Mark 11:20-33

²⁰And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

 ²¹And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

 ²²And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

 ²³For 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.

 ²⁴Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

 ²⁵And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

 ²⁶But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

 ²⁷And 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,

 ²⁸And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

 ²⁹And 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.

 ³⁰The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.

 ³¹And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?

 ³²But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.

 ³³And 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.

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v.22 Faith in God-in regard to miracle working and prayer

v.23 Conditions-no doubt in your heart; believe it will be done

Biblical interpretation - at what time was the speaker speaking? (Dispensation: a distinctive arrangement or period in history that forms the framework through which God relates to mankind.) (i.e.- dietary laws in Old Testament applied to the law age, but teaches important principles--obedience, holiness, standards)

v. 23 This time is an overlap of law age and New Testament church age, at this time people were working miracles.

v. 24 same principle applies to prayer.  Pray believing.

v. 25-26 'you'= group; 'stand' = Jewish stance.  These verses refer to a continuous process of daily confession and renewal--must forgive to be forgiven.  However, this is not talking about salvation.
v. 27-33  Jesus is in temple(literally God in flesh, in His house!), approached by priests, scribes, elders. This was an official challenge by the highest leaders of Jewish religion.  Jesus returned the challenge (v. 29-30).  They lied. (v.33)  Jesus returned their answer.


BGPeek 8-22-10