There is a lot of interesting stuff happening in Mark 11: donkey rides, fig-tree cursing, and temple cleansing to name a few.  In this post I want to focus on the exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day (see vv. 27-33).

They ask Jesus by what authority he is doing “these things”.  For sure, they must be referring to Jesus prophetic cleansing of the temple grounds.  The outer court was to be a place into which non-Jewish people could gather to pray, but greed had transmuted it into a commercial carnival complete with sideshows and shysters. Jesus turned the tables (better stated over turned the tables) on those on the take.  In so doing, he not only threatened the financial interests of complicit leaders, but his growing popularity with the crowds threatened their power base.  Their query about Jesus’ authority was neither intrigue or curiosity; it was a ruse by which they hoped to discredit and even to destroy him.  Jesus met their duplicity with a question of his own by which to test their sincerity.  A test they subsequently failed and as a result Jesus remained unforthcoming.

Do you think that we will fair any better than those religious leaders?  If we approach Jesus from a place of insincerity and deceit, will we find him responsive to our overtures?