King James Version for Mar 11:11 to Mar 11:28
The most difficult part of the Gospel is the following:
"Mar 11:11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
Mar 11:12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
Mar 11:13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having 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.
Mar 11:14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
Mar 11:15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
Mar 11:16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
Mar 11:17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Mar 11:18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.
Mar 11:19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.
Mar 11:20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
Mar 11:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
Mar 11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
Mar 11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Mar 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Mar 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mar 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Mar 11:27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,
Mar 11:28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?"
* * *
From commonsense of today, Jesus Christ did absurdly curse a fig tree, though, as it had no fruits for Him.
From commonsense of today, Jesus Christ did absurdly rampage in the temple, though, as moneychangers were making business therein.
From commonsense of today, Jesus Christ did absurdly preach in a manner no contemporary priests would rather do, saying a believer could move a mountain to the sea.
From commonsense of today, Jesus Christ was very appropriately being brought into justice by the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders who were in charge of managing the temple for citizens including businessmen of the era.
Accordingly, modern intelligent men and women would begin to lose their faith, consciously or unconsciously, when reading this passage and thinking that Jesus Christ, too, made abusrd things like everybody, without appropriate guidance which they have never received nowadays.
* * *
You may think that Jesus Christ was just having a picnid around Jerusalem, but the truth is that He was at war. Devils began to launch decisive attacks on Jesus Christ, as He ventured to cut into the temple, a stronghold of the devils.
First of all, a spirit, holy or evil, can enter anything in this material universe. It is because the God created the spiritual universe before the material universe, conferring a superseding power to the former against the latter in case. This is the origin of animism, though religions based on animism have been laughed at for so long by faithless modern European and American scholars and researchers.
The devils especially sent an ill spirit to the fig tree so as to hurt a feeling of Jesus Christ who was enjoying the nature blessed by the God in this world. When the ill spirit was destroyed, the fig tree also had to die as it became useless for manifestation of glory of God.
Secondly, money is symbol of devils' temptation. The existence of moneychangers and other sellers and buyers was a proof of dominance of the devils in the temple. Jesus Christ was not breaking desks of the moneychangers and other shops, but He was expelling and chasing ill spirits who had controlled those engaged in business in the temple.
The devils especially sent the ill spirits to the temple so as to provoke Jesus Christ who was expecting to enjoy pious attitudes of Israelites in the temple.
Thirdly, Jesus Christ was of course using a parable. It is however sometimes dangerous, since it gives freedom of interpretation to listeners and disciples. If a man haunted by an ill spirit heard any parable, he would interpret it against a holy intention of Jesus Christ but accept the devils' malicious interpretation. This parable is in this sense the most vulnerable one to the devils waiting for a chance to make His teaching look absurd.
This is truly a challenge for a man to just follow Jesus Christ's holy intention or to take the parable with a worldly mind contaminated by the devils. In this way, His followers were selected as those who could repulse devils' temptation in interpreting parables.
Lastly, the devils appeared at last in shapes of the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, namely respectable figures in this world. It is an old trick that devils got into the minds of noblemen, rich men, high-ranking officers, politicians, lawyers, judges, scholars, teachers, and any socially regarded men and women so as to suppress poor and powerless people.
They always appear as if they represent justice of society and a community or a nation. However, they are simply haunted by devils due to their desire for money, social positions, pride, and immorality. Truly, it is sadly a laughing-stock that ill spirited people wearing costly clothes with grand gestures accused Jesus Christ in the middle of His fighting against the devils who had already captured them.
* * *
The most difficult part of the Gospel is from Mar 11:11 to Mar 11:28 as indicated above.
Indeed, the most difficult ages of man may be from 11 to 28.
Man does absurd things and thinks in an absurd way in these ages.
But, if you can get through the ages without fatal prejudice implanted, you are truly blessed, just like a believer who can read through the above passage without prejudice.
(In 1637, Christians revolted against the samurai regime in Japan. This is the last civil war in the samurai era, in which 37,000 Christian farmers and samurais, most of whom were eventually killed, fought desperate battles against the Tokugawa regime that forbade Christianity and planned to close the nation. The civil war is called "Shimabara-no-Ran (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimabara_Rebellion)" since it happened in the Shimabara Peninsula in Kyusyu, the southern big island of the Japanese Archipelago.
In 1792, a volcano in the Shimabara Peninsula erupted and a major part of the mountain collapsed into the sea causing a great tsunami, killing about 15,000 people (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Unzen), resulting in the greatest casualties in volcano accidents in Japan.
It also erupted in 1991 taking the lives of 43 scientists and journalists in the avalanche of rocks and sands running down to the sea.
I have my own interpretation on these incidents with the fear of God who apparently authorizes the holy parable of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago around Jerusalem.)
Truly God is great; the God is only god for us!
"WARNING AGAINST PREJUDICE"