As the Passion approaches, the Lord once again speaks to His disciples about what is most important in His teaching. Following, as Church tradition maintains, the preaching of the apostle Peter, the evangelist Mark gives an extremely concise statement of what the Lord Jesus said about...
As the Passion approaches, the Lord once again speaks to His disciples about what is most important in His teaching. Following, as Church tradition maintains, the preaching of the apostle Peter, the evangelist Mark gives an extremely concise statement of what the Lord Jesus said about the three fundamental dimensions of a person's spiritual life.
First He speaks of faith, assuring the disciples that it is faith which raises a person above the whole created world. In faith a person becomes not merely a grain of sand in an ocean of matter, but acquires the ability to “move mountains,” that is, to participate in the work of building the world which the Almighty Himself performs.
Then the Lord speaks of prayer, because our faith and trust in God are expressed first of all in our seeking communion with Him. As Bishop Cassian Bezobrazov said, faith in the biblical sense is the striving of the believer toward perfect union with the One in Whom he believes. Prayer is the principal path to this union. In speaking of the fruit of prayer, the Synodal translation uses the future tense: “believe that you will receive it, and it will be yours.” The original uses the past tense: “believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” This grammatical detail reflects an important nuance of meaning. The purpose of a believer's prayer lies not so much in receiving what is requested as in placing it under God's authority. Therefore, when we do this, the principal result of prayer has already been achieved. That is why the fundamental form of our requests to the Almighty is: “Your will be done.”
Finally, the Lord tells His disciples that faith and prayer, this vector along which the movement of the human heart is directed toward true life, have a projection in our earthly existence, and this is nothing other than forgiveness. Thus, according to the Gospel of Mark, Christ's instruction to His disciples can be expressed in three words: faith, prayer, and forgiveness.
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11:12 Mat 21:18.
11:13 For it was not a season of figs - It was net (as we say) a good year for figs; at least not for that early sort, which alone was ripe so soon in the spring. If we render the words, It was not the season of figs, that is,the time of gathering them in, it may mean, The season was not yet: and so (inclosing the words in a parenthesis, And coming to it, he found nothing but leaves) it may refer to the former part of the sentence, and may be considered as the reason of Christ's going to see whether there were any figs on this tree. Some who also read that clause in a parenthesis, translate the hollowing words, for where he was, it was the season of figs. And it is certain, this meaning of the words suits best with the great design of the parable, which was to reprove the Jewish Church for its unfruitfulness at that very season, when fruit might best be expected from them.
11:15 Mat 21:12; Luk 19:45.
11:16 He suffered not that any should carry a vessel through the temple - So strong notions had our Lord, of even relative holiness!And of the regard due to those places (as well as times) that are peculiarly dedicated to God.
11:17 Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11.
11:18 They feared him - That is, they were afraid to take him by violence, lest it should raise a tumult; because all the people was astonished at his teaching - Both at the excellence of his discourse, and at the majesty and authority with which he taught.
11:20 Mat 21:20.
11:22 Have faith in God - And who could find fault, if the Creator and Proprietor of all things were to destroy, by a single word of his mouth, a thousand of his inanimate creatures, were it only to imprint this important lesson more deeply on one immortal spirit?
11:25 When ye stand praying - Standing was their usual posture when they prayed. Forgive - And on this condition, ye shall have whatever you ask, with. out wrath or doubting. Mat 6:14.
11:27 Mat 21:23; Luk 20:1.