forgive others. The previous two teachings focus on our relationship with the Father and the wonderful consequences of this relationship that produces answers to prayerful supplication. But when Jesus added this third teaching, he was clearly informing his apostles their close relationship with the Father will dissolve if they hold any form of unforgiveness against another. And by extension, all prayerful supplication would be of no avail.
Mark 11: 27 – 33 The Authority of Jesus
Jesus arrived in the temple and walked around the courtyards. Was there a sense of ownership? This is my Father’s house. I am his Son. I have every right to repurpose the facilities and get rid of anything that is unrighteous.
He was approached by the present guardians of the temple: the chief priests, the scribes and the elders. This was no idle meeting. These senior figures had met to discuss yesterday’s incidents and the resulting loss of income. They had to plan a response. They really needed to arrest Jesus, but just couldn’t do it in the open without creating a storm of protest from the citizens who were amazed and delighted at the ministry of Jesus. And so they asked Jesus a question, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” It was a question that implied that they had the authority to run the temple.
Whenever any Jewish leader questioned Jesus about his work and ministry, Jesus never felt obliged to answer them. Because in answering them, he was recognising their authority to question him. He never submitted to their authority. Jewish leadership did not direct any ministry of Jesus. His ministry was always directed by his heavenly Father, and he submitted only to him.
So, again, on this occasion. Instead of answering these so-called leaders, he asked them a question concerning the authority of John the Baptist. Did John get his authority to do the baptisms from God or from men? The Jewish leaders are unable to give a clear answer because a crowd, which had their own answers to that question, were close by and listening to the interview.
The leaders were unwilling to give an answer, so Jesus did not answer their interrogation of him.