Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Mark 11:20 - 11:26
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_11:20-26
20As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21Being reminded, Peter said to Him, "Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered." 22And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. 23Truly 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. 24Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."]
Mar_11:20 "As they were passing by" They took the same route from Bethany to Jerusalem.
▣ "withered from the roots up" This was the sign of total rejection of Israel (cf. Mar_12:1-12), or at least her current leaders.
Mar_11:21 "Being reminded, Peter said" Peter vividly remembers!
Mar_11:22 "Jesus answered saying to them" Peter again acted as the spokesman for what all of the disciples were thinking.
▣ "'Have faith in God'" This is a present active imperative. This is a common theme in the Gospel. Faith/trust/belief (i.e., noun, pistis; verb, pisteuô; see Special Topic at Mar_1:15) in YHWH (and His Messiah) is fallen mankind's only hope. This current world system and its power structures must not attract our attention and concern. God is with us and for us. Look to Him, only to Him!
This symbolic act of judgment and rejection affected their entire traditional belief system. We can only imagine how radical Jesus' new teachings and perspectives were to these traditional first century Jewish men! Jesus powerfully and obviously rejected the Temple (as it was functioning) and the leadership, both Sadducees and Pharisees (both liberal, Hillel, and conservative, Shammai).
There is a Greek manuscript variant which adds the Greek conditional particle ei (i.e., "if") in MSS à and D. This would make it a first class conditional sentence. However, its presence could be a Hebraic idiom denoting a direct quote. It is not included in MSS A, B, C, L, or W, nor in any of the English translations used in this commentary. It probably came from scribes wanting to make it exactly like Luk_17:6 or even Mat_21:21 (which has ean instead of Luke's ei).
Mar_11:23 "Truly" This is literally "amen." See Special Topic at Mar_3:28.
▣ "'to this mountain'" This was (1) possibly a literal reference to the Mount of Olives (cf. Zec_14:4) or (2) a figure of speech as in Zec_4:7. This phrase was a common rabbinical metaphor for removing difficulties.
In the OT this type of "leveling" language was often used to describe YHWH's coming (cf. Mic_1:3-4; Hab_3:6). He would be available to all the earth because the mountains would be leveled (cf. Zec_14:4) and the valleys filled up and the rivers and seas dried up, so that all may approach Him in Jerusalem. This metaphorical nature language is replaced in the NT by needy people coming to Jesus, not Jerusalem. In the NT "Jerusalem" in Palestine becomes "new Jerusalem," the holy city coming down out of heaven. The NT has universalized the OT prophecies related to geographical Jerusalem and Palestine.
▣ "'into the sea'" This is possibly a reference to the Dead Sea, which is visible from the Mount of Olives.
▣ "'does not doubt'" Faith is a key factor in prayer (cf. Jas_1:6-8).
▣ "heart" See Special Topic at Mar_2:6.
Mar_11:23-24 "they will be granted him" This statement must be balanced with other biblical statements about prayer. This is a good example of why we should not proof-text one verse and say "the Bible says it, that settles it." The Bible says a lot more about prayer. The worst thing God could do to most Christians is answer their prayers! Usually we pray for all the wrong things. Please read and contemplate the Special Topic below on "Effective Prayer."
hyperlink
Mar_11:24 "'that you have received them'" There is a manuscript variant related to the tense of the verb lambanô. The aorist, which reflects a Hebrew idiom of an expected fulfillment, is found in MSS à , B, C, L, and W. Apparently this was altered by scribes (1) to the future tense to match Mat_21:22 (cf. MS D and the Vulgate) or (2) to the present tense (cf. MS A and the Armenian translation).
Mar_11:25 "'Whenever you stand praying'" The normal posture for prayer was standing with the eyes open and the head and arms lifted upward. They prayed as if in dialogue with God.
▣ "'forgive, if you have anything against anyone'" Our forgiveness of others is the evidence, not the basis, of our forgiveness (cf. Mat_5:7; Mat_6:14-15; Mat_7:1-2; Mat_18:21-35; Luk_6:36-37; Eph_4:32; Col_3:13; Jas_2:13; Jas_5:9). The unforgiving person has never met God!
▣ "if" This is a first class conditional sentence. Believers often hold grudges. Knowing God in Christ must change these attitudes. We are forgiven so much how can we treat others made in God's image with contempt and settled animosity?
▣ "'your Father who is in heaven'" Jesus spoke Aramaic, which means that many of the places where "Father" appears as the Greek, Pater, it may reflect the Aramaic Abba (cf. Mar_14:36). This familial term "Daddy" or "Papa" reflects Jesus' intimacy with the Father; His revealing this to His followers also encourages our own intimacy with the Father. The term "Father" was used only in the OT for YHWH, but Jesus uses it often and pervasively. It is a major revelation of our new relationship with God through Christ.
Mar_11:26 This verse is absent in the Greek uncial manuscripts à , B, L, and W. It is included with several variations in MSS A, D, K, X, and the Peshitta translation and the Diatessaron (i.e., the four Gospels merged into one). It seems that an ancient scribe added this phrase from Mat_6:15.