by Gary L. Evans
(revised 7/31/2023)
Mark — Part 13
Mark 10:35-38 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Jesus had just told them for the third time that He was going to be crucified. And now James and John his brother are asking if they can be beside Him in His Glory. Do you perceive the flesh minds in the Disciples, my friends?
When Jesus was taken to Golgotha to be crucified on a Roman cross, two men were crucified with Him, one on each side. So what James and John were actually asking, most likely without any comprehension of what that might entail, to be beside Him in His Glory, was to be crucified next to Jesus.
Mark 10:39-41 And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John.
Jesus had just asked them if they could drink of the Cup that He would drink from and if they could be Baptized the same as He was going to be? And they answered, Sure, we can do that. Then Jesus said, yes, you will indeed drink of the Cup and be baptized with the same Baptism that I will suffer. But I do not have the authority to grant who will sit on My right hand or left hand in The Kingdom.
James was the first of the Disciples to be martyred for The Lord’s Names’ Sake. And John was finally boiled in oil according to secular history.
Mark 10:42-45 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Jesus explained that the Gentiles have lords ruling over them with great authority, but we must not do that. Instead, those who would be the greatest must be ministers of everyone else, and those who would be chief must be servants of all. Even Christ came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His Life to redeem the souls of many.
Mark 10:46-49 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.
They went to Jericho, and then as they left, a blind man named Bartimaeus was sitting by the road begging. And when he learned that Jesus was there, he begged Jesus to have mercy on him. Note that the blind man knew that Jesus was a descendant of King David, and many people knew, and also interpreted the Scriptures that The Messiah must be a descendant of David. And Jesus ordered His Disciples to let the blind man come to Him.
Mark 10:50-52 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
The blind man asked Jesus to heal him. Then Jesus commanded him, Go your way. Your faith has healed you. And the man received his sight and followed Jesus.
Mark 11:1-6 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, 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. 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. 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. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.
Jesus and His Disciples came near to Jerusalem, and He sent two Disciples to go into the nearby village where they would find a colt (young donkey), and to loose him and bring him to Him. And Jesus also said, if anyone questions you about it, tell him that The Lord needs him. So the two Disciples did what Jesus told them to do and brought back the donkey. But they were questioned by some men when they were caught untieing the donkey, and when they said The Lord needed him, they let them have it. So obviously, this was prearranged.
Mark 11:7-11 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. 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.
And the Disciples and the people put some of their clothes on the back of the donkey. Then Jesus sat on the donkey, and as He rode, the people spread clothes on the path in front of the donkey along with palm branches, which is like the procession of a King coming into Jerusalem (except for the donkey instead of a fine white stallion). And they shouted, Hosanna, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of The Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of David that comes in the Name of The Lord, Hosanna in the highest.
The word “hosanna” is from the Hebrew “ho-san-nah’” which means “Oh Save!” and is an expression of praise.
Where was this event prophesied in the Scriptures?
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Zechariah prophesied that The Messiah, The King of Israel, would come into Jerusalem riding on a young ass (donkey). So Jesus fulfilled prophesy by riding the donkey into Jerusalem with all the people following along in a parade spreading palm branches as in a royal procession for a King.
Mark 11:12-14 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: 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. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
The next day, as Jesus and His Disciples were leaving Bethany where they had spent the night, Jesus acted as though He was displeased that a fig tree did not have any figs for Him to eat, even though it was out of season. And JESUS CURSED THE TREE!
Everything that Jesus did was for a teaching purpose. Why did Jesus curse the fig tree for not having any fruit when it was out of season? Jesus was teaching a Parable through His actions, The Parable of The Fig Tree. Let me summarize it for you.
In order to understand this event, we will need to go all the way back to The Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve became ashamed and sewed fig leaves to hide their private parts. There were two very important trees in The Garden, The Tree of Life, which was Christ, and The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which was That Old Serpent, Satan, The Devil. Cain was the offspring of Satan, and Abel was the offspring of Adam, The Son of God. And Cain murdered his brother Abel.
From that time, Cain and his descendants have remained hidden and have tried to blend in with the descendants of Adam through Seth, whom god gave Adam and Eve to replace Abel. Through Seth many hundreds of years later would come Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and through their tribes would come Moses, The Lawgiver, and later King David, and his son Solomon, who gave the Kenites, the tribes of Cain, to be the servants of the Levitical Priests to cut wood, and later became their scribes.
So we see that when Jesus, Who was the descendant of King David through His mother Mary, walked this earth, the descendants of Cain, the son of Satan, were hidden among the scribes and Pharisees in The Temple. So these hidden ones were of that Fig Tree which could bear no fruit that Jesus cursed. In other words, none of them could be saved. And these were those diabolical scribes and Pharisees who were already conspiring to falsely accuse Jesus of sin and crucify Him. So through His act, we see Jesus curse the Kenites, the descendants of Cain.
Mark 11:15-17 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; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. 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.
Jesus and His Disciples returned to Jerusalem and went into The Temple. And Jesus began to cast out those hypocrites that sold and bought things for sacrifice in The Temple, and He overthrew the tables of the money changers, or bankers of that day, and them that were selling doves for sacrifice. And He declared that all of them doing these things had turned The Lord’s Temple into a DEN OF THIEVES! Jesus had quoted from Isaiah:
Isa 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
The people worked under Roman rule, and the currency of exchange were the Roman coins, but the hypocrites who ran The Temple demanded that the people only buy their sacrificial animals with the Hebrew Shekel, and of course those same hypocrites set up their money tables out front to exchange the peoples’ Roman money for Hebrew money, and naturally skimmed quite a bit off the top of the exchange for themselves. And they also then sold them the animals for the sacrifice, no doubt at high prices. So Jesus became so angry about how they were ripping off the people that He took a cat of nine tails and drove those greedy bums out of The Temple, thereby cleansing The Temple for the last time.
Mark 11:18-19 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. And when even was come, he went out of the city.
When the hypocritical scribes and chief priests heard about what Jesus had done, they began to work out a plan for how to kill Him. Because He was messing up their ponzie scheme where they controlled what the people were taught to believe even while keeping back God’s Word from them, and they forced them to buy animals from them at high prices, and they forced them to buy those animals in Hebrew money, which only they had and charged high exchange rates for Roman money. And the people were beginning to rally around Jesus. They had to take action now before Jesus exposed them.
Mark 11:20-21 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
As they left Jerusalem, the Disciples noticed that the fig tree Jesus had cursed had dried up from the roots and died.
Mark 11:22-24 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 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. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Jesus taught His Disciples that if they had Faith, they could speak and move THIS mountain, and if they had no doubt but truly believed that what they spoke would come to pass, then it would happen. And so whatever they prayed for, if they believe they will receive them, then they would have them. Note that Jesus explicitly said, “move THIS mountain.” What “mountain?” We already were given a clue, The Fig Tree that Jesus had cursed. Mountains are often symbolic of nations in The Scriptures, so Jesus in effect said, “If you speak to THIS nation (the Kenites) and say it will be cast into the sea, then it will be done.” And the “sea” are “Peoples, Nations, and Languages of the world.”
Mark 11:25-16 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. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Jesus admonished them that when they prayed, they must forgive if they had any grudge against anyone. Because if they refuse to forgive others, then neither would our Heavenly Father forgive them. We are not judges. God is the judge over all of us. But we must also understand that before forgiveness there must be repentance. We can forgive others for what they do against us, but only God can forgive them if what they have done to us is also a sin against Him, and His forgiveness only comes through repentance.
Mark 11:27-28 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, And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?
Jesus had just driven those greedy con artists out of The Temple with a cat of nine tails for ripping off the people from their money as they just wanted to obey God’s Laws with sin offerings and free will offerings. And now those hypocrites confronted Jesus and demanded that He show what gave Him the authority to order them around like that.
Mark 11:29-33 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. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. 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.
So Jesus answered them with a question, “By what authority did John The Baptist preach Baptism to the people? And of course, they could not say that it was from God, because those hypocrites had rejected John. But the people respected John as a Prophet, so they could not deny him either. Checkmate! Because the answer to their question about where did Jesus get His authority was the same as the answer to Jesus’ question about where did John get his authority?
Jesus has been poking at the Kenites lately to provoke them into action, as though He was deliberately stirring up a nest of poisonous snakes to strike Him, which they were in the spiritual sense because they were descendants of That Old Serpent and were Prophesied TO KILL HIM.
Gen 3:14-15 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
So The Lord said that the descendants of That Old Serpent would “bruise the heels” of the woman’s offspring by Adam, through which umbilical cord to umbilical cord would come Jesus, The Christ. Therefore, to fulfill this prophesy, the descendants of Cain, The Seed of The Serpent, must be enabled to “bruise His heels,” which they did by driving nails through His hands and feet on the cross. This, my friends, was THE PASSION OF OUR LORD. to fulfill all prophesy from In The Beginning.
Whosoever has eyes to see and ears to hear, let him hear.