"Make the Church a House of Prayer Again" | Mark 11:1-26 | The Gospel of Mark Series | Hillside Baptist Church

Everything in God's creation has a design and purpose.

Birds are meant to fly, fish to swim, and trees to bear fruit.

Cars are meant to drive, beams to support, and food to nourish.

We instinctively know that when something fails to do what it was designed to do, disaster often follows.

In nineteen eighty six, the space shuttle Challenger tragically exploded just seventy-three seconds after launch due to faulty O-rings in freezing temperatures.

The engineers had warned that this could happen, but the warnings were ignored.

The result was catastrophic.

Sometimes it doesn't take a huge failure to bring things down, just a slow neglect of purpose, a quiet compromise, an ignored warning.

That raises a question for us.

What happens when what God designed begins to malfunction?

When his people, created for his glory, called to bear fruit, meant to be a light in the world, stop living according to their purpose.

In our passage today, we're going to see what happens when purpose and design collide with reality.

It's a moment of great expectation and great reckoning.

Let's open our Bibles to Mark chapter 11 as we continue our journey with Jesus toward the cross.

Mark 11 · chapter mention

And before we read, let's pray and ask the Lord to open our hearts to his word.

Father in heaven, we ask this morning that you would open our eyes to see and to receive the truth of your word.

We pray that you would bear good spiritual fruit in our lives, that we would not ignore the warnings, that we would see, believe, and be transformed.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Mark chapter 11, beginning in verse 1.

Mark 11 · chapter mention

And as they approached Jerusalem, at Bethage in Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat.

Untie it and bring it here.

And if anyone says to you, Why are you doing this?

You say, The Lord has need of it, and immediately he will send it back here.

And they went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street, and they untied it.

And some of the bystanders were saying to them, What are you doing, untying the colt?

And they spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission, and they brought the colt to Jesus, and put their garments on it, and he sat on it.

And many spread their garments in the road, and others spread leafy branches, having cut them from the fields.

And those who went in front, and those who followed, were shouting, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father, David.

Hosanna in the highest.

And Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple, and after looking around at everything, he left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

As we just sang a little earlier this morning, the king is coming.

Here we see the king has arrived.

Your Bibles probably have a header for this section called the Triumphal Entry.

Historically speaking, kings were known to enter cities in splendor, especially during coronation or after a victorious battle.

Such kings would often ride a chariot pulled by four horses or even elephants while being accompanied by troops.

It was a flex in every way.

And yet, here we see another kind of king arriving in humility.

No Mercedes-Benz of chariots, just a borrowed donkey.

And as Jesus enters into Jerusalem, he does so in ways that are intended to fulfill messianic prophecies.

Our passage begins with the acquisition of a particular cult.

Jesus gives a couple of his disciples very specific instructions, including what to say when confronted.

All of this unfolds just as Jesus said it would.

And you might be wondering, why would someone just let strangers take their donkey?

It was not uncommon for assets like animals to be requested for service by the king.

It also wasn't something that could be refused in such cases.

And so the disciples were acting upon royal authority as they acquired the cult.

Why is this important?

The cult wasn't just transportation, it was a fulfillment of prophecy.

Zechariah had said Israel's king would come to Jerusalem, humble and riding on a donkey.

Jesus was showing that the promised king had arrived.

As Zechariah 9 9 prophesied, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, make a loud shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, your king is coming to you.

He is righteous and endowed with salvation, lowly and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a pack animal.

Even the simple detail that Jesus entered the city riding a colt that had never been ridden was a silent but powerful declaration of his messianic identity.

And if you remember, the last episode in Mark, we saw a man named Bartimaeus, and he addresses Jesus as son of David, which is also a messianic title.

And apparently, Jesus maintained this following of people who recognized him as the Messiah, which is why they were chanting, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David, Hosanna in the highest.

Hosanna is just the Greek transliteration of the Aramaic words for save us, O Lord.

And this is almost a word-for-word reference to Psalm 118, verses 25 and 26, which says, O Yahweh, save.

Psalms 118:25

O Yahweh, succeed.

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh.

We have blessed you from the house of Yahweh.

This small crowd did all they could to make this moment feel like a royal procession, spreading their garments on the road, waving leafy branches, and proclaiming that their long-awaited Messiah had come.

And yet they still misunderstood the kind of king Jesus truly was.

They expected Jesus' arrival to launch a political rebellion that would drive the Romans from the promised land.

But Jesus didn't come to overthrow Rome or to reclaim a political throne in Jerusalem.

He did not come to sit upon the Temple Mount in splendor, but to ascend the hill of Calvary in sacrifice.

He came not to conquer by the sword, but by the cross, to suffer, to die, and to redeem his people through his own blood.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem and into the temple, he looks around to see.

Yet he himself remains very much unseen.

The triumphant entry turns out to be anticlimactic, even ironic.

His rejection has already begun.

Rather than being appropriately received, he's completely ignored.

Continuing on with verse twelve.

And on the next day, when they had left Bethany, he became hungry, and seeing at a distance a fig tree that had leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find anything on it.

And when he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs, and he answered and said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again.

And his disciples were listening.

Then they came to Jerusalem, and he entered the temple, and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers, and the seats of those who were selling doves.

And he was not permitting anyone to carry merchandise through the temple.

And he began to teach, and say to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?

But you have made it a robber's den.

And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy him, for they were afraid of him, for the whole crowd was astonished at his teaching.

And when evening came, they were going out of the city, and as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.

And being reminded, Peter said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered.

Here we see one of Mark's favorite literary devices on full display, an inner story sandwiched between two outer stories.

And for those of you who like to think of Jesus as a nice guy who wouldn't hurt a fly, it might surprise you to see the Jesus who judges passionately, cursing trees and flipping tables.

The story of the cursed fig tree has puzzled Christians throughout history.

Many wonder, why would Jesus curse a fig tree for not bearing fruit when technically it wasn't even the season for figs?

And at first glance, it seems harsh, perhaps even an overreaction.

But we gain a helpful insight from an unexpected source, Pliny the Elder, the Roman naturalist, philosopher, and military officer who lived during Jesus' time.

In his Historia Naturalis, written around seventy seven AD, Pliny notes, the fig tree is the only tree whose leaf forms later than its fruit.

In other words, when a fig tree has leaves, it signals the promise of fruit.

So when Jesus saw the leaves on this tree, he could rightly expect some figs.

The tree's leafy exterior was giving a false promise.

It appeared ready to bear fruit, yet delivered nothing.

Like so much in Israel at the time, it had a glorious outward appearance, but no fruit in reality.

The fig tree's outward promise of fruit yet inward barrenness points us directly to the temple in Jerusalem.

Our gospel writer Mark wants us to see the connection between the fruitless fig tree and the marketplace temple.

Both were not functioning as designed.

Both made promises that they couldn't deliver.

Both looked impressive on the outside, yet were empty on the inside.

A warning that looking good isn't enough if there's no real faith or fruit.

It's like having a beautiful looking restaurant with a kitchen that fails inspection.

The fig tree is the perfect illustration for faithless Israel.

Consider what the prophets said, as Jeremiah 8:13 warns, I will surely gather them up, declares Yahweh.

Jeremiah 8:13

There will be no grapes on the vine, and no figs on the fig tree, and the leaf will wither, and what I have given them will pass away.

Or as Micah seven one laments, Woe is me, for I am like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.

There is not a cluster of grapes to eat, or a first ripe fig, which my soul desires.

When Jesus cursed the fig tree, he was giving a clear picture of God's judgment upon Israel, a nation that looked healthy and flourishing on the outside, but was empty and unfaithful on the inside.

The tree wasn't just a tree, it was a symbol of Israel itself, failing to bear the kind of fruit God had long been expecting.

Jesus' cleansing of the temple signals God's judgment on Israel's corrupt religious system.

Those buying and selling within the temple courts were misusing God's commands for sacrifice.

According to the law, an animal offered to God had to be free from disease or defect, as outlined in Leviticus and affirmed in Malachi.

Yet many pilgrims, especially during festivals, when the temple was crowded, preferred to purchase animals inside the temple itself, cutting corners, exploiting the system, and undermining God's design for holy worship.

In doing so, they transformed a sacred place into a marketplace, placing profit above proper devotion.

According to the temple regulations, the outer court, the court of the Gentiles, was not meant to be used as a shortcut from the city to the Mount of Olives.

It was a sacred space intended for worship and prayer, not for passing through casually.

Yet these regulations were being ignored, and the court had become a place of disorder and disrespect.

People were conducting all sorts of irreverent activities that desecrated God's house.

This misuse of the temple stirred Jesus' righteous anger.

Interestingly, this detail appears only in Mark's gospel, highlighting his emphasis on the holiness of God's house and the seriousness of its corruption.

What Jesus saw in the temple was the culmination of years of spiritual drift, small compromises, quiet neglect, and ignored warnings.

Overturning the tables and driving out the merchants was a powerful act of judgment, but it was only a preview.

Within a few decades, the temple itself would be destroyed.

The fig tree and the temple share a striking parallel.

The fig tree looked healthy, its leaves promising fruit, yet it bore none.

The temple, similarly, carried the status of God's house of prayer.

Impressive in size and splendor, yet it had become a den of thieves.

Both appeared outwardly fruitful, but were spiritually barren.

From the beginning, the temple was meant to be more than a place of ritual sacrifice or impressive architecture.

God designed it as a house of prayer, a place where his people would turn to him in faith, obedience, and justice.

Jeremiah reminds us that grandeur means nothing if the hearts of worshipers are corrupt.

Isaiah makes it clear that God's house is intended for all nations, welcoming both Jews and Gentiles into authentic communion with him.

By Jesus' time, the temple had become a dysfunctional facade.

Its courts were filled with greed and exploitation, and its rituals were emptied of meaning.

As Jesus declared in verse seventeen, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it a robber's den.

The issue is not the sacrifices themselves, but the way they had been corrupted, replacing true prayer and faith with greed and hypocrisy.

The destruction of the temple in seventy AD was a tragic consequence of this failure.

Yet in Christ, God raised up a new house of prayer, not built with stones, but made of people.

The church, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, is now the place where God's people can pray with faith, experience his promises, and bear the fruit he intended.

The fig tree and the temple together warn us that God's people are called to function according to his design.

Outward appearances, impressive structures, and religious rituals mean nothing if they fail to produce the fruit of genuine faith.

God takes sin and dysfunction seriously, but he also points us forward to the remedy.

As we see in the next verses, Jesus calls his followers to a faith that trusts God, prays boldly.

And forgives freely, the very foundation of a healthy, fruitful community.

This brings us to the final section of our passage today, verses twenty-two through twenty-six.

And Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God.

Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.

For this reason I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.

And whenever you stand praying, forgive.

If you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.

But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father, who is in heaven, forgive your transgressions.

Here Jesus shifts the focus from judgment on the old temple to the promise of a new community, one defined by faith, prayer, and forgiveness.

He calls his disciples to pray with bold, confident trust in God's power.

This is more than private devotion.

It's the blueprint for a healthy, fruitful church.

Faithful prayer is a crucial function of the church.

We talked a lot about this during our study last Wednesday night.

Prayer isn't some mysterious energy of the universe.

It isn't tapping into an impersonal force like the wind to be harnessed by whoever puts up the sail of a faith-filled prayer.

No, prayer isn't some cosmic ATM machine, neither is it a form of meditation or just talking to yourself, though it may seem that way to some.

Prayer is simply talking to God.

We pray because the God of the Bible is real and he is ready to listen.

We often think in terms of what we can offer God to get his attention.

But a faithful prayer is like sweet-smelling incense to him.

God loves to hear and answer the prayers of his adopted children.

And he does so through the mediating work of Jesus Christ.

We can't come to God on our own terms, just as we wouldn't dare barge into the oval office demanding to see the president.

We can't storm into the throne room of heaven without proper access, because we are sinful and God is holy.

We need a mediator, someone to bridge the impossible gap between us and God.

And that mediator is Jesus Christ, the one who said of himself, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

Through Christ, the Father has a special commitment to hear and answer the prayers of his people.

Apart from him, our words go nowhere.

But through him, our prayers rise to heaven like incense, carried by grace, received with joy.

Prayer is how we access and commune with God, how we live out our relationship with him day by day.

And when we pause to think about that, it's astonishing.

The God of the universe cares about me?

He actually wants to hear what I have to say.

And yet, if we're honest, we don't always see it that way.

Sometimes prayer can be difficult.

Sometimes it feels like our words hit the ceiling and fall back down.

We wonder if God is really listening, or if our prayers even make a difference.

Sometimes our faith wavers, our attention drifts, and we begin to treat prayer like a duty rather than a delight.

But Jesus' words here remind us that faith is the key.

Have faith in God, he says.

Charles Spurgeon writes that faith is an essential quality of successful prayer.

Believe that you receive them.

You cannot pray so as to be heard in heaven and answered to your soul's satisfaction unless you believe that God really hears and will answer you.

In other words, don't pray as if the answer is already no, even if God's answer turns out to be different from what you expected or hoped for.

Faithful prayer doesn't mean we always get exactly what we ask for, but that we trust God hears us and will do what is best for us.

If you pray for God's provision, for the money you need to pay your bills, or food to put on the table, don't spend the rest of the day pacing the floor in worry.

That kind of prayer is little more than doubt, dressed up in religious language.

It's like the fig tree all over again, full of leaves but bearing no fruit.

Instead, act in trust.

Live as though you truly believe what you just prayed, that your heavenly Father knows your needs and will provide for you.

That's what Jesus is calling us to here: a faith that prays and then walks in confidence.

Not because we control the outcome, but because we trust the one who does.

Prayer that pleases God begins with confidence in who He is, that He is good, sovereign, and eager to act for the good of His people.

Faithful prayer doesn't depend on our eloquence or our effort, but on the character of the God who hears us.

It's not about praying the right words in the right order.

There's no magic formula.

True prayer is authentic prayer.

Pray using your own words.

Don't try to copy someone else.

Don't think that by praying long prayers, God is somehow more likely to answer them.

And when you pray in public, don't pray so as to impress the people around you who are listening.

You don't need fancy or formal language to pray.

God isn't impressed by that.

He wants honesty.

Pray in the simple words of your everyday life.

Be direct.

God already knows your needs before you even recognize them.

Yet he invites you to bring those needs before him in faith.

And be specific.

Pray for specific people.

Ask for specific outcomes when appropriate.

Vague prayers often lead to vague answers.

But specific prayers open our eyes to see specific answers.

So when you pray for something particular, watch for how God moves.

Don't be surprised when he answers.

After all, what good is it to pray for something if you don't really expect God to respond?

Also, when you come before God in prayer, take a moment to prepare your heart and your words.

Too often, we start praying and try to figure out what we're asking for along the way.

We can treat prayer like a trip through the drive-thru, spending all our time in line thinking about everything except what we're going to order.

And then acting surprised when it's finally our turn to speak.

We fumble through the menu, hold up the line, and end up ordering the same thing we always do anyway.

Let's not treat our prayer life that way.

When we come before the Lord of heaven and earth, let's be thoughtful, intentional, and expectant, ready to speak to our Father who is ready to listen.

When you pray that kind of faith, simple, specific, trusting, you're no longer speaking into the void.

You're speaking to a father who loves to act for his children.

You may not know how he'll answer, but you can be sure he will act for his glory and your good.

That's why Jesus paints this vivid picture when he speaks about saying to this mountain, be taken up and cast into the sea.

He's not offering a blank check for selfish wishes.

He's inviting his disciples to trust that God can do what seems humanly impossible.

That mountains really can move when prayer is anchored in faith.

Prayer and faith are inseparable.

Faithless prayer is powerless prayer.

But when we pray in faith, believing that God hears, cares, and acts, we step into the realm of divine possibility.

That is why it can be said that the prayers of God's people are but God's promises breathed out of living hearts.

Nothing is too big or too small to bring before God in prayer.

We sang earlier this morning, what a friend we have in Jesus.

Those lyrics remind us what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

Oh, what peace we often forfeit! Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

It's sobering to think about that, isn't it?

How many times have we carried our burdens alone?

How often have we forfeited peace and endured needless pain all because we refused to bring our troubles before God in prayer?

That's my charge to you this morning and to myself, because even as a pastor, I have days when I feel weary and burdened.

And yet Jesus' invitation still stands.

Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Let's find our rest in Him.

Let's bring everything to Him in prayer, not just individually, but together.

Because prayer isn't only personal, it's communal.

It's something we are designed to do corporately, together, as a church.

When Jesus spoke of a house of prayer, he was describing a people, not a building, a community bound together by faith and forgiveness.

We love to talk about faith, but forgiveness is a little harder, isn't it?

Faith feels inspiring.

Forgiveness, oh, feels costly.

While verse 26 of our passage this morning may not appear in some of the earliest manuscripts, the truth it conveys is found throughout Scripture.

Jesus is entirely consistent in his teaching on forgiveness.

Right after the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6, he says plainly, For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Jesus connects the reality of our forgiveness from God with our willingness to forgive others.

The two are inseparable.

And if you're the kind of person who struggles with that, if you find it hard to let go, hard to move on, hard to forgive because you've been deeply hurt.

I want you to hear the hope of the gospel this morning.

Forgiveness doesn't mean pretending it didn't happen.

It doesn't mean the wound wasn't real or that the pain didn't matter.

It means that you release the right to hold the offense over someone else, just as God has released his claim against you through Christ.

Think about that.

The infinitely holy God, against whom we have sinned in ways we can hardly measure, has chosen to forgive us completely, not because we deserved it, but because Jesus bore the cost in our place.

Every grudge, every bitterness, every sin we've ever committed nailed to the cross.

And when you really grasp that, when you see what it cost God to forgive you, you begin to find the strength to forgive others.

Forgiveness becomes not an impossible demand, but a natural overflow of grace received.

Forgiveness is one of the clearest fruits of a heart that has truly been transformed by faith.

It's also what keeps the church healthy.

A praying church must also be a forgiving church, because if we harbor bitterness toward one another, our prayers will wither just like the fig tree, full of leaves, but no fruit.

When Jesus calls his disciples to be a house of prayer, he isn't inviting us to look good on the outside while holding emptiness on the inside.

He is calling us to be a people shaped by grace, a people whose faith trusts God fully, and whose forgiveness mirrors his mercy.

So perhaps the question for us this morning is this Are we a people of both faith and forgiveness?

Are we a house of prayer where God delights to dwell, built not on appearances or empty routines, but on hearts that trust him completely, and forgive as we have been forgiven?

Or are we holding on to something pride, anger, self-reliance, which keeps his blessings at bay?

If we are to be a praying church, one whose prayers move mountains, then we must be united in faith, bound together in love, and quick to forgive.

That's what our church needs today.

Hearts joined in faith, reconciled through forgiveness, and devoted to prayer.

Because a praying church is a powerful church, and a forgiving church is a fruitful one, just as God designed.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we come to you in prayer, not because we deserve anything from you, but because of your grace.

For us to have access to the Father, to have peace with God.

I pray for our church that we would be a fruit-bearing church, that we would not be like the fig tree that showed leaves but had no fruit.

Lord, we don't want this church to wither away.

God, we need a miracle, we need your divine intervention.

We need you to do what only you can do.

And that's why we can pray prayers that move mountains.

Because we've got a mountain that needs some moving.

And so, God, I pray for those here who are still holding on to any form of unforgiveness, I pray that you'd bring conviction in their hearts this morning, that you would remind them that you have forgiven us in the ultimate way possible.

And just like the parable of the person who was forgiven the greater debt, let us not be like the one who's unwilling to forgive the much smaller debt.

We pray for your Holy Spirit to pour out in our lives to bear good fruit for your glory and our good.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.