SS FLBC Mark 11-12 Study Guide
August 3, 2025
Forest Lake Bible Church Sunday School
Text: MARK CHAPTERS 11 AND 12
1. Review Mark 11:1–11. What might have been going through Jesus’mind as He made this trek to Jerusalem? What would the disciples have been wrestling with? What might the city have looked like to them? Why do you think Jesus allowed people to celebrate Him in such a public way?
2. More to Consider: Jesus sent two of His disciples to Bethphage to get the colt that He needed for the event. Most people today think of a donkey as nothing but a humble beast of burden, but in that day, it was looked on as an animal fit for a king to use (1 Kings 1:33). Why did Jesus need this animal? Read Zechariah 9:9. Why didn’t Mark quote this verse? (Keep in mind the audience Mark was addressing.)
From the Commentary
Our Lord’s condemning of the tree and cleansing of the temple (Mark 11:12–26) were both symbolic acts that illustrated the sad spiritual condition of the nation of Israel. In spite of its many privileges and opportunities, Israel was outwardly fruitless (the tree) and inwardly corrupt (the temple). It was unusual for Jesus to act in judgment (John 3:17), yet there comes a time when this is the only thing God can do (John 12:35–41). The fig tree produces leaves in March or April and then starts to bear fruit in June, with another crop in August and possibly a third crop in December. The presence of leaves could mean the presence of fruit, even though that fruit was “left over” from the previous season. It is
significant that in this instance Jesus did not have special knowledge to guide Him; He had to go to the tree and examine things for Himself.
If He had power to kill the tree, why didn’t He use that power to restore the tree and make it produce fruit? Apart from the drowning of the pigs (Mark 5:13), this is the only instance of our Lord using His miraculous power to destroy something in nature. He did it because He
wanted to teach us two important lessons. Be Diligent by Warren Wiersbe
3. How was the condemning of the fig tree a lesson in failure? How was it a lesson in faith?
From the Commentary
Jesus had cleansed the temple during His first Passover visit (John 2:13–22), but the results had been temporary. It was not long before the religious leaders permitted the money changers and the merchants to return. The priests received their share of the profits, and, after all, these
services were a convenience to the Jews who traveled to Jerusalem to worship. Suppose a foreign Jew carried his own sacrifice with him and then discovered that it was rejected because of some blemish? The money rates were always changing, so the men who exchanged foreign currency were doing the visitors a favor, even though the merchants were making a generous profit. It was easy for
them to rationalize the whole enterprise. This “religious market” was set up in the court of the
Gentiles, the one place where the Jews should have been busy doing serious missionary work. If a Gentile visited the temple and saw what the Jews were doing in the name of the true God, he would never want to believe what they taught. The Jews might not have permitted idols of wood
and stone in their temple, but there were idols there just the same. The court of the Gentiles should have been a place for praying, but it was instead a place for preying and paying. Be Diligent by Warren Wiersbe
4. How did the merchants in the temple victimize the poor? Why would this have grieved Jesus? (See Mark 12:41–44.) Why did Jesus quote Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 to defend His actions?
From the Commentary
In the days that followed, the representatives of the religious and political establishment descended on Jesus as He ministered in the temple, trying their best to trip Him up with their questions. He answered four questions, and then He asked them a question that silenced them for good. As the official guardians of the law, the members of the Sanhedrin had both the right and the responsibility to
investigate anyone who claimed to be sent by God, and that included Jesus (see Deut. 18:15–22). However, these men did not have open minds or sincere motives. They were not seeking truth; they were looking for evidence to use to destroy Him (Mark 11:18). Jesus knew what they were doing, so He countered their question with another question and exposed their hypocrisy. Why take them all the way back to John the Baptist? For a very good reason: God does not teach us new truth if we have rejected the truth He has already revealed. This basic principle is expressed in John 7:17: “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself” (NASB). “Obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge,” said the British preacher F. W. Robertson. The Jewish religious leaders had not accepted what John had taught, so why should God say anything more to them? Had they obeyed John’s message, they would have gladly submitted to Christ’s authority, for John came to present the Messiah to the nation.
5. Review Mark 11:27—12:12. What dilemma of their own making were the Jewish leaders caught in? How was their line of questioning akin to the approach of a hypocrite or a crowd pleaser? How did their line of questioning differ from that of Jesus (Mark 12:13–17) or John the Baptist (Matt. 11:1–10)? What did the parable Jesus told the Pharisees reveal about where their sins were leading them?
From the Commentary
Mark 12:18–27 is the only place in Mark’s gospel where the Sadducees are mentioned. This group accepted only the law of Moses as their religious authority; so, if a doctrine could not be defended from the first five books of the Old Testament, they would not accept it. They did not believe in the existence of the soul, life after death, resurrection, final judgment, angels, or demons (see Acts 23:8). Most of the Sadducees were priests and were wealthy. They considered themselves the “religious aristocrats” of
Judaism and tended to look down on everybody else. They brought a hypothetical question to Jesus, based on the law of marriage given in Deuteronomy 25:7–10. This woman had a series of seven husbands during her lifetime, all brothers, and all of whom had died. “If there is such a thing as a future resurrection,” they argued, “then she must spend eternity with seven husbands!” It seemed a perfect argument, as most arguments are that are based on hypothetical situations.
The Sadducees thought that they were smart, but Jesus soon revealed their ignorance of two things: the power of God and the truth of Scripture. Resurrection is not the restoration of life as we know it; it is the entrance into a new life that is different. The same God who created the angels and gave them their nature is able to give us the new bodies we will need for new life in heaven (1 Cor. 15:38ff.).
6. Review Mark 12:18–27. How did Jesus answer the Sadducees’ question?
Why would there be no need for marriage, procreation, and the continuance of the race in heaven? How was this a particularly wise answer, considering the people Jesus was answering?
From the Commentary
In Mark 12:35–37 it was our Lord’s turn to ask the questions, and He focused on the most important
question of all: Who is the Messiah? “What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he?” (Matt. 22:42). This is a
far more important question than the ones His enemies had asked Him, for if we are wrong about Jesus Christ, we are wrong about salvation. This means we end up condemning our own souls (John 3:16–21; 8:24; 1 John 2:18–23).
Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 and asked them to explain how David’s son could also be David’s Lord. The Jews believed that the Messiah would be David’s son (John 7:41–42), but the only way David’s son could also be David’s Lord would be if Messiah were God come in human flesh. The answer, of course, is our Lord’s miraculous conception and virgin birth (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18–25; Luke 1:26–38).
7. Mark 12 ends with Jesus giving two warnings (see vv. 38–40 and 41–44). What do these warnings teach us about how character is defined? Why is this important, particularly in light of where Jesus was in His ministry?
From the Commentary
The Jews were proud of their temple, in spite of the fact that it was built by the Herod family in order to placate the Jews. Jesus had already given His estimate of the temple (Mark 11:15–17), but His disciples were fascinated by the magnificence of the structure. Imagine how shocked they were when Jesus informed them that the building they admired so much would one day be demolished. The Jewish
leaders had defiled it; Jesus would depart from it and leave it desolate (Matt. 23:38); the Romans would destroy it.
Forest Lake Bible Church Sunday School
Text: MARK CHAPTERS 11 AND 12
1. Review Mark 11:1–11. What might have been going through Jesus’mind as He made this trek to Jerusalem? What would the disciples have been wrestling with? What might the city have looked like to them? Why do you think Jesus allowed people to celebrate Him in such a public way?
2. More to Consider: Jesus sent two of His disciples to Bethphage to get the colt that He needed for the event. Most people today think of a donkey as nothing but a humble beast of burden, but in that day, it was looked on as an animal fit for a king to use (1 Kings 1:33). Why did Jesus need this animal? Read Zechariah 9:9. Why didn’t Mark quote this verse? (Keep in mind the audience Mark was addressing.)
From the Commentary
Our Lord’s condemning of the tree and cleansing of the temple (Mark 11:12–26) were both symbolic acts that illustrated the sad spiritual condition of the nation of Israel. In spite of its many privileges and opportunities, Israel was outwardly fruitless (the tree) and inwardly corrupt (the temple). It was unusual for Jesus to act in judgment (John 3:17), yet there comes a time when this is the only thing God can do (John 12:35–41). The fig tree produces leaves in March or April and then starts to bear fruit in June, with another crop in August and possibly a third crop in December. The presence of leaves could mean the presence of fruit, even though that fruit was “left over” from the previous season. It is
significant that in this instance Jesus did not have special knowledge to guide Him; He had to go to the tree and examine things for Himself.
If He had power to kill the tree, why didn’t He use that power to restore the tree and make it produce fruit? Apart from the drowning of the pigs (Mark 5:13), this is the only instance of our Lord using His miraculous power to destroy something in nature. He did it because He
wanted to teach us two important lessons. Be Diligent by Warren Wiersbe
3. How was the condemning of the fig tree a lesson in failure? How was it a lesson in faith?
From the Commentary
Jesus had cleansed the temple during His first Passover visit (John 2:13–22), but the results had been temporary. It was not long before the religious leaders permitted the money changers and the merchants to return. The priests received their share of the profits, and, after all, these
services were a convenience to the Jews who traveled to Jerusalem to worship. Suppose a foreign Jew carried his own sacrifice with him and then discovered that it was rejected because of some blemish? The money rates were always changing, so the men who exchanged foreign currency were doing the visitors a favor, even though the merchants were making a generous profit. It was easy for
them to rationalize the whole enterprise. This “religious market” was set up in the court of the
Gentiles, the one place where the Jews should have been busy doing serious missionary work. If a Gentile visited the temple and saw what the Jews were doing in the name of the true God, he would never want to believe what they taught. The Jews might not have permitted idols of wood
and stone in their temple, but there were idols there just the same. The court of the Gentiles should have been a place for praying, but it was instead a place for preying and paying. Be Diligent by Warren Wiersbe
4. How did the merchants in the temple victimize the poor? Why would this have grieved Jesus? (See Mark 12:41–44.) Why did Jesus quote Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 to defend His actions?
From the Commentary
In the days that followed, the representatives of the religious and political establishment descended on Jesus as He ministered in the temple, trying their best to trip Him up with their questions. He answered four questions, and then He asked them a question that silenced them for good. As the official guardians of the law, the members of the Sanhedrin had both the right and the responsibility to
investigate anyone who claimed to be sent by God, and that included Jesus (see Deut. 18:15–22). However, these men did not have open minds or sincere motives. They were not seeking truth; they were looking for evidence to use to destroy Him (Mark 11:18). Jesus knew what they were doing, so He countered their question with another question and exposed their hypocrisy. Why take them all the way back to John the Baptist? For a very good reason: God does not teach us new truth if we have rejected the truth He has already revealed. This basic principle is expressed in John 7:17: “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself” (NASB). “Obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge,” said the British preacher F. W. Robertson. The Jewish religious leaders had not accepted what John had taught, so why should God say anything more to them? Had they obeyed John’s message, they would have gladly submitted to Christ’s authority, for John came to present the Messiah to the nation.
5. Review Mark 11:27—12:12. What dilemma of their own making were the Jewish leaders caught in? How was their line of questioning akin to the approach of a hypocrite or a crowd pleaser? How did their line of questioning differ from that of Jesus (Mark 12:13–17) or John the Baptist (Matt. 11:1–10)? What did the parable Jesus told the Pharisees reveal about where their sins were leading them?
From the Commentary
Mark 12:18–27 is the only place in Mark’s gospel where the Sadducees are mentioned. This group accepted only the law of Moses as their religious authority; so, if a doctrine could not be defended from the first five books of the Old Testament, they would not accept it. They did not believe in the existence of the soul, life after death, resurrection, final judgment, angels, or demons (see Acts 23:8). Most of the Sadducees were priests and were wealthy. They considered themselves the “religious aristocrats” of
Judaism and tended to look down on everybody else. They brought a hypothetical question to Jesus, based on the law of marriage given in Deuteronomy 25:7–10. This woman had a series of seven husbands during her lifetime, all brothers, and all of whom had died. “If there is such a thing as a future resurrection,” they argued, “then she must spend eternity with seven husbands!” It seemed a perfect argument, as most arguments are that are based on hypothetical situations.
The Sadducees thought that they were smart, but Jesus soon revealed their ignorance of two things: the power of God and the truth of Scripture. Resurrection is not the restoration of life as we know it; it is the entrance into a new life that is different. The same God who created the angels and gave them their nature is able to give us the new bodies we will need for new life in heaven (1 Cor. 15:38ff.).
6. Review Mark 12:18–27. How did Jesus answer the Sadducees’ question?
Why would there be no need for marriage, procreation, and the continuance of the race in heaven? How was this a particularly wise answer, considering the people Jesus was answering?
From the Commentary
In Mark 12:35–37 it was our Lord’s turn to ask the questions, and He focused on the most important
question of all: Who is the Messiah? “What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is he?” (Matt. 22:42). This is a
far more important question than the ones His enemies had asked Him, for if we are wrong about Jesus Christ, we are wrong about salvation. This means we end up condemning our own souls (John 3:16–21; 8:24; 1 John 2:18–23).
Jesus quoted Psalm 110:1 and asked them to explain how David’s son could also be David’s Lord. The Jews believed that the Messiah would be David’s son (John 7:41–42), but the only way David’s son could also be David’s Lord would be if Messiah were God come in human flesh. The answer, of course, is our Lord’s miraculous conception and virgin birth (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18–25; Luke 1:26–38).
7. Mark 12 ends with Jesus giving two warnings (see vv. 38–40 and 41–44). What do these warnings teach us about how character is defined? Why is this important, particularly in light of where Jesus was in His ministry?
From the Commentary
The Jews were proud of their temple, in spite of the fact that it was built by the Herod family in order to placate the Jews. Jesus had already given His estimate of the temple (Mark 11:15–17), but His disciples were fascinated by the magnificence of the structure. Imagine how shocked they were when Jesus informed them that the building they admired so much would one day be demolished. The Jewish
leaders had defiled it; Jesus would depart from it and leave it desolate (Matt. 23:38); the Romans would destroy it.
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