---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Mark 11"
description: "CHAPTER 11   :-. CHRIST"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11"
---

CHAPTER 11

. CHRIST'S
TRIUMPHAL ENTRY
INTO JERUSALEM, ON THE
FIRST DAY
OF THE WEEK. ( =
[Matthew 21:1-9](../../../kjv/matthew/21/1-9); [Luke 19:29-40](../../../kjv/luke/19/29-40);
[John 12:12](../../../kjv/john/12/12); [John 12:19](../../../kjv/john/12/19)).
See on [John 12:19](../../../kjv/john/12/19).
[John 12:19](../../../kjv/john/12/19). THE BARREN
FIG TREE
CURSED WITH LESSONS
FROM IT—SECOND
CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE,
ON THE SECOND AND
THIRD DAYS
OF THE WEEK. ( =
[Matthew 21:12-22](../../../kjv/matthew/21/12-22); [Luke 19:45-48](../../../kjv/luke/19/45-48)).

**11. And Jesus entered into
Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about
upon**—surveyed.
**all things, and now the
eventide was come, he went out into Bethany with the twelve**—Thus
briefly does our Evangelist dispose of this His first day in
Jerusalem, after the triumphal entry. Nor do the Third and Fourth
Gospels give us more light. But from Matthew ([Matthew 21:10](../../../kjv/matthew/21/10);
[Matthew 21:11](../../../kjv/matthew/21/11); [Matthew 21:14-16](../../../kjv/matthew/21/14-16))
we learn some additional and precious particulars, for which see on
[Matthew 21:14-40](../../../kjv/matthew/21/14-40). It was not now safe
for the Lord to sleep in the city, nor, from the day of His Triumphal
Entry, did He pass one night in it, save the last fatal one.
*The Barren Fig Tree Cursed*
([Mark 11:12-14](../../../kjv/mark/11/12-14)).

**12. And on the morrow**—The
Triumphal Entry being on the first day of the week, this following
day was Monday.
**when they were come from
Bethany**—"in the morning" ().
**he was hungry**—How was
that? Had he stolen forth from that dear roof at Bethany to the
"mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God?"
([Luke 6:12](../../../kjv/luke/6/12)); or, "in the
morning," as on a former occasion, "risen up a great while
before day, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed"
([Mark 1:35](../../../kjv/mark/1/35)); not breaking His
fast thereafter, but bending His steps straight for the city, that He
might "work the works of Him that sent Him while it was day?"
([John 9:4](../../../kjv/john/9/4)). We know not, though
one lingers upon and loves to trace out the every movement of that
life of wonders. One thing, however we are sure of—it was *real
bodily hunger* which He now sought to allay by the fruit of this
fig tree, "if haply He might find any thing thereon"; not a
mere *scene* for the purpose of teaching a lesson, as some early
heretics maintained, and some still seem virtually to hold.

**13. And seeing a fig tree**—(In
[Matthew 21:19](../../../kjv/matthew/21/19), it is "one fig
tree," but the sense is the same as here, "a certain fig
tree," as in [Matthew 8:19](../../../kjv/matthew/8/19), c.).
Bethphage, which adjoined Bethany, derives its name from its being a
*fig region*—"House of figs."
**afar off having leaves**—and
therefore promising fruit, which in the case of figs come before the
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**—What the precise import
of this explanation is, interpreters are not agreed. Perhaps all that
is meant is, that as the proper fig season had not arrived, no fruit
would have been expected even of this tree but for the leaves which
it had, which were in this case prematurely and unnaturally
developed.

**14. And Jesus answered and said unto
it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever**—That word did
not *make* the tree barren, but sealed it up in its own
barrenness. See on .
**And his disciples heard
it**—and marked the saying. This is introduced as a connecting
link, to explain what was afterwards to be said on the subject, as
the narrative has to proceed to the other transactions of this day.
*Second Cleansing of the Temple*
([Mark 11:15-18](../../../kjv/mark/11/15-18)).
For the exposition of this
portion, see on [Mark 11:15-41](../../../kjv/mark/11/15-41).
*Lessons from the Cursing of the
Fig Tree* ([Mark 11:15-41](../../../kjv/mark/11/15-41)).

**20. And in the morning**—of
Tuesday, the third day of the week: He had slept, as during all this
week, at Bethany.
**as they passed by**—going
into Jerusalem again.
**they saw the fig tree dried
up from the roots**—no partial blight, leaving life in the root;
but it was now dead, root and branch. In it is said it withered away as soon as it was cursed. But
the full blight had not appeared probably at once; and in the dusk
perhaps, as they returned to Bethany, they had not observed it. The
precision with which Mark distinguishes the days is not observed by
Matthew, intent only on holding up the truths which the incident was
designed to teach. In Matthew the whole is represented as taking
place at once, just as the two stages of Jairus' daughter—dying and
dead—are represented by him as one. The only difference is between
a more summary and a more detailed narrative, each of which only
confirms the other.

**21. And Peter calling to remembrance
saith unto him**—satisfied that a miracle so very peculiar—a
miracle, not of *blessing,* as all His other miracles, but of
*cursing*—could not have been wrought but with some higher
reference, and fully expecting to hear something weighty on the
subject.
**Master, behold, the fig tree
which thou cursedst is withered away**—so connecting the two
things as to show that he traced the death of the tree entirely to
the curse of his Lord. Matthew () gives this simply as a general exclamation of surprise by
the disciples "how soon" the blight had taken effect.

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

**23. For verily I say unto you, That
whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed . . . he
shall have whatsoever he saith**—Here is the lesson now. From the
nature of the case supposed—that they might wish a mountain removed
and cast into the sea, a thing far removed from anything which they
could be thought actually to desire—it is plain that not physical
but moral obstacles to the progress of His kingdom were in the
Redeemer's view, and that what He designed to teach was the great
lesson, that *no obstacle should be able to stand before a
confiding faith in God.*

**24. Therefore I say unto you, What
things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them,
and ye shall have them**—This verse only *generalizes* the
assurance of [Mark 11:23](../../../kjv/mark/11/23); which
seems to show that it was designed for the special encouragement of
*evangelistic* and *missionary* efforts, while this is a
directory for prevailing *prayer in general.*

**25. And when ye stand praying,
forgive, if ye have aught against any; that your Father also which is
in heaven may forgive you your trespasses,** c.—This is repeated
from the Sermon on the Mount (see on ) to remind them that if this was necessary to the
acceptableness of *all* prayer, much more *when great things
were to be asked and confidently expected.*
. THE
AUTHORITY OF JESUS
QUESTIONED—HIS
REPLY. ( = [Matthew 21:23-27](../../../kjv/matthew/21/23-27);
[Luke 20:1-8](../../../kjv/luke/20/1-8)).
See on [Luke 20:1-42](../../../kjv/luke/20/1-42).

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Mark 11"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Mark 11","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"CHAPTER 11   :-. CHRIST'S\nTRIUMPHAL ENTRY\nINTO JERUSALEM, ON THE\nFIRST DAY\nOF THE WEEK. ( =\nMatthew 21:1-9; Luke 19:29-40;\nJohn 12:12; John 12:19). See on","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark","name":"Mark"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/mark/11","name":"11"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```