Mark 11 Footnotes

11:2-3 Some understand Jesus to have been stealing the donkey or at least to have been presumptuous in taking it. However, Jesus had visited this region before (Lk 10:38-42; Jn 11:1), and it is possible he had arranged the securing of the animal earlier. Other scholars refer to the recognized prerogative of government officials, or even a rabbi, of requisitioning mounts. The Greek word for “Lord” here (kurios) could mean God had need of the animals, but it may also merely mean “our master” or “its master” had need of them.

11:15 Jesus continued his prophetic action in the temple, undoubtedly not driving everyone (hundreds of people) out of the precincts, but overturning some tables and accosting some individuals, as a symbolic demonstration against what he perceived as unacceptable use of the temple and a corrupt temple establishment (Zch 14:21). Other contemporary Jews held similar views (e.g., 2Bar 10:18). Josephus (Jewish War 6.5.3) told of an individual, Jesus son of Ananias, who in AD 62 was delivered to the Romans by the temple authorities for similar prophetic cries against the temple.

11:22-24 It is characteristic Semitic style to make a point in exaggerated and unqualified terms (e.g., 9:45-48; 13:2; 1Jn 3:9). The hyperbolic casting of a mountain into the sea by faith signals the exaggeration in these statements about prayer. The point of the saying is the absolute necessity of trust in God’s unlimited power, not a blank check for answered prayers. The disciples (and readers of this Gospel) were expected to supply the proper qualifications. Some of these are stated explicitly or illustrated elsewhere in the NT (Mt 6:10; 26:42; Jms 4:3; 1Jn 5:14).