Mark 11 · The Lantern

And when they draw near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sends two of his disciples,

(ubi sup.) Bethany again means the house of obedience, because by teaching many before His Passion, he made for Himself a house of obedience; and it is said to be placed on the mount of Olives, because He cherishes His Church with the unction of spiritual gifts, and with the light of piety and knowledge.

(Cat. in Marc. Oxon.) Not indeed that He was compelled by necessity to ride on a colt from the mount of Olives to Jerusalem, for He had gone over Judæa and all Galilee on foot, but this action of His is typical. It goes on: And many spread their garments in the way: that is, under the feet of the colt; and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

The disciples of Christ are called two by two, and sent two by two, since charity implies more than one, as it is written, Woe to him that is alone. (Eccl.

and says to them, Go into the village which is over against you, and immediately on entering into it ye will find a colt tied, upon which no [child] of man has ever sat: loose it and lead it [here].

And we will cite the prophetic utterances of another prophet, Zephaniah, to the effect that He was foretold expressly as to sit upon the foal of an ass and to enter Jerusalem. The words are these: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

"Untie the donkey and bring it to me." He began with a manger and finished with a donkey, in Bethlehem with a manger, in Jerusalem with a donkey.

Now consider how many things the Lord foretold to His disciples, that they should find a colt; wherefore it goes on, And as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat, loose him, and bring him; and that they should be impeded in taking it, wherefore there follows, And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this?

And if any one say to you, Why do ye this? say, The Lord has need of it; and straightway he sends it hither.

And they departed, and found a colt bound to the door without at the crossway, and they loose him.

And the prophecy, "He shall be the expectation of the nations," signified that there would be some of all nations who should look for Him to come again. And this indeed you can see for yourselves, and be convinced of by fact.

And going, they found the colt tied outside the gate at the crossroads, and they untied it. The colt is rightly found outside the gate at the crossroads. The gate, indeed, is He who says: I am the gate for the sheep. Through me, if anyone enters he will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasture.

But they found the colt tied by the door without, because the Gentile people were bound by the chain of their sins before the door of faith, that is, without the Church. Or, in a place where two roads meet, that is, in the freedom of will, hesitating between life and death.

And some of those who stood there said to them, What are ye doing, loosing the colt?

And they said to them as Jesus had commanded. And they let them [do it].

And they led the colt to Jesus, and cast their clothes upon it, and he sat on it;

The master of humility is Christ who humbled himself and became obedient even to death, even the death of the cross. Thus he does not lose his divinity when he teaches us humility.… What great thing was it to the king of the ages to become the king of humanity?

As long as the common people remain uncorrupted, they recognize what is beneficial. This is why they now pay honor to Jesus, each according to his ability. But what did they say as they glorified Him?

Or else, they put upon it their garments, that is, they bring to them the first robe of immortality by the Sacrament of Baptism. And Jesus sat upon it, that is, began to reign in them, so that sin should not reign in their wanton flesh, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

and many strewed their clothes on the way, and others cut down branches from the trees [and went on strewing them on the way].

Instead of our garments, let us spread our hearts before him.

But many spread their garments on the way. When the Lord was borne on a donkey, many spread their garments on the way, because the holy martyrs, stripping themselves of their own fleshly clothing, prepare the way for the simpler servants of God with their blood, so that, with an unhindered step of mind, they may proceed to the walls of the heavenly city where Jesus leads.

Again, many spread their garments in the way, under the feet of the foal of the ass. What are feet, but those who carry, and the least esteemed, whom the Apostle has set to judge? (v. 1 Cor. 6:4.) And these too, though they are not the back on which the Lord sat, yet are instructed by John with the soldiers.

And those going on before and those following cried out, Hosanna! blessed [be] he that comes in [the] Lord's name.

Blessed [be] the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest!

And he entered into Jerusalem and into the temple; and having looked round on all things, the hour being already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

And having looked around at everything, since it was already evening, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. He did not do this just once; but for all five days after he had gone up to Jerusalem until the time of the Passion, he was accustomed to do this very thing: that during the day he would teach in the temple, but at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount…

Likewise, Mark 11: Having looked around at all things, He went out to Bethany: Gloss: "to see if anyone would receive Him as a guest; for He was of such great poverty and flattered no one, so that in so great a city He could find no lodging"; but it is certain that if He had wished to hire lodging, He would have found a place to hire: therefore He was looking around as a poor m…

He went in the morning to the Jews, and visits us in the eventide of the world.

And on the morrow, when they were gone out of Bethany, he hungered.

It may perhaps be said, `We find Him giving way to weeping, to hunger and thirst: must we not suppose Him liable to all the other affections of human nature?' But if we do not understand the mystery of His tears, hunger, and thirst, let us remember that He Who wept also raised the dead to life: that He did not weep for the death of Lazarus, but rejoiced; that He Who thirsted, g…

Mark also records this occurrence in due succession. He does not, however, follow the same order in his narrative. For first of all, the fact which is related by Matthew, namely, that Jesus went into the temple, and cast out those who sold and bought there, is not mentioned at that point by Mark.

But let us also examine the account of the fig tree, for here something seemingly strange and harsh appears. First, Jesus was hungry early in the morning; second, He demands fruit when the season for figs had not yet come; and furthermore, He punishes an insensible tree. For in what He says and does here, there was a special providence.

And seeing from afar off a fig-tree which had leaves, he came, if perhaps he might find something on it. And having come up to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the time of figs.

(The Docetae maintain) that God is the primal (Being), as it were a seed of a fig-tree, which is altogether very diminutive in size, but infinite in power. (This seed constitutes, according to the Docetae,) a lowly magnitude, incalculable in multitude, (and) labouring under no deficiency as regards generation.

Some who witnessed Christ's miracles did not understand what they meant, and how they spoke to those who knew they had special meaning. They wondered only at the miracles themselves. Others both marvelled at the miracles, and attained some preliminary understanding of them. For this we must come to the school of Christ himself.

And when he saw from afar a fig tree having leaves, he went to see if perhaps he might find anything on it. And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

And answering he said to it, Let no one eat fruit of thee any more for ever. And his disciples heard [it].

And they come to Jerusalem, and entering into the temple, he began to cast out those who sold and who bought in the temple, and he overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of the dove-sellers,

and suffered not that any one should carry any package through the temple.

And he taught saying to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? but ye have made it a den of robbers.

And the chief priests and the scribes heard [it], and they sought how they might destroy him; for they feared him, because all the crowd were astonished at his doctrine.

And when it was evening he went forth without the city.

And passing by early in the morning they saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots.

(non occ.) The wonder of the disciples was the consequence of imperfect faith, for this was no great thing for God to do; since then they did not clearly know His power, their ignorance made them break out into wonder; and therefore it is added, And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, &c.

And as they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. Not only the branches or the trunks of the barren fig tree, but even the root itself, drying up, showed the sentence of divine reprobation upon it. And John says that the axe is laid to the root of the trees (Matt. III).

Although Matthew says that the fig tree withered at once and that the disciples, seeing this, marveled, do not be troubled hearing now from Mark that they saw the withered fig tree only on the next day. What Matthew said should be understood thus: "And the fig tree withered at once" — stop here; then read: "Seeing this, the disciples marveled." When did they see it?

And Peter, remembering [what Jesus had said], says to him, Rabbi, see, the fig-tree which thou cursedst is dried up.

And Jesus answering says to them, Have faith inGod.

Verily I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, Be thou taken away and cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but believe that what he says takes place, whatever he shall say shall come to pass for him.

This Gnostic, to speak compendiously, makes up for the absence of the apostles, by the rectitude of his life, the accuracy of his knowledge, by benefiting his relations, by "removing the mountains" of his neighbours, and putting away the irregularities of their soul. Although each of us is his own vineyard and labourer.

While we are praying, there should be no hesitation that would intervene or break down the confidence of our petition by any shadow of despair. We know that by pouring forth our prayer we are obtaining already what we are asking for. We have no doubt that our prayers have effectually reached God.

Christ then who is the mountain, which grew from the stone, cut out without hands, is taken up and cast into the sea, when the Apostles with justice say, Let us turn ourselves to other nations, since ye judged yourselves unworthy of hearing the word of God. (Acts 13:46)

For this reason I say to you, All things whatsoever ye pray for and ask, believe that ye receive it, and it shall come to pass for you.

And when ye stand praying, forgive if ye have anything against any one, that your Father also who is in the heavens may forgive you your offences.

He has clearly joined herewith and added the law, and has bound us by a certain condition anti engagement, that we should ask that our debts be forgiven us in such a manner as we ourselves forgive our debtors, knowing that that which we seek for our sins cannot be obtained unless we ourselves have acted in a similar way in respect of our debtors.

And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your sins. It is to be noted the distinction of those praying. He who has perfect faith, which works through love, can by praying or even commanding, move spiritual mountains.

Mark has, as he is wont, expressed seven verses of the Lord's prayer in one prayer. But what can he, whose sins are all forgiven, require more, save that he may persevere in what has been granted unto him.

But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in the heavens forgive your offences.

And they come again to Jerusalem. And as he walked about in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders come to him,

and they say to him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority, that thou shouldest do these things?

And Jesus answering said to them, I also will ask you one thing, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things:

The baptism of John, was it of heaven, or of men? answer me.

And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we should say, Of heaven, he will say, Why [then] have ye not believed him?

but should we say, Of men — they feared the people; for all held of John that he was truly a prophet.

And they answering say to Jesus, We do not know. And Jesus [answering] says to them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

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