Jesus Overturned the Tables

In Mark 11, Jesus overturns more than tables. Follow the thread from the fig tree to the temple, prayer, faith, and the invitation to stop transacting with God and simply receive.

I have been slowly walking through the Gospel of Mark, following the threads rather than reading each story as though it stands alone.

And Mark 11 has stopped me again.

I know I have already written about the fig tree and the temple, but that is what I love about Scripture. Looking at the same Scriptures from different angles can reveal a whole new layer of truth.

This time I found myself looking at prayer.

What does prayer have to do with a fig tree and overturned tables in the temple?

Jesus sees a fig tree covered in leaves. From a distance, it gives every appearance of having something to offer. But when He comes closer, He finds no fruit.

Then Mark leaves the fig tree hanging there and takes us directly into the temple.

“Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.”
—Mark 11:15

The two stories are connected.

The temple is another fig tree.

There is tremendous religious activity—sacrifices, money changing, buying and selling. Everything looks alive.

There are plenty of leaves.

But Jesus is looking for fruit.

And what He does next is striking.

Jesus begins overturning tables.

This isn’t the posture we usually see from Him, which made me want to understand what was happening beneath the surface. Why was He so angry?

What Was Happening at Those Tables?

Pilgrims came to Jerusalem from many different regions carrying different currencies. The temple contribution required appropriate coinage, so money changers provided the necessary exchange. Worshipers also needed acceptable animals for sacrifice, which created a marketplace around providing them.

Neither service was inherently wrong. In fact, both could have made worship easier for pilgrims.

But an entire religious economy had developed around approaching God. Currency had to be exchanged, fees could accompany that exchange, sacrifices had to meet particular requirements, and animals could be purchased there.

And Mark includes a detail I had previously passed right over:

Jesus overturned “the seats of those who sold doves.”

Doves were God’s provision for people who could not afford a lamb. Leviticus 5:7 specifically allows those without enough money for a lamb to bring two turtledoves or pigeons instead. Mary and Joseph themselves brought birds when Jesus was presented at the temple (Luke 2:22–24).

These were the sacrifices of the poor.

Suddenly those overturned tables look different to me.

Jesus isn’t simply upset by noisy commerce happening in a sacred place. He is standing in a system intended to help people approach God that could now place additional burdens in their way—burdens felt especially by those who had the least.

And then He tells us what God’s house was supposed to be:

“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”
—Mark 11:17

The first part comes from Isaiah 56, where God describes foreigners and outsiders being welcomed into His presence:

“For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
—Isaiah 56:7

God’s house was supposed to be a place of access.

A place of encounter.

A place where people could come near.

For all nations.

But the place intended for prayer had become crowded with transaction.

And Jesus overturned the tables.

A Den of Thieves

But Jesus quotes another prophet too.

“Den of thieves” comes from Jeremiah 7.

In that passage, people were placing their confidence in the temple while their lives failed to reflect the heart of God. They oppressed others and practiced injustice, yet continued coming into the temple as though possessing the religious structure made everything right.

A den is where thieves retreat and feel safe.

God was confronting the dangerous assumption that religious activity could substitute for actually knowing Him and reflecting His heart.

That is why the fig tree belongs here.

Leaves can look remarkably convincing.

Religious activity can too.

The next morning, Peter sees that the fig tree has withered.

“Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
—Mark 11:21

And Jesus’ response fascinates me.

He doesn’t give them a lengthy explanation about fig trees.

He says:

“Have faith in God.”
—Mark 11:22

Have faith in God.

Not the temple.

Not the structure.

Not the religious system.

Not your ability to perform it correctly.

Not what you can purchase, sacrifice, accomplish, or prove.

God.

And then Jesus begins teaching them about prayer.

Why Prayer?

At first, that seemed like another subject change to me.

We were talking about a fig tree. Then a temple. Then money changers. Now mountains and prayer?

But I don’t think Jesus changed subjects at all.

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
—Mark 11:24

There is that word again.

Receive.

It is a thread I keep finding throughout Mark.

The disciples continually seem to approach the Kingdom through acquiring, achieving, ranking, securing, understanding, and proving.

Jesus keeps teaching them to receive.

Receive the Kingdom like a child.

Receive sight.

Receive mercy.

Receive what God gives rather than trying to secure your own position.

And now:

When you pray, believe that you receive.

Prayer isn’t a new religious transaction.

It isn’t Jesus replacing the money changers with a better currency.

It is relationship.

It is dependence.

It is coming to God with empty hands.

Come Without Money

It makes me think of Isaiah 55:

“Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.”
—Isaiah 55:1

What a strange invitation.

Come buy.

But bring no money.

How do you buy something without money?

You don’t.

You receive it.

The invitation itself exposes the impossibility of purchasing what God is giving.

Come thirsty.

Come hungry.

Come empty-handed.

Come receive.

And suddenly the money changers sitting inside the temple become an extraordinary picture to me.

Everything is being exchanged. Everything has a price. Everything requires something in return.

And Jesus walks into the middle of it and overturns the tables.

Perhaps this is part of what He has been teaching His disciples all along.

The Kingdom cannot be purchased, earned, secured by becoming important enough, or obtained by getting everything right.

It cannot be controlled by discovering the correct formula.

It must be received.

Have Faith in God

The disciples are watching Jesus confront structures they have understood their entire lives.

The temple seemed permanent.

The religious system seemed permanent.

This was how things worked.

And Jesus begins turning it upside down.

Where are they supposed to put their confidence if the structures they trusted are being shaken?

God.

Have faith in God.

And pray.

Because prayer is what happens when I stop trying to control the exchange and begin trusting the Person.

Transaction asks:

What must I give so that I can get what I need?

Prayer says:

Father, I trust You enough to ask.

Transaction tries to secure the outcome.

Faith trusts the Giver.

And receiving opens its hands.

The Fruit

But Jesus doesn’t end His teaching on prayer with getting things.

He immediately talks about forgiveness.

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him…”
—Mark 11:25

That matters.

Because the fruit Jesus is looking for isn’t simply spectacular answers to prayer.

Relationship with God begins producing something in us.

Mercy.

Forgiveness.

Love.

Reconciliation.

Fruit.

Which brings us right back to where the story began.

A fig tree.

The fig tree warns us that appearance isn’t the same thing as fruit.

The temple shows us what happens when relationship with God becomes buried beneath religious transaction.

The prophets remind us that God’s desire has always been for people to come near.

Jesus tells us where our confidence belongs:

Have faith in God.

Prayer becomes the posture of relationship:

Ask. Trust. Receive.

And forgiveness becomes evidence that what we have received is actually producing fruit.

I keep coming back to the picture of Jesus standing in the temple surrounded by overturned tables.

Because perhaps one of the most beautiful things about the Kingdom is this:

Jesus doesn’t replace the money changers with a new currency.

He overturns the table.

The Kingdom isn’t another transaction with better terms.

It is gift.

And prayer is what life begins to look like when we trust the Father enough to come to Him empty-handed.

Come thirsty.

Come hungry.

Come without money.

Come with open hands.

Have faith in God.

In everything you do -eat, play, and love- may it always be seasoned with Joy!