Mark 11

Triumphal entry, the cursed fig tree, cleansing the temple, the authority question.

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a colt as the crowds wave palm branches and cry "Hosanna!" The next day He curses a barren fig tree and cleanses the temple, driving out money changers and declaring, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves." The fig tree withers, becoming an object lesson on faith: "Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." The chief priests, scribes, and elders confront Jesus in the temple, demanding to know by what authority He acts. Jesus answers with a question about John's baptism that they refuse to answer, so He refuses to answer them.