Theological Musings of a Thirty-Something

Focus Text: Mark 11:23-24

Growing up in the church, I have noticed that the general tendency is to turn Jesus into a dispenser of general “timeless principles” for our lives. This is what has happened with this particular saying of Jesus:

Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:23-24)

This saying is often seen as a “principle” about praying in faith against impossibilities that stand in our way (e.g. Is your car broken down and you need a new one? Pray at that mountain with faith!). But the question I ask is, was Jesus actually intending to teach his disciples a general “timeless principle” about prayer and faith in this moment?

Perhaps.

Or, perhaps this saying was rooted in a particular context that we need to reconsider? That is something I shall seek to do by looking, first, at the context and, second, at Jesus’ probable allusion to the prophet Zechariah.

First, the context.

The Context: Looming Judgment on Jerusalem

The first problem with seeing this saying as a “timeless principle” is with the context. The context isn’t Jesus teaching general principles but is instead him repeating a prophetic warning that, in a generation’s time, the Jerusalem Temple will be judged and destroyed.

We can see this clearly in the following:

First, Jesus’ cursing of the fruitless fig tree (11:12-14) was as a prophetic symbol of judgment for the Jerusalem Temple system that had ceased to “bear fruit” for God (see passages like Jer 8:13; Mic 7:1; Hab 3:17).

Immediately afterwards, Jesus’ demonstration in the Jerusalem Temple (11:15-17) was also a prophetic act declaring the Temple system under judgment.

And finally, Jesus’ parable of the wicked tenants (12:1-12) was also a clear prophetic message about God’s coming judgment on the Jerusalem leaders who were in rebellion to God’s plans. The current Temple system of Jesus’ day was under judgment, but alongside this judgment there was hope: the “rejected stone” (the Son, Jesus himself) would become the “cornerstone” of God’s new temple (12:10-11).

So the context of this saying is clear: the current Temple system and its leadership are under judgment, and this looming judgment as seen in the parable of the wicked tenants (12:1-12) will make way for the a true “cornerstone” of God’s new eschatological temple to be established (see Ezek 40-48, Hag 2:1-9, Zech 3-4; Tobit 14:5).

This promise of a new temple in particular leads us to the next important point: Jesus’ probable allusion to Zechariah.

Scriptural Echoes: Jesus’ allusion to Zechariah 4:6-9

I believe Jesus’ reference to ‘throwing a mountain into the sea’ is likely an allusion to Zechariah 4:6-9. Here is the passage:

“Then the Angel said to Zechariah, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it.”(Zech 4:6-9)

The prophetic book of Zechariah (written in the sixth century BC) is about God’s restoration of his people after exile. In this particular chapter, God promises that he will, “by his Spirit” (v. 6) complete his great temple (v. 8) and the building of this temple will be the turning point for God’s people from covenant curses into covenant blessing and restoration. In Zechariah 4, the focus is on the leader Zerubbabel who will lay the foundation stone for the new temple and also complete it (v.9).

But there is a problem: something is hindering Zerubbabel from finishing the temple. The vision describes this hindrance symbolically as “O great mountain.”

“Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain” (v. 7)

Let’s consider what this mountain is not. This mountain is not a symbol for general impossibilities in Zerubbabel’s life. It is instead a specific symbol for what stands in the way of God’s true, final temple from being built. Once we understand this key point we can connect it with the context of Jesus’ parable of the wicked tenants mentioned above, where there will both be (1) judgment but also (2) a new “cornerstone” for God’s temple.

With this connection in mind, we shall now return to the saying of Jesus in question and perhaps read it in a fresh, and hopefully more accurate, light.

The Meaning of the Peculiar Saying

Let’s look at the saying one more time:

Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:23-24)

Here is my interpretation.

I think it is historically likely that Jesus, speaking to his disciples privately, was originally instructing his followers (as a new temple community) to be prophetically praying for the fulfillment of what he himself had predicted time and time again: the Temple will be destroyed so that Jesus’s own temple movement (his followers/the church) might be victorious and unhindered in being established in the nations.

That might sound strange, but let me explain.

Firstly, this understanding makes sense of the context. While I suppose it’s possible that Jesus completely switched topics between verses 21 and 22 (from specific covenant judgment to general teaching about prayer) I find it more likely that he didn’t. The surrounding context is all about Jesus announcing judgment on Jerusalem and his saying in 11:22-24 is likely about this as well.

Secondly, we observe that Jesus says “this mountain” and not “a mountain.” Given his location when he says this (near Jerusalem, see Mark 12:12), I find it likely that Jesus intended the ears of his disciples to be getting his prophetic reference. After all, while Jerusalem was really more of a hill, it was always known as a mountain in the psalms and prophets (Ps 48:1; 99:9; 78:54; Isa 25:6-7; 11:9; Ezek 20:40; Joe 2:1), often being called “the mountain of the Lord” (Is 2:2-3; 30:29; Dan 11:45).

And thirdly, we must remind ourselves that in Zechariah 4:7, the “mountain” that becomes “a plain” wasn’t a general problem to be faced, but a specific symbol to what hindered the construction of God’s true temple. This makes sense with Jesus seeing “this mountain” as referring to Jerusalem and the Temple. When we look at the early decades of the Jesus movement, it was in fact the temple establishment that continually “hindered” God’s new temple (the church) from being established and expanding (Acts 4:1-12; 5:27-39; 7:1; 9:1). Jesus seemed to have predicted just as much.

Jesus’ connection of “this mountain” to the Jerusalem Temple makes perfect sense with Jesus’ probable allusion to Zechariah 4. Like Zerubbabel, Jesus had come to establish God’s true and final temple (the church), himself being the “rejected stone” (the Son) who became the cornerstone (Mark 12:12).

It makes perfect sense to me, both historically and theologically, that Jesus could look at the Jerusalem Temple establishment that tragically stood against God’s plans and purposes and, in Zechariah fashion, say:

Who are you, O great mountain, Jerusalem, before me and my movement

you shall become a plain!

(or as Jesus literally said it) “You shall be cast into the sea!”

So, in conclusion, It seems that just as Jesus had given his disciples the authority to announce the arrival of the kingdom within Galilee (Mark 6:7-13) and to regularly pray for the arrival of that Kingdom (Matt 6:10), he also seems to have given them the authority to prophetically pray in faith for the flipside of that covenant coin: the promised judgment (a “casting into the sea”) of the specific “mountain” that stood in opposition to that Kingdom. Ironically and tragically, this “mountain” was the Temple system that stood less than five kilometers beyond the horizon from where he spoke these words, a city against which Jesus had repeatedly warned of impending judgment, often with tears in his eyes (Luke 19:41-44).

Final Application: Are there still mountains to be cast?

So where does this leave us? If Jesus’ saying here was really about the temple in Jerusalem being “cast into the sea,” how does it affect us in the 21st century? Are there still “mountains” today that need to be cast into the sea?

I think the ‘peculiarity’ of this saying in its time and context is actually something to be celebrated instead of frustrated about. God is a God of history, and we know from history that the specific “mountain” of the Jerusalem establishment was not able to stop God’s true temple from expanding; Jesus predicted as such and called his disciples to pray accordingly.

But even if we live two millennia after the fulfillment of Jesus’ prediction (70 AD and the fall of Jerusalem), perhaps there are still hindrances to God’s kingdom that we could rightly call “mountains” that need to be cast into the sea? I will let you, the reader, discern whether and where these “mountains” might exist.

But here is the important part: if these “mountains” do continue to exist, “mountains” that we need to cast into the sea, they are things that hinder God’s kingdom, not my own. I have joined Jesus in his mission, not the other way around. If I do pray against a “mountain” with a mustard seed of faith, I must remind myself that I am praying with authority against things that hinder God’s kingdom, so that God’s temple might be established and expanded for His glory.

At my workplace, am I praying about hindrances to my personal goals or hindrances to God’s temple, mission and kingdom?

In church and ministry, am I praying against situations that annoy me, or against situations that threaten the unity of the church and tarnish God’s reputation?

At home, am I praying against “mountains” that jeopardize my personal comfort and prosperity, or those things that jeopardize the holiness of my household as a resting place of God’s Spirit?

This saying reminds us that the mission is His. The victory is His. He calls us to pray with faith against those things that hinder His Kingdom, not our own. The “mountain” of the Jerusalem establishment could not stop the Kingdom of God. So let us pray with confidence, celebrating in what Jesus told Peter, that the church will be victorious “and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18).

(Additional note at the bottom for those interested)

Appendix: Mark 11:25 and a New Priesthood

One added point I would like to make is on the very next verse after Mark 11:23-24, namely Mark 11:25. If the above interpretation I have spelled out is correct, it sheds new light on this verse as well.

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25)

I think it’s possible that this verse is Jesus instructing his followers in how to become the “new priesthood” for God’s “new temple” community. If, in his previous saying, Jesus is in fact talking specifically about the Jerusalem Temple (and therefore also implying the creation of a New Temple), then simply put, this New Temple necessitates a New Priesthood.

I think in Jesus’s mind, one of the key ways the current priesthood of his day, like the Temple itself, was failing was in their failure to inaugurate the long overdue Jubilee which declared the forgiveness of debt on a national scale. By not doing this, Jesus saw the priesthood as failing to be the vessels of God’s forgiveness for both Israel and for the world. They had worshiped the idols of greed and power instead of reflecting God into the world through humility and forgiveness (interestingly the very two things Jesus emphasized for his own community)

*This particular idea is worked out in the academic work of the historical Jesus scholar Nicholas Perrin which has influenced me immensely (Jesus the Temple, 2010; Jesus the Priest, 2019).

Therefore, after Jesus has talked about the “casting into the sea” of the current temple for the establishment of the new temple (v. 23-24), he then naturally switches in the same breath to instructing his disciples in how to be a new priestly community marked by authority and embodying Jubilee forgiveness that was long overdue in Israel (v. 25) — a priestly Jubilee agenda that was central for Jesus himself (Luke 4:18-19).

While Mark 11:25 is not the focus of my argument, I find it an interesting verse that might in fact support my above mentioned interpretation. New Temple and New Priesthood are ideas that belong together, which is why Jesus mentions forgiveness in this particular context.