Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a colt in fulfillment of prophetic expectation, with crowds spreading garments and leafy branches while shouting 'Hosanna' and 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' The cursing of the barren fig tree and the temple cleansing—driving out merchants and overturning money-changers' tables while declaring the temple should be a house of prayer for all nations, not a den of robbers—frame each other interpretively. The withered fig tree prompts teaching on faith that moves mountains and prayer that requires forgiving others to receive the Father's forgiveness.
Bethany was a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about 3 kilometers from Jerusalem. It was the home of Jesus' close friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead here, one of his most significant miracles. Jesus often stayed in Bethany during his visits to Jerusalem, and it was from here that he ascended to heaven.
The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge east of Jerusalem with profound significance in Jesus' life. He often went there to pray, delivered the Olivet Discourse about end times, and spent his last night in the Garden of Gethsemane at its base. Jesus ascended to heaven from this mountain, and Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would return there.
The Temple in Jerusalem was the permanent house of worship built by Solomon on Mount Moriah. Destroyed by Babylon, it was rebuilt by Zerubbabel and later greatly expanded by Herod. Jesus taught in the Temple courts, cleared it of merchants, and predicted its destruction, which occurred in 70 AD.
John the Baptist, Jesus' baptism and temptation.
Entry, temple, Olivet Discourse, death, resurrection.
The earliest manuscripts of Mark end abruptly at 16:8 with the women fleeing the tomb in fear and saying nothing to anyone. The longer ending (verses 9-20) was added later by scribes who thought this ending too sudden.
Mark 16:8
