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March 17, 2019
Jason Meyer | Mark 11:22-25
And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”—Mark 11:22–25
Introduction
The main point of this entire passage is that Jesus did not cleanse the temple; he cursed it. He did not say the temple needed to be reformed, but replaced. He utters the prophetic words that it needs to be replaced, but we do not learn what it will be replaced with until the last days of Jesus on earth when he says it will be replaced with the temple of his body.
We saw all of those points in last week’s sermon. This week, our focus turns to the end of the passage because we did not have time to consider it fully last week. Remember in Mark 11:20–21 that Peter sees the fig tree has withered to the roots. Then he remembered Jesus’ words (Mark 11:14) and connected what Jesus said with the fulfillment of his words now (i.e., the withered fig tree). Peter realized that Jesus’ words were effective. He spoke and it came to be—not surprising because Jesus is God. The power of the Creator is on display as it was in Genesis 1 when God spoke and creation came to be. Jesus uses this teachable moment to unpack the nature of prayer. Jesus essentially asks the disciples why they are surprised to see this answer to his words. Don’t they understand prayer and the power of God?
Jesus teaches the disciples what true prayer is. He connects prayer with both faith (vv. 22–24) and forgiveness (v. 25). The main point here is that real prayer comes from a heart full of faith and forgiveness. We will unpack this point in two parts.
And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Let me close a sheep gate here so that no one will wander into a devastating misunderstanding. This passage does not support the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. That false teaching states that God wants you to be healthy and wealthy and, if you are not, it is your fault (you do not have enough faith). In other words, if you don’t doubt, but believe in what you are asking for, you will have it. They define the “it” to mean health and wealth. Oftentimes these false teachers will get rich through a scheme of talking about sowing financial seeds of faith (to their ministries), and then God will richly reward donors with a huge financial return.
We hate this false gospel here at Bethlehem—because it dishonors God and hurts people. For example, T.D. Jakes said, “If you obey God, you will never be broke another day in your life” (Sept 27, 2017 – Twitter). The apostles would disagree. “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus the Nazarene, get up and walk” (Acts 3:6). But frankly, I do not think I could say it stronger than a quote I read recently:
Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy. Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.—1 Timothy 6:5–10 (NLT)
1. Why Mention ‘This Mountain’?
Notice that Jesus does not say, “Whoever says to a mountain.” He says, “this mountain.” He is talking about the Temple Mount. He is standing on the Mount of Olives, and he can see the Temple Mount and he can see the Dead Sea. He is still talking about replacing the earthly Mount Zion.
The imagery is intensified if we get the wider context of Mark in view. Where have we seen something cast into the sea before in Mark? The things that get cast into the sea are a legion of demons that had been cast into the pigs, which then run into the sea and drown (Mark 5:13); and second, one who causes a little one to stumble would be better thrown in to the sea with a great millstone hung around his neck (9:42). Jesus will command the mountain of Zion, which has become unclean like pigs and causes the nations to stumble, to be cast into the sea.
2. Why Talk About Prayer in This Context?
Why talk about prayer here? Two points should leap out at us for consideration. First, Peter is asking Jesus for an explanation in his excitement over seeing Jesus words’ become a reality. How did that happen? I can’t believe that you said something and it happened (amazing!). The second reason is related to the temple. The temple is to be a house of prayer. If it is replaced, then where can prayer happen? What happens to prayer when the house of prayer is gone? Some people thought that the temple was so sacred that it not only made you safe (God would never touch his temple), but also was so sacred that it made your prayers more effective. Later rabbis even said that “from the day on which the Temple was destroyed, the gates of prayer have closed … a wall of iron divides between Israel and their Father in heaven” (b. Ber 32b).
3. So What Is the Relationship Between Prayer and Faith?
It is vital to see that one can have a relationship with God apart from the formalism and external ritual of the temple. Jesus is doing the same thing that he did in Mark 7. The Pharisees emphasized external cleansing (the ritual of washing hands and objects used in eating and drinking). Jesus taught that nothing from the outside makes one unclean, but it comes from the inside: from the heart. Jesus says the same thing about prayer. Prayer is not a matter of external ritual or liturgy or location. Prayer must come from a heart full of faith.
One must say (v. 23) or ask (v. 24) with faith (belief and no doubt in the heart). James, the brother of Jesus, will pick up this theme again in James 1:6–8.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Jesus said that Gentiles sometimes trusted in the amount of their words in prayer (thinking they would be heard for their many words; see Matthew 6:7). Jesus points out here that Jews tended to trust in religious liturgy or location (the “sacred” temple). But they are wrong. They should not believe they will be heard because of some clean, sacred location. If our hearts are unclean, the physical place we pray does not matter.
This truth is challenging for us because we cannot trust in the words we pray. We must trust in the God to whom we pray or our prayers are not real. We want to grow not only in our understanding of prayer but our practice of prayer, and so I will give three practical pointers for growing in real prayer. These points come from a sermon on prayer that Pastor John Piper preached for Prayer Week in 2009. They have significantly shaped my practice of prayer: First, find a time and place for prayer. Second, bring the word and prayer together. Third, pray in concentric circles.
First, find a specific time and place to pray. It is surprising how many times good things will keep us from prayer. It is not always sin that keeps us from praying, but good things like feeding our family, washing the dishes, doing the laundry, cleaning the house, answering emails, etc. If you wait for free time to open up in your day, prayer will not happen.
Second, bring the Word and prayer together. I have found that if I try to pray early in the morning and I close my eyes, I will invariably fall asleep. My wife will come in the living room and say, “Did you fall asleep?” I will open my eyes with a start and say, “No, I was praying. I mean, I think I was praying. What time is it? Oh, I fell asleep.”
If I try to pray with my eyes open so I don’t fall asleep, I will invariably get distracted by seeing what needs to be dusted, or picked up, or done later in the day. The best thing, I have found, is to fix my eyes on Scripture. If you have a normal human brain, you will not be able to focus and keep a train of thought going in prayer without losing your place or getting distracted. But I find that when I read Scripture, I can pray for as long as I can read.
I also found that this practice helped me pray without doubting. If I try to focus on the intensity of my faith, I have a hard time knowing if I am believing enough. But I find that if I read Scripture and get my eyes off the intensity of my faith and fix them on the object of my faith, I pray with faith. When I see the promises of God and the picture of the greatness of God and the love of God in Scripture, I find myself praying with more fervency. I sometimes picture it like a space shuttle trying to leave earth’s atmosphere. The shuttle cannot do this on its own, so they attach a couple of rockets to it. In the same way, sometimes my prayers do not feel like they make it past the ceiling if I try to do it on my own. But when propelled by the promises of God and the picture of God’s greatness, my prayers feel empowered by God, not the power of the flesh.
Third, pray in concentric circles. I start with myself because I am afraid of hypocritically asking God to change someone else instead of doing that work in me first. Then, I pray for my wife, my kids, my extended family, my small group, my staff, my church, and my world. Wherever I am in Scripture, I am taking my reading and turning it into prayer with an attitude of worship that wants God’s name to be hallowed, his kingdom to come, and his will to be done.
So real prayer comes from a heart full of faith. But Jesus says real prayer also comes from a heart of forgiveness.
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
Notice that Jesus lays down another condition for prayer. Not only must someone believe from the heart, but that heart must be free from unforgiveness.
The first point is to come to grips with the problem of forgiveness. We can easily give lip service to the virtue of forgiveness, but it is easier said than done. C.S. Lewis said this, “Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive” (Mere Christianity). What do you do when other people disappoint you and sin against you?
The second point to make is that unforgiveness can expose a woeful double standard in us. Do you expect grace from others when you fail but fail to extend grace to others when they fail? Do we expect that our sanctification will be slow, while the sanctification of others should be further along? We need to come face to face with the fact that we often have a double standard. When you are speeding and you see a cop, you want mercy. When you see another car speeding past you, and you see a cop, you want justice. When others fail us, we put the spotlight on their actions. When we fail others, we put the spotlight on our intentions.
The third point to make is that Jesus threatens terrible things if we will not forgive. If you are praying and find that you have something against anyone and you don’t forgive them, then your Father in heaven will not forgive your trespasses (v. 25).
Why does God take forgiving others so seriously that he would link it with his forgiveness of us? Answer: They are inseparably linked in the gospel of Christ. If we won’t forgive, we are doubting the gospel. Jesus tells a parable to get this point across in a powerful way. Matthew 18 warns against the danger of not repenting. This passage now warns about the danger of not forgiving.
Peter asks Jesus a question: “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” (Matthew 18:21). Peter jumps the gun and gives a preliminary answer: “As many as seven times?” Peter looks at forgiveness and essentially asks what the rules are. It is often mentioned in commentaries that the rabbis had a rule of three. Essentially, they would give a kind of three strikes and you’re out (i.e., out of the community). Perhaps that is the assumed background. Peter goes beyond the rule of three and extends it to a rule of seven. Perhaps he thinks this way of thinking will impress Jesus. “Some only allow three strikes before they are out, but I have extended it to people seven.” Jesus’ response shows he is not impressed.
Look at verse Mathew 18:22. “Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.’” Commentators debate whether he said “seventy times seven” or “seventy-seven times.” The point is clear either way—he extends the number of completeness far beyond the limit that Peter set. Jesus essentially shows Peter that counting is not forgiving. True forgiveness is not delayed revenge by counting strikes against others. You are saying, “I am willing to delay revenge up to seven times.” In this model, “I forgive you” carries good news and bad news with it. The good news: I am not going to count you out yet. The bad news: Watch out, you only have five left, buddy.
Jesus paints a far different picture with a parable. This parable concludes with a striking warning: “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:35). We are in grave danger when we live with an unforgiving spirit.
Jesus begins with the story of a compassionate king in Matthew 18:23–27.
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.”
It is no accident that the kingdom of heaven would be pictured with a king. God has absolute authority over his subjects. Here the king is going to settle accounts. It sounds ominous. This looks like judgment time. When one servant suffered from a nearly unbelievable debt, the king decided to sell everything the man had (family and possessions). The servant begged for mercy. Shockingly, the king granted the forgiveness of the debt.
Debts don’t just go away, by the way. They have to be absorbed. If someone borrows something expensive from you, and then accidentally breaks it, you have three options. The person can pay for it, you each could pay for part, or you could forgive the person and absorb the loss. Either you buy a new one or learn to live without whatever it was.
The debt in Matthew 18 is an amazing debt to absorb. It is difficult to calculate figures from ancient currency to a modern equivalent. A talent was not a coin, but a unit of monetary reckoning equaling 6,000 denarii. Ten thousand talents was an absurd amount of money. Just to show how high the number is, compare it to what the Jewish historian Josephus tells us about taxes collected at the death of Herod the Great by his sons. The taxes collected in Perea, Galilee, Batanaea, Trachonitis, Auranitis, Judea, Idumea, and Samaria equaled 900 talents (or 220 million dollars in modern currency). This debtor in the parable owed 10 times as much—an unthinkable amount.
The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background commentary says that 10,000 talents would equal about 2.5 billion dollars in today’s currency (the ESV Study Bible says 6 billion). The best Greek dictionary for this word recommends the English word “zillions” to get the right point across.
The debtor had his absurdly enormous debt forgiven. Now the scene shifts. The forgiven servant is also owed money.
But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.—Matthew 18:28–30
What a stark contrast between the compassion of the king and the callousness of the servant. Someone was forgiven zillions and went and choked someone who owed him far less. What is striking is that the servant “found” his fellow servant. This showed initiative. He went looking for him and seized him. He became judge, jury, and torturer when he passed judgment and began to choke the fellow servant.
The fellow servant pleaded for mercy in nearly identical terms as the other had done, but to no avail. The words are chilling: “He refused.” The plea for mercy fell on deaf ears and a hard heart.
It seems ludicrous that someone could forget about the forgiveness of such a great debt and then go out of his way to try to force someone else to pay up. But isn’t that the heart of our problem? We lose sight of the fact that we had an incalculable debt … and it was forgiven. It was absorbed on Jesus’ body on the tree. Forgiveness was not cheap. Jesus paid an infinite cost.
Unforgiveness happens when someone else’s sin becomes bigger than the cross. It is a mercy misfire. Debt-based relationships are consumed with conflict. There is no telling when the indebted person will be required to pay up. The offended party may make a withdrawal whenever he or she chooses. Living with an ethos of demand and the uncertainty of calling for an account is a miserable way to live. Neither person is happy or ever satisfied in this system. The problem is one of perspective.
The problem is that we reverse reality. The debt others owe us seems bigger than the debt we owed God.
This perspective can only be maintained if the magnitude of our forgiveness has become minimized and is almost out of sight/out of mind. We keep alive the wrong done against us. We let the magnitude of our sin and the wonder of the gospel shrink down to almost nothing. We need to come back to the reality of the cross. Unforgiveness happens when someone else’s sin becomes bigger than the cross.
Jesus does not pull any punches at the end of the story. What will happen to someone who callously chooses not to forgive?
When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”—Matthew 18:31–35
The king calls the servant “wicked.” The word “all” is pointed. “I forgave you all that debt.” His mercy should have become the measure with which he related to other servants. The next verse is a horror story: “And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.” The word “jailers” has the overtone of “torturer.” He handed over the servant to be tortured until “all” the debt was paid. A terrifying verse once the greatness of the debt is taken into account. This is a debt that someone would never be able to pay back.
We don’t like to think about God’s holy anger. When God sets his merciful bent upon you, the result is the sweetest thing in life. God has a judicial bent as well for people who reject his mercy. Scorning the king’s compassion should scare you more than anything else in the universe. We need to look long and hard at what happens when someone wants to relate to God on the basis of law and not grace. The law is unleashed and condemnation comes decisively.
How we relate to others is an expression of how we think we relate to God. Jesus’ warning is palpable at this point. If you want to relate to God on the basis of law (what we owe), think about what will happen to you when God’s uses your unit of measure. You cannot absorb the debt and ever hope to satisfy it. The person had to work at hard labor until he paid all his debt—such a large debt would never be repaid. Here you have the echoes of an eternal debt and eternal punishment.
Conclusion: The Gospel and Forgiveness
How can we address the unbelief that breeds unforgiveness? The gospel! If a believer sins against you and you are unwilling to forgive them, then you are really saying that the cross is not enough. Can you imagine hearing the Father say that to you? “What! The excruciating death of my beloved Son is not enough?”
If an unbeliever sins against you, and you are unwilling to forgive them, then you are really saying, “eternal punishment is not enough.” Can you imagine the Father saying to you, “Is hell is not enough to punish this sin against you? This sin was first and foremost against me. I do not sweep sin under the rug of the universe. All sin will be perfectly judged. It will be paid by the person in hell or it will be paid by my Son on the cross.” Either way, you are free from the cancer of unforgiveness.
Outline
Main Point: Real prayer must come from a heart of faith and forgiveness.
Discussion Questions
Application Questions
Prayer Focus
Pray for a faith-filled heart that leans into the Lord to grow in a praying life.