The passage, Mark 11:12-21, which is normally read on Palm Sunday, is a passage that strikes at the heart of what God desires from His people, true worship, in spirit and truth. Not vain religious, unholy gatherings (Romans 12:1-2) where the world’s practices can be seen entangled with God’s chosen people. In Mark 11, we see a moment in which Jesus curses a fig tree and then proceeds to the temple where He unleashes a lashing rebuke on the people occupying it and the religious leaders who are allowing business in the place that was designated for prayer and worship to the Lord. Jesus, therefore, unleashes a zealous display of righteous indignation because of the unholy practices that were polluting the very Temple in which they were to be communing with God. This begs the question in today’s culture of all sorts of theatrics and worship styles in churches, what type of worship does the Lord require His people, especially when gathered for communal worship? How can this passage both inform us of who God is (Holy and Righteous), and be a stark warning to us with regards to what He requires of His people in our worship of Him?

Jesus, talking to the woman at the well in John 4, corrects her in the understanding of what God requires worship to be when He says this, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21-24, ESV)

The whole passage in Mark 11:12-21 has two components: the fig tree component and the temple component. But they both are previews of the same thing. The fig tree is a prediction to the destruction of the temple by analogy. And the assault on the part of Christ is a preview of the destruction of the temple by action. Both of these judgements are based upon Gods holiness and His desire for true worshipers. 

Listen as Pastor John MacArthur unpacks this tremendous passage and take head to the warning that God requires our heart, not our religion. Worship Him in Spirit and in truth starting at the foot of the cross. Jesus is the only Savior and He has proclaimed this since of old (Isaiah 43:11, Hosea 13:4, John 14:6) and is worthy of it all (Revelation 4:8; 4:11; 5:5-14).

“True worship is possible, not at the temple, but only at the cross, only at the cross, only through the cross. There is no other place to go.” – John MacArthur, Nothing but Leaves

For more on the topic of true worship, see these articles from Got Questions.org and Desiring God

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